You have taken your business online to meet evolving customer demands and stay in the competition. Having carefully selected the technology platform for your online store and curated your product catalog, you have also started marketing it. Now that customers have started using your online store, ensuring your customers get world-class, personalized service is the most critical step in succeeding. But why is that? Consider these statistics:
How different is customer service for the online business?
Customers can either visit the site or call the store to get support in the brick-and-mortar store. Also, you can understand your customers’ preferences and buying behaviour by physically observing them as they walk down the aisle. On the other hand, you don’t meet your customer at all in an online way. So, getting personal, understanding your customers, and building trust is a significant challenge. The traditional store format enables easy customer communication and helps you understand their expectations.
Your customer’s journey from discovering your store to buying from the store is technology-driven. There are multiple channels for your customers to come to your online store. It could be from your online store website /app or social media platforms. So, it is essential that you, as the business, are also available across these channels to address customer queries and concerns.
Aspects of a robust eCommerce Customer Service
Give them an excellent 1st impression
As you would neatly arrange your physical store, ensure your online store is also neatly arranged with commonly purchased products appearing up front, clean images, error-free descriptions, and a simple check out. This will create an excellent 1st impression of your store.
Watch for abandoned carts
A statistic shows that almost 80% of customers need assistance to complete their purchases. Customers can abandon their shopping for various reasons, including difficulty in the process, products/brands not being available, and price. One of the critical, implicit reasons for abandoned carts is inadequate customer service.
Ensure that these factors are consistently monitored and addressed to ensure a good business from an online store. If you still have abandoned carts, reach out to such customers with personalized offers and messages to persuade them to continue shopping. This approach can help you recover at least 35% of abandoned carts.
Ease the returns process
One of the major concerns for customers in online shopping is the ease with which they can submit a return. Have a simple and easy-to-understand returns policy and let your customers know. Your returns policy details can appear across various app pages, particularly on the product catalog, descriptions, and check-out pages. You can also include the same in the order confirmation email/notification. Once the policy is clear, customers tend to shop with confidence.
Flexible returns policy will prompt customers to shop and return to your online store. For instance, having a “credit to source” instead of a “credit to app wallet” will make it more customer-friendly.
Be human
Customers prefer to talk to real people about any issues and get them sorted out. So, it’s crucial to have a dedicated customer support person(s) to take care of your online customers. Also, have the same person follow up with the customer they spoke to till the issue is sorted out. This gives a personal touch to the whole process.
Be Trustworthy
Another critical aspect customers worry about while purchasing online is the security of the site/app from where they are buying. Peer-reviewed sites also add to the credibility of online stores. So, encourage your customers to share reviews and rate your products/services.
Be Social
Reap the benefits of social media and have a strong presence across platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. With billions of users being on social media, such a presence can help you convert them into your customers.In Summary
It pays to provide the best customer service by putting yourself in your customer’s shoes. Understanding that the failure or even a delay in service can impact reputation and customer relationships will help you offer top-notch offers customer service.
Modern-day customers expect hyper-personalization from businesses, including eCommerce. You need to have a simple but effective customer support system to meet this expectation. Focus on the entire buying experience through your customer’s eyes to make sure it is seamless, friendly, and personal throughout. When you put your customers first and take care of their needs, they will, in turn, ensure your business is booming.