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Customer Service in Ecommerce: The Best Practises

11 min read

There are many vital moving parts to running a successful ecommerce store, from creating a quality product to efficiently shipping it to customers. However, one of the most crucial parts—and sometimes neglected—is high-quality customer service.

After all, there is a sea of ecommerce competition across the web; making a product easy to buy is sometimes not enough to set a business apart. Customers also need access to a workable support service to answer their questions and address any issues with the product.

So, the first question any ecommerce business should ask themselves is what is customer service, and what does it entail?

What is Customer Service?

Before delving deeper, let’s first define what customer service means.

At its core, customer service is about continuing to provide service and support to those who purchase a product or service from a business.

This responsibility extends to all businesses, whether they operate in a physical store or an online store. As an ecommerce business, you have a unique opportunity to connect with your customers and provide them with a seamless shopping experience; customer service is a key part of that.

What is Good Customer Service?

So, what is good customer service in ecommerce, and what are the tenets contributing to successful customer interactions? Realistically, shopping in an online store is significantly different from in-store shopping, which means it needs its own attention to customer service.

It is not enough to just have customer service, as it also needs to be effective and satisfactory. In fact, a report by Emplifi found that 87% of businesses think they provide adequate customer service, while only 11% of customers agree. This shows that businesses need to consider what the customer wants rather than purely their internal perspective about customer service.

Let’s take a look at some of the ecommerce customer service best practices that can help businesses improve their customer satisfaction.

Options for the Customers

The digital age has introduced numerous methods for businesses and customers to address customer service needs. There are phone lines, live chats, email, and even chatbots that can resolve many issues. However, it is important to recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all approach.

One customer may prefer to chat online, while others want to speak to a live agent on the phone. This means that ecommerce businesses need to be prepared to meet customers of all types on their ideal method of communication.

The most effective strategy is a multi-channel customer service approach that allows any customer to receive their desired form of customer service. Of course, this can be more difficult in the early days of a business with limited staff.

However, as operations scale, ecommerce businesses need to ensure that their customer service scales upward to handle the additional traffic.

Self-Service Customer Support

While a multi-channel approach is important, as mentioned above, self-service support is one of the most preferred methods in the modern age. Many customers prefer the customer service method of least resistance, such as a knowledge database where they can go to answer their questions.

Of course, a knowledge base may not resolve some of the more complex issues, but it can be an excellent way to handle many of the more straightforward and common problems.

Beyond this, having chatbots or a live chat service where customers can easily ask their questions can help solve many issues before they need to be escalated any higher.

Efficient Response Time

One of the most vital factors in efficient customer service is response time.

More than ever, customers expect their needs and difficulties to be addressed in a convenient and timely manner. Any time a customer reaches out to the service department, they are expecting a fast response with effective advice or assistance.

An ecommerce business can offer a multitude of customer service channels, but this becomes useless if those channels cannot be attended to quickly.

Of course, quality is also a crucial part of customer service. The most effective customer service operations will offer an adequate balance of timely response and a consistent level of quality.

Concentrating too much on speed can lead to ineffective customer service while spending too much time on easy difficulties can lead to slower responses. Each business needs to ensure they have an adequate customer service team that can attend to both sides of the equation.

Personalization is Key

Self-service customer support can answer many common questions, but other issues may require a more personal touch. Ecommerce businesses need to remember that they are up against a sea of competition in the online space, and just a little bit of personalization can set them apart from the crowd.

Some customers may need an agent they can contact for expert advice on purchases or technical issues. Not only does this help establish the business as knowledgeable in their own product, but it also helps create retention.

A customer who receives some personal attention will be more likely to return for additional purchases and recommend the site to others.

Customer Reviews: The Best Source for Improving Customer Service for Ecommerce Businesses

If an ecommerce business is looking for ways to improve its customer service, one of the best places to check is its customer reviews. Customers want to know they are heard and their difficulties or complaints are being addressed.

It can be easy for customers to turn away from a brand when they see that their feedback is not being acknowledged or acted upon. According to a Microsoft report, 77% of customers view a brand more favorably when feedback is invited and accepted.

Tracking and Improving

Ecommerce businesses need to remember that customer service is not a stagnant department. There is always room for positive change and improvement.

This means that every ecommerce business should keep track of key performance indicators of their customer service, such as response time, issues resolved, customers returning with the same issue, common complaints, busiest hours, etc.

These statistics offer data on where significant improvements can be made or where problems are cropping up. Keeping track of important metrics delivers concrete backing for future decisions or changes.

Wrapping Up

For any ecommerce business to truly thrive in the competitive online market, efficient customer service is key. This department should never be neglected; it can be crucial to customer retention and brand reputation. Every ecommerce business should regularly monitor weak areas and look for methods to improve its customer service delivery.

Ecwid: Your Ecommerce Partner

If you are considering starting your first ecommerce store or launching another one, Ecwid is the perfect partner. Our selling platform can be integrated with various online stores, including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Etsy, and more. Even better, our platform offers one easy-to-use dashboard, which makes it a breeze to see the performance of all your storefronts at a glance.

To learn more, check out the rest of our blog posts or click here to get started for free today. You can also check out the Ecwid Academy to learn everything you need to know about running a successful online store, from setting it up to efficient customer service support.

Frequently Asked Questions

Check out some of the most frequently asked questions about ecommerce customer service.

What is the Purpose of Customer Service for Ecommerce?

The purpose of customer service is to offer a channel of communication between customers and a business to resolve issues, ask questions, and handle any difficulties. Whether a customer purchased a product or service from an online or physical store, they need somewhere they can turn for consultation regarding that product or service.

Why is Customer Service Important?

Customer service is important for ensuring that a customer continues to be happy with the product or service that they purchased from a business.

However, it goes much further than that. While immediate customer service allows a buyer to ask questions or handle difficulties, it also promotes confidence in the brand. If customers cannot contact someone to address these issues, they will be less likely to buy again or recommend the brand to others.

Is Ecommerce Customer Service Outsourcing Worth It?

Some ecommerce brands may not have the staff to handle significant customer service traffic internally. This can lead to businesses considering outsourcing their customer service department.

While this can be effective, there are some caveats to it. If the outsourced customer service team is not well-versed in the product or can confidently address the customer’s needs, it can lead to further frustration or dissatisfaction.

If an ecommerce business is considering outsourcing its customer service needs, it needs to ensure it works with a reputable company that fully understands the product or service. Additionally, the outsourced team must be educated and able to address virtually any issues.

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Feb 16, 2024

About the author

Max has been working in the ecommerce industry for the last six years helping brands to establish and level-up content marketing and SEO. Despite that, he has experience with entrepreneurship. He is a fiction writer in his free time.