Ten best practices for effective e-commerce customer service
Commercial activities have significantly transitioned from physical to online stores because people now prefer to make transactions from the comfort of their homes. Therefore, excellent customer service is no longer a "nice to have" but a must have.
According to the latest statistics, there are over 9.1 million online retailers and 2.14 billion online shoppers.
These figures prove that the e-commerce market is highly competitive for traders. Therefore, businesses must provide an excellent purchase experience for buyers.
This means incorporating effective practices that enhance customer service and help your business to stand out. However, figuring out these methods could be overwhelming because of the many recommendations available.
So, to make it easier, this article explains the best-proven techniques for an improved ecommerce customer service process.
Let's get into it.
Top ten strategies to level up online customer service
The best customer service practices focus on your customers' satisfaction. Below are the top ten strategies you can implement for the best results:
1. Create order forms
An efficient sales process facilitates the buying experience. If your customers can order products without a hitch, they will likely come back.
A practical way to do this is by creating online order forms. They are documentations that state customers' details, products' names, numbers, and other vital information.
Besides documenting important information, they serve as a binding contract between a seller and buyer. So, when there's a misunderstanding or a breach of agreement, both parties can refer to it.
Essentially, online order forms eliminate discrepancies by enabling customers to state their expectations clearly, thereby enhancing a hassle-free buying process.
You don't have to start from scratch to create order forms, you can use order templates to save time.
Many of them are designed for various industries, so you can select the one that applies to yours. Otherwise, choose any ready made template and customise it for your needs.
2. Provide a multi-channel customer service
Users love interacting with their favorite brands across different platforms, so extending your communication channel to other mediums is good for business.
For example, marketers who use multiple channels in campaigns acquire a 287% higher purchase rate and retain 89% of customers.
When you relate to your customers on different platforms, they connect with you on their preferred channel, boosting engagement and increasing your sales.
For instance, those who like to communicate through phone calls can call your support team on the phone. Similarly, those who prefer to send a text on social media can connect with you online.
By establishing a flexible way for customers to interact with you, you improve their journey. Also, you build fast connections and promote a long lasting seller-buyer relationship.
3. Adopt self-service approach
Reports show that 73% of buyers prefer self-service to calling a customer care representative.
The reason for this is apparent; customers want answers immediately, and contacting the support team delays the process, leading to frustration.
So, to boost customer service, allow them to solve their challenges by creating an efficient customer knowledge base. It contains the resources they need to troubleshoot common problems and answer questions without contacting customer support.
So, provide detailed, frequently asked questions (FAQs), walk-through tutorials, and articles that educate your audience about your product and company. An excellent knowledge base is comprehensive, making it easier for customers to access information promptly.
Since they can find answers in seconds by performing a quick search query, they leave your website satisfied, promoting high customer retention. This also takes some burden off the support team, enabling them to focus on other aspects of their jobs.
4. Personalise their experience
Customised experience is a critical part of every successful business.
Statistics show 80% of customers are more likely to buy from brands that offer an individualised experience. Also, 70% of millennials are frustrated with businesses that send irrelevant market emails.
When you personalise your buyers' journey, you make their experience worthwhile. First, they see you as a brand that cares deeply about its customers. It also allows them to make relevant purchases and take actions that help them fulfill their needs.
For example, working with helpful customer data lets you create customised suggestions and recommendations, helping them maximize their experience. Rather than promote products they don't need or tips irrelevant to their journey, you can tailor your services to meet their unique needs.
Therefore, conduct extensive buyers' research, understand their demographics, interests, and goals. Then provide customised customer services that make them happy.
Addressing them by their names and recalling specific details about them are simple but effective ways to make your audience connect to you. They'll start seeing you as less of a business owner but more as a friend, fostering the trust that leads to customer loyalty.
5. Respond quickly
Another important way to supercharge your customer service is to provide a quick response time for consumers. When buyers need information to tackle a problem regarding a product, they want to get an immediate answer.
A survey reveals responding in an hour will meet the expectations of 88% of consumers. If they have to wait longer than that, you may lose them to your competitors.
However, it's daunting and time consuming to respond to emails and calls all day, so automating these services is vital. Use email responders to engage your customers while away, so you don't keep them waiting.
Also, use templates to provide quick responses. Examine the most frequently asked questions and create a guide with answers. This way, customers don't have to wait around for a response because autoresponders and templates make a quick fix.
6. Use live chats
Live chats are among the hottest topics in the e-commerce industry because they skyrocket customer service delivery.
Your audience often gets confused on your site when they don't know where to perform a specific task or find information. A live chat is handy to set website visitors on the right track in cases like these.
It will direct them to the right page and provide links to resources related to their questions. The real-time experience it offers boosts customers' experience because they don't have to wait for answers, as a virtual assistant gives immediate responses.
Therefore, integrate a live chat on your website so that visitors can perform tasks efficiently. Additionally, collect buyers' data to customise the process, enabling effective upselling and cross-selling.
7. Improve checkout experience
A common turn-off for buyers is a slow and cumbersome checkout process. When adding items to a cart or making payment, customers want to do it quickly. If they can't, they get frustrated and abandon the process.
To eliminate the consequences of a strenuous checkout process, invest in excellent UX (user experience design). Don't focus on the aesthetic of your website only, instead perform user testing to identify challenges and fix them.
Also, use clear and visible call-to-action buttons. Buyers should know what they need to click when adding an item to their cart or paying. So, adopt larger or brighter colors to differentiate the CTA buttons from others.
Additionally, simplify the payment process by reducing the steps involved to the minimum and diversifying the payment methods.
8. Have an excellent communication system
One of the best ways to improve ecommerce customer service activities is to carry your customers along.
For example, update them about the shipping process, so they don't get apprehensive while waiting for items to deliver.
Also, answer their questions promptly and enable different communication mediums so they can contact you conveniently. A responsive, interactive system boosts customers' experience by keeping them updated about the business. It also eliminates mistakes.
9. Listen to feedback
An outstanding customer service considers buyers' opinions to improve its practices.
Requesting users' feedbackis a game-changer rather than making assumptions or changes based on what you think.
Buyers have first-hand experiences with your product and services, so they can share pain points that give insights into creating a better experience. So, create polls, and encourage them to fill out short forms to state their difficulties with your brand.
Ask for reviews to grade the customer service and suggestions on how your team can improve. This allows you to see from your customers' perspectives and adjust accordingly.
10. Measure results
Improving online customer service is an ongoing activity. Therefore, after implementing the best practices, track your progress to see if these improvements bring expected results.
Measure with KPIs (key performance indicator) like CSAT (customer satisfaction), CES (customer effort score), cart abandonment, and customer churn rate.
These metrics give accurate insights into the depth of customer satisfaction, how much effort they exert to perform functions, and the rate at which they abandon their carts and stop using your products.
Gather and compare these data to identify changes. By doing this, you will monitor your progress level to get better.
Conclusion
Customer service is essential for a thriving online business because it determines sales and user retention rates.
To upgrade your e-commerce services, use order forms, adopt an omnichannel strategy, customise the purchase stages, have a quick response time, and use live chats.
Also, make checkout easy, update customers, ask for feedback and monitor your progress.
Author bio:
Lydia Iseh is a writer with years of experience in writing SEO content that provides value to the reader.
As someone who believes in the power of SEO to transform businesses, she enjoys being part of the process that helps websites rank high on search engines.
