Easy Practices for Effective Ecommerce Customer Service

In our current world competition between businesses is fierce, it shows that while there are different battlefields to engage there are core items that must be put in the spotlight.

With the rapid growth and access of the internet to millions around the globe, it is evident that e-commerce is the way to go, especially for newer generations.

Inside this spectrum, we find that customer service for e-commerce has become the largest pillar in sustaining a business’s customer loyalty and satisfaction.

To put numbers in perspective, in 2019 Amazon was receiving 200 million visits per month which other businesses take advantage of by partnering to sell on this platform.

In another survey performed in 2018 it was confirmed that there are 2.14 billion customers in the realm of e-commerce, this means that at least 22% of the population of the world have performed a purchase at least once throughout that year.

When considering this it is important to put e-commerce customer service at the forefront, with a report in 2017 making it clear that only 8% of customers agree that companies provide excellent customer service.

This is critical when considering that a report provided by Microsoft in 2017 indicates that 54% of their customers have extremely high expectations on customer service where 66% were inside the range of 18 to 34 years of age.

One question that may come to mind when talking about the subject is, what is e-commerce customer service all about?

Customer Service for Ecommerce, the Key to Success

• Making shipping and return policies clear, when customers are looking to get the most out of services and products it can be frustrating to have unclear rules or specifications on how they pay or receive what they have purchased, this is where customer service for e-commerce can help in setting up a strong baseline for the customer experience.
• Providing the right answer through any channel, in a 2017 Microsoft also confirmed that out of the surveyed customers inside the United States 27% will use one to two channels while 47% use three to five different channels of communication, this is where e-commerce customer service helps in closing the gap by providing the answer through a multichannel or omnichannel support structure, providing accurate up to date information which ensures that there is satisfaction regardless of the communication option of the customer.
• Improving your response time to the max, with e-commerce customer service there is always someone to answer your customer’s question in seconds through their selected channel of communication, helping make the right choice as well as providing space for upsell and saving the sales in critical moments, additionally, this closes the gap in tougher situations when customers are upset with their interaction, with surveyed customers in 2017 indicating that 12% of them found the lack of speed as frustration in their interaction it is clear why this stands as one of the key priorities.
• Measure and optimization where it matters, e-commerce customer service provides additional hidden bonuses and benefits to the business such as understanding customer behaviors and tendencies, most wanted product or service, areas of opportunity for the current business processes, and a clear line for optimization just in time to keep yourself ahead of the competition. In a previous article, we have talked about the 5 most important KPIs to ensure the best customer service can be provided on every experience.
• Rinse and repeat to ensure loyalty, with customer service for e-commerce it is a safe bet that there will always be a way for businesses to ensure that the same excellent customer experience is provided to every customer on all the interactions they do with the business thus creating a strong brand and a loyal customer base that keeps coming for the same experience.

For the coming years, customer service in e-commerce will continue to play a key role in all business interactions, investing for growth in this area is a must to keep up and outpace the competition.

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[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/271450/monthly-unique-visitors-to-us-retail-websites/

[2] https://www.statista.com/statistics/251666/number-of-digital-buyers-worldwide/

[3] https://www.superoffice.com/resources/guides/customer-service-benchmark-report/

[4] http://info.microsoft.com/rs/157-GQE-382/images/EN-CNTNT-Report-DynService-2017-global-state-customer-service-en-au.pdf

[5] http://info.microsoft.com/rs/157-GQE-382/images/EN-CNTNT-Report-DynService-2017-global-state-customer-service-en-au.pdf

[6] https://www.statista.com/statistics/815599/causes-of-customer-service-frustration-us/