Top Three Tips for Good eCommerce Customer Service
- E-Commerce
- Business
- 4 Mins
The Importance of Good eCommerce Customer Service
There will always be times when a company falls short, whether it be a product made incorrectly or an accidental order mixup. With that said, it’s not the mistakes that you make as a company that define you, but rather how you respond to them. Customer service gives you the opportunity to improve the way a disappointed consumer views your brand as a whole.
With eCommerce competition so high, particularly on Shopify, creating brand loyalty through stellar customer communication is vital. Of course, customer communication extends to campaign marketing, social media captions, and more, but customer service is paramount as it often concerns a person who has already made the decision to support your brand. In order to keep them as a customer, and avoid any negative reviews that could impact overall sales or brand identity, you’ll want to demonstrate that you care through your customer service. Here are our top three tips for creating good customer service.
Keep Your FAQs Detailed and Updated
It’s easiest for all parties when finding an answer to a potential question doesn’t require contacting the company at all. If you’re finding that certain inquiries are asked often, be sure to have a detailed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section, and update it as new questions arise. FAQs are seen as a proactive form of customer service. It’s often advised to group like-questions into sections, possibly by product category or by services (Caring for a Product, Returns and Exchanges, Delivery, etc.). When your FAQs section is organized, helpful, and incorporates brand tone, you change your entity from an eCommerce conglomerate to a friendly storefront, a difference that greatly improves customer retention.
It’s also helpful to list out the steps involved for solving unanswered issues for any of your customers’ potential problems. For instance, have FAQ questions like: What do I do if my question isn’t listed here? How can I get in contact with a service representative? What do I do if I need an expedited answer? Giving customers detailed steps for how you would like them to interact with the customer service team based on your company’s streamlined communication systems keeps things simple for both you and customers.
Even when you have to tell customers disappointing answers, such as, “We don’t offer expedited customer service due to the volume of our requests,” it still gives a frustrated customer an answer – and that’s all they’re looking for.
Choose Multi-Channel Customer Service Options
It’s an age where everyone uses digital media services, but how exactly they interact with them is often varied and on an individual basis. In order to provide effective communication to everyone that uses your platform, you’ll want to opt for omni-channel customer service in a multitude of formats. For instance, some users prefer to be contacted by email, by call, and some through online live chat.
Multi-channel customer service options can give rise to some difficulties, as larger companies may struggle with standardizing the quality of service across all of them. However, these essential options will give you the opportunity to establish positive customer interactions through each channel.
Live chats especially have grown with eCommerce storefronts, and customer satisfaction with the ease and simplicity of finding their desired answer immediately can do much for customer loyalty.
Form Meaningful Customer Relationships Through Customer Service
A common theme in eCommerce customer service is to give customers more than they expect when you go to fix their concerns. Most notably with online retailers, customers do expect customisable responses that address their individual issues and provide them with a response that makes them feel cared for and special. Interacting with customers in this manner is essential for repeat purchases.
If possible and when justified, try to give dissatisfied customers a little something special for their time and frustration. A coupon code for their next purchase, a small goodie sent with their exchange, or even a personalised note to the customer makes all the difference.
Keep in mind that interactions like these are commonly documented on social media – “So happy I reached out to this company; look at what they sent alongside my exchanged item!” – and impact consumer perception of your brand. Of course, don’t bend over backwards for unreasonable requests or allow customers to take advantage of your services, but do what you can, where you can if it feels right.
Implement State-of-the-Art Features With Radiant
With customer service being such an integral aspect of eCommerce, it’s absolutely vital to design your website around user experience and customer satisfaction. Radiant offers multiple avenues for increasing the quality of your customer service interactions as well as the rest of your Shopify storefront. Through design and development, we craft both individually-tailored web pages to fully-customised sites. Our specialties even include competitor analysis, priority support, and eCommerce consultancy to create a site that is up to date with all of the features necessary for your Shopify store’s success. Contact us today to get started on a newly-designed site, or just to see how our team of Shopify experts can better display your reviews, organize your FAQs, and improve your user experience!
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