E-Commerce Customer Service – 10 Best Practices [guide]
Technology is an integral part of the world today. From researching to playing games, shopping, to reselling stuff, we turn to technology for instant help and entertainment. There is not a single product today that you cannot buy online. A variety of websites sell stuff and buy them at a cheaper rate. But how do you stand out from the crowd? The answer is the e-Commerce customer service. e-Commerce customer service provides service to customers online, resolves their issues, and enhances their experience.
What is an E-Commerce Customer Service?
E-Commerce customer service helps customers online to make a purchase decision as per their preference and requirement. This kind of customer service allows customers to narrow down their research and save time by showing them products based on their previous searches. As per the Microsoft Global Customer Service report 2016, 97% of customers believe that customer service instils trust in the brand.
Bad customer service is the worst nightmare of a company that can lead to a bad reputation, low sales, and revenue. Customers expect their queries to be solved within seconds or minutes. Millennials are ready to pay more to companies that provide good customer service.
Let us see the ten best practices in customer service.
10 best practices of e-Commerce Customer Service
1. Multichannel Strategy
The multichannel strategy is a mix of strategy, data, technology, and results. It allows a company to build a reputation and helps them reach, connect, and interact with customers personally. It ensures optimised results. Companies that cannot determine the best channel strategies will suffer in the long run. A multichannel strategy helps determine customer preferences; do they like emails, text messages, or phone calls? A company organises its resources in a manner that ensures the best customer service possible.
After establishing the e-Commerce customer service channel, make sure your customer knows about the services available. Most importantly, through effective strategies, maintain the quality of customer service across all channels.
2. Live Chat
The feature of automated live chat offers customers instant responses, answers, and solutions. This feature is available 24/7, at any time, anywhere, as long the individual has an internet connection. It is a quick means of communication with customers, serving them instantly.
Live chat supports customers when they are stuck with a purchase or face a challenge. Instead of a customer leaving the website altogether, approaching a live chat representative solves the issue. It provides answers related to the product, such as product warranty, return process, payment policies, etc. It is a no-brainer that helps companies check the effectiveness of conversations with customers.
3. Self-service
E-Commerce customer service provides instant self-service without delaying responses. Over 60% of American users like the feature of automated self-service and believe that it improves their customer experience. Many applications on Google Play or App Store are solely dedicated to customer service tasks.
Customers want straightforward ways that solve their issues. If the support portal is difficult to operate, a consumer might leave the website. This is why companies like Amazon offer simple yet effective customer service. Customers should not feel confused. Customer service should increase customer satisfaction and reduce the time it takes to respond to customer queries.
4. Personalised messages
Personalised messages connect customers with a company and its products personally. Personalisation increases customer satisfaction and the chances of a customer buying the product. e-Commerce websites offer customers related products by sending personalised messages for products that a customer might have looked for previously. Such emails and text messages make customers want to visit the website to shop again. An example of personalised email:
“Hi Adam, we have a new style of shirt that might interest you. Would you like to check out the new collection we have for you? Get an extra 10% off on the code ‘ADAM10’”.
Such personalised messages with custom-made coupon codes push the customer to check out the website and the products on offer. By delivering a personalised message, a company can drive a customer to purchase the product. Personalised messages work more often than one might think.
5. Automate Online Orders
Automated online orders help fulfil orders instantly. Traditional or manual order fulfilment systems are slow, inefficient, and inaccurate because of human errors. The automated system is accurate and works with greater efficiency. It can handle orders without breaks 24/7, reduce errors, save time, and increase customer satisfaction.
The most appropriate example is Amazon FBA (fulfilment by Amazon). It simplifies services by fulfilling orders. It calculates the shipping costs for the customer. It saves a customer’s time and increases the quality of customer experience through quick order fulfilment.
6. Connect with mobile customers
Millennials are mobile-savvy people, and companies should change their policies and services considering how effortlessly customers can access computers. Every company should ensure that its website supports mobile phones and laptops. Some websites do not support mobile payment options, making them less efficient.
7. 24-hour phone support
Sometimes customers prefer to discuss their concerns over a call instead of a living chat. Companies should establish 24/7 phone support to keep customers engaged and solve their queries to improve customer service. This is a great way to increase customer satisfaction and trust in the company.
8. Customer service software
It gets chaotic when a customer's query goes from one representative to another across multiple channels. It is difficult to track complaints and take care of every single complaint instantly. The long wait frustrates the customer.
It is essential to build customer service software that tracks all incoming queries. CRM (customer relationship management) can streamline the process and efficiently tackle problems. Customer relationship management software handles the company's interactions and relationships with its customers and improves its profitability.
9. Billing history
Customers want to access their purchase histories, inquiries, invoices, etc. This information should be immediately available to the customer on their dashboards. The company must have all the history readily available for the customer.
10. Customer satisfaction
We already know that customer satisfaction is one of the primary concerns of a company. It is also important to measure a customer's satisfaction by requesting feedback on the product's pros and cons and its use. A CRM (Customer relationship management) software can track customer feedback, voice histories, messages, invoices, etc., to determine client satisfaction.
Also read:
1) Online Business Ideas You Can Start Quickly
2) What online business can I do to make money? Here are the top-6 ideas for you.
3) Where Do the Best Business Ideas Come From?
4) Best Home Business Ideas in 2020
5) OkCredit: All you need to know about OkCredit & how it works.
FAQs
Q. How can an individual choose the best platform for an e-Commerce website?
Ans. Before selecting a website, it is important to understand the type of business and the products you want to sell. Different e-Commerce websites sell different products. The products sold will determine the suitability of a website.
Q. What are the types of e-Commerce?
Ans. The four types of e-Commerce are listed below:
- B2B (Business to Business)
- B2C (Business to Customer)
- C2C (Customer to Customer)
- C2B (Customer to Business)
Q. What are the risks involved in e-Commerce websites?
Ans. Integrity, confidentiality, and availability are critical to a good e-Commerce website. A company should build its brand considering these three features to maintain its goodwill. A company should strive to build a website where transactions are secure and confidential. Encryption methods can restrict access and keep hackers away.