Using Cloud Communications to Tackle eCommerce Customer Pain Points
The global eCommerce industry is expected to reach $5 trillion by the end of 2022. And while there’s more money than ever to be made from eCommerce sales, there are also more challenges for brands to remain competitive.
Supply chain issues, inflation, rising competition– there are a variety of uncontrollable factors putting pressure on retailers as they enter the busy winter holiday season and beyond.
What online retailers can control, however, is how they strategize their customer service plan to tackle consumers’ most pressing pain points.
Below, we’re covering your customers' top shopping concerns and how cloud communications tools can give you a competitive edge that will increase customer satisfaction and ultimately, your bottom line.
Top eCommerce Customer Pain Points and How to Tackle Them
73% of consumers see customer service as an important factor in their purchasing decision. But providing good customer service today isn’t just being polite or kind to customers. Rather, brands are expected to be omnipresent, fast, convenient and consistent in their communications. Above all, they expected to utilize technology to provide a personalized human touch over a digital interface.
As your shop prepares for holiday sales, here’s a list of the top customer pain points to be aware of and tips on how to tackle them by harnessing the power of cloud communications:
1. Slow customer service response
Sitting on hold or in a chat queue waiting on a customer service rep can sour the shopping experience. Unfortunately, many of us have been there more than we’d like to admit.
And with many shops struggling to find adequate staff to support holiday sales, having a dedicated strategy to enhance your support speed could give your eCommerce store a competitive advantage this season and seasons to come.
How cloud communications can help improve customer service response time:
→ Get customers to the right agent at the right time: Optimizing your Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system is one of the easiest ways to ensure your customers get resolutions quickly upon the first call. With intelligent routing set up, callers can navigate to their destination. Or, they may not even need to speak with anyone with self-service options– which can free up your team’s bandwidth and reduce call waiting times.
→ Empower customers to skip the hold music: Hold music can get tiresome– incoming customer frustration! With queue callback in your communications infrastructure, you can give customers the option to receive a call from an agent instead of waiting on hold. No more waiting, less clogged queues.
2. Inconsistent channel messaging
Companies with an omnichannel customer engagement strategy see a 9.5% year-over-year surge in income. That’s why it's no surprise that 90% of retail leaders believe a seamless omnichannel strategy is critical for success.
But it also requires a lot of planning and upkeep to ensure your reps are consistent in messaging across all of your channels: website, mobile apps, social media, voice, etc. Between campaigns, promotional offers, customer service information and more, it can be easy for your sales and support teams to get misaligned on messaging.
How cloud communications can help ensure consistent messaging across channels:
→ Tear down internal silos: Trying to get customer support from a brand that works off a siloed communications model isn’t just annoying for the customer– it’s detrimental to your business. 75% of customers want a consistent experience no matter what channel they connect through.
From CRM notes to Helpdesk tickets and more, unified communication tools empower your teams to break down silos and work within a centralized interface. Through platform integrations, your teams can help increase productivity, automate workflows and reduce your total cost of ownership (TCO).
3. Lack of real-time assistance
In addition to being able to reach you from any channel, customers also want you to respond immediately. In fact, 71% of customers expect real-time responses from customer support staff. And if you don’t provide the assistance they require, your customers will just go to a competitor who does.
How cloud communications can help you provide real-time assistance:
→ Provide a seamless digital experience: Integrations also help customer service and support teams manage requests within a single interface. From live chat, SMS/text messaging and social media, your teams can easily manage all incoming and outgoing conversations.
→ Enhance customer call experiences: 71% of customers still prefer phone support over all other channels. And it's often the first channel they turn to after a self-service attempt fails. This makes it critical for eCommerce teams to have a phone support option with smooth, uninterrupted communications.
With a toll-free line, you can allow your customers to reach you from anywhere in the world for free. Toll-free numbers are portable, affordable and work within your cloud platforms.
4. Missing personalization
With as much data as customers share with eCommerce companies, personalization is a bare minimum expectation. In many cases, your brand collects their birthday, clothing size, website history and purchasing data. They expect you to use that intel to create a customized shopping experience. It isn’t just good service, it’s smart business– 80% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company that provides a tailored experience.
How cloud communications can help you provide personalized experiences:
→ Make their shopping experience memorable: If you really want to thrill and delight your customers, personalized experiences are your ticket to success. Because of the robust integrations, cloud communications can make it possible. A few ways the cloud can help you achieve personalized campaigns this season include:
- Sending personalized SMS campaigns
- Humanizing your IVR/ACD messaging
- Implementing chatbots that use personalization to automate a customized experience
- Pulling real-time and historical data on your caller to tailor your conversation and advertising endeavors
5. Security concerns
As cyber security hacks and online fraud continue to grow around the globe, customers are becoming increasingly selective about which merchants they provide data to.
eCommerce stores in particular are a hot target for hackers as they collect a treasure trove of personal and financial information. If customers don’t feel their information is secure with you, they won’t hand over their credit card information, which could ultimately hinder your holiday sales.
How cloud communications can help secure your websites:
→ Take action to ensure customers feel secure: Following the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) is a great way to help customers feel more secure. PCI is the industry standard that ensures credit card info collected is being transmitted and stored in a secure manner. Cloud communications tools make it extremely simple to maintain compliance across your website, phone and any other customer communications channels. Look for a cloud communications provider who follows PCI-DSS protocols and has the tools to mitigate telecom fraud.
Implementing Your Holiday Customer Experience Strategy Starts Now
As you prepare for your holiday shopping seasons, putting the right tools in place to ensure your customers have a seamless and fast experience will be critical to your success. Now is the time to start optimizing your holiday season strategy to address the pain points listed above. If you go into the season with siloed communications, slow service and a lack of security protection, you risk losing out on big fiscal year revenue.
Implementing your holiday customer success strategy doesn’t have to be difficult with the right customer experience tools. See how the AVOXI Platform can help you deliver a delightful customer experience this holiday season and beyond.
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