Primary agenda to start eCommerce was to sell things at convenience and have hassle-free shopping. And still greater extent, it did well, till there was some serious sensitization between retail segment giving extremely personalized and customer-centric orientation for buying products. There came a critical aspect for eCommerce folks to understand and support buyers for making an authentic sale and getting value for the money and more than money the trust for the brand.
There is direct mental conditioning of making the customer feel safe with customer service, ready to refund and replace products. And a few market pioneers through deep-diving research figured out eCommerce customer support is not just giving the customer better shopping experience but it an inevitable source to get more customers and keep moving ahead with the happier existing set.
However, the quality of customer service is catch 22 for any eCommerce customer support. As per Forbes response time is critical, every three out of five customers refrain from completing their purchase due to the poor quality of customer service. It costs seven times more to attract new customers than to retain existing customers. Despite working in the background, there are a few best practices which can do wonders for eCommerce buying experience through customer support:
#1. Offer live chat with customers = offering instant solutions
It starts with that one small window which says ‘how may I help you’.
Not the chatbots but putting live representative will solve 75% of the challenges of the user and will help in gaining trust and increase the goodwill of the brand. It gives an instant solution to all significant problems that a customer’s face. It impacts both efficiency and effectiveness until a greater extent.
Forbes shared 83% of online shoppers need assistance to complete order. Strategically this helps in quicker deal closure.
Now we know-how is rapid revenue increase at the end of the season and festive sales numbers. It is eyes rolling to see million $ increased revenue at the end of season sale on Amazon, Walmart and other leaders who invest heavily on it.
#2. Investing in co-browsing technology helps
Collaborative permits more than one person to navigate over the web from different locations. It simplifies the system by eliminating complex scenarios of describing issues over chats.
Investing in co-browsing technology can help the customer support team to provide aid throughout the checkout procedure for problems such as payment failures and payment gateways.
#3. Bringing social media as an interactive platform
Social media is a great place where your brand has been shared, talked about, displayed and commented by millions of people. It is a market place where to attract all potential buyers.
Moreover, with the advancing digital medium platforms, some alerts are received in the form of data. Data is nothing but the statistics of the people who have shown interest and are willing to get engaged with your product and service. It gives a fair idea about consumer behavior to a greater extent.
Based on the study by Bain & Company it increased sales up to 40%.
#4. Easy return policy
It is a good idea to have authentic sales. Most importantly framing crystal-clear policies and displaying/positioning them at a place where they can be easily accessible. It lessens the chances of being getting unnoticed. Which is equal to lesser post-sales customer service challenges.
It creates a clear differentiator and categorizes services within false, unnecessary arguments which have questions from customers like – What I don’t need refund but a replacement at the different address? Similar tricky questions can be part of refund policy.
And it creates room for better customer services like How can I get first-mover advantage in midnight offers? – Now that’s a good question to answer
Customer is delighted when he gets to know that his money will be refunded over will be added in the account, and they can use for future purchase.
#5. Service centric approach = Right Feedback and increasing sales
Critical ingredients to the right sales are not pushing your product and service first.
But it comes from giving customer experience- Personalized, User-friendly & Flexibility
It helps the company to understand competition well.
It will be a great thing to receive feedback – This will be game-changer for any company.
Positive or vice a Versa it will either help us to know that we are doing good or it will help to improve better.
These are perfect ingredients that make any eCommerce venture a success. Continuum offers end to end ecommerce website development and marketing services across the globe.