Whatever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see you do it, they will want to come back and see you do it again, and they will want to bring others and show them how well you do what you do.
– Walter E. Disney
Why amazing customer service experience in eCommerce is a must!
89% of shoppers have stopped buying from online stores after they’ve experienced poor customer service (1)
83% of the more than 5,000 consumers said they consistently needed some type of support during their online shopping. 31% of them need online support immediately while 40% of them require assistance within five minutes (1)
Here’s something to encourage you to compete by value, not by price: By the year 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator (1)
Top 10 things you can do to improve eCommerce customer service
Below are ten suggestions on how to improve customer service in your online store. Some of them are as simple as adding a copy to your site; others will require an internal process update.
- Automatic reply confirming the receipt of request-automated acknowledgment of request is a great way to comfort the customer that their concerns will be taken care of. It also sets expectations and next steps.
Example: Email from Old Navy
- 24 hours reply – Being able to respond to customer concerns within a day is very important. Today people will not wait long, they will just go shopping somewhere else.
Example: Saks Fifth Avenue
- Live chat. You may consider adding live chat to your online store’s customer service strategies: 31% of online shoppers from both the US and UK say they’d be more likely to purchase after a live chat. (1)
- Separate Shipping Policy Page with clearly visible link
Example from Gap
- Separate Return Policy Page with clearly visible link
Example from Gap
- Provide a disclaimer to colors, sizes of products. It is better to include some information regarding color, size, and texture when some variations are expected due to many monitors and devices screens.
Example: from a site that sells blinds-Direct Buy Blinds
http://www.directbuyblinds.com/color-disclaimer
Due to the many variations in monitors and browsers, color samples may appear different on different monitors. Computer monitors are not all calibrated equally, and color reproduction on the Internet is not precise.
- Honest visibility on product availability – do not mark items that out of stock as “in stock” to get the sale.
Example: Indigo
- 1 800 Number & email address should be always easily visible.
Example: Toys “R” Us
- Live person answering the phone at least between 9-5-this information should be easily available to set the right expectations.
Example: Sephora
- Do not ignore social feedback.
Social feedback is not only how many likes you have on Facebook but some of the top review sites such as yelp should be monitored and feedback should be given to the people who are posting complaints/questions.
Example: Hard Rock Cafe review posted on Yelp
And finally a great example of what not to do to have great customer service:
This example is from Sears Canada. We respond in 72 hours, really? Is this a joke?
References
- Customize Your Customer Service Experience, https://conversio.com/blog/75-ecommerce-facts-quotes-statistics-that-will-blow-your-mind/
