Can you improve your e-tail store’s customer service at the same time as lowering costs?
To at least some extent, most of us are accustomed to the notion that we can’t have “something for nothing”; if we gain one thing, we inevitably lose something else.
That isn’t always quite the case, though. One only needs to look, for example, at the combination of circumstances presently facing ecommerce stores.
Yes, online store owners are certainly having to contend with some elevated costs compared to the situation a few years ago. However, there are also some very exciting technologies coming on stream, such as the latest artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, which could help deliver improved customer service without exerting greatly heightened pressure on a business’s bottom line.
Below, then, we have taken a closer look at some of the ways in which, yes, online stores like yours can enhance their customer service offerings, while still minimising costs.
Present a comprehensive ‘frequently asked questions’ section, before you reveal contact options
The chances are that your online store’s staff routinely have the frustration of customers reaching out to them to ask questions that have already been answered comprehensively on your website.
So, whether the given customer wishes to know more about your e-tailer’s delivery options or perhaps your policy on restocking “sold-out” items, it can be helpful to contain your answers to these queries in one, easy-to-reference ‘frequently asked questions’ section.
It might also be in this part of your site where you keep your customer service contact details. This way, you can encourage the customer to seek out the answer to their query in your existing on-site information, before they enquire to your site team more directly.
Make sources of help and information easy to find on your site
There are certain “consistent” parts of an online store’s design, such as the main menu and footer, that are logical places to include links to a “help centre” or “FAQs” section.
Again, much of this is about encouraging self-service; the customer should see immediate sources of help and look to the relevant part of your site, before it even really crosses their mind to try to send you an email or give you a call.
All of this, in turn, will help ensure you don’t need to employ quite so many customer service staff to respond to queries that the main website has already answered, thereby being instrumental in saving money.
Incorporate chatbot technology, so that there is always 24/7 support
Once upon a time, an online store being able to offer instant support to the customer via “live chat” – even if that customer was browsing the site at 1am – would have often seemed a sure indicator of a company in a fairly luxurious position. After all, how many firms would be in any position to offer genuine human customer support at that hour?
The likelihood, of course, is that a customer in the above situation would have actually been engaging with a very obvious and unsophisticated “chatbot”. But with the recent emergence of ChatGPT having helped to upend the AI game, more and more online stores are having their eyes opened to the difference automated customer service could make.
Today, we are seeing various customer service chatbot programs emerge for use by businesses, with some of them offering free plans and discounts. So, you have increasingly little excuse to keep on ignoring the potential they could have for your own ecommerce shopfront.
The above tips, of course, encompass just a few of the possibilities for optimising your store’s customer service with little or no detrimental impact on its bottom line.
As one of the most trusted and leading website design, graphic design, search engine optimisation, and PHP development companies in Gibraltar, Spain, and the UK, Piranha Designs is strongly placed to bring your e-tail store the benefit of a wealth of expertise. Enquire to us today, and we will be pleased to discuss the possibilities for how we could work together.
