E-commerce is not just about selling a product to a customer. It’s also about providing assistance to your customers in their purchasing decisions and resolving any issues and concerns.
Since e-commerce is not a face-to-face interaction between a customer, you need to develop a system that provides them with a seamless shopping experience. Customer service directly impacts brand loyalty. If you are not paying attention and properly engaging with your customers, you can lose potential sales and build a bad reputation.
Here are some effective ways to ensure superior customer service.
1. Get Organized
If you are just handling your online business alone, chances are you’ll get bombarded with a lot of tasks and inquiries. Organize the buyer’s journey and the processing of orders.
If you have a dedicated team, equip them with tools that will help them handle customer service efficiently. Communication and collaboration are important to solve customers’ requests and purchases.
2. Offer Live Chat Support
A typical website has a contact form but that can be boring. Instead, offer a more interactive option which is a live chat or a toll-free number to call. Live chat gives you a ton of advantages from proactive selling, answering inquiries, up to post-sales support. Create pre-written transcripts to handle common questions and timely responses.
3. Utilize FAQs
It can be tiring and time-consuming to answer the same question again and again. This is why it’s recommended to have an FAQ section on your e-commerce website. Put the frequently asked questions and the corresponding replies in them.
Through this, your customers can just hover to your webpage and get the information they need. This keeps them informed about your products and policies; helping them find quick answers and stay on your website longer.
4. Offer Phone Support
Offering messaging options to your customers enhances a shopping experience. While some can leave a message on the contact form, others prefer text messaging especially when they are shopping through their mobile phones.
You can send them a response to their order confirmation or requests via SMS. This makes customer service fast and convenient. You can easily connect with them about the product details they need, answer urgent questions, solve complaints, and increase shopping cart conversion.
5. Social Media Messaging
Social media enables your customers to get in touch with you without going to your website. Integrate social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter into your online store. Establish a strong social media presence and use these platforms to boost brand awareness and enhance customer support.
Social media can highlight your brand and reach a broader audience. It’s a great channel to start conversations and share customer reviews.
Final Thoughts
Customer service is a vital part of your e-commerce business. In the competitive e-commerce landscape, managing customers’ feedback and expectation is a deciding factor for success. Invest in tools and systems to improve your customers’ shopping experience. This will help your business retain and acquire more customers, and build long-term loyalty.
