What Online Shoppers Want in Customer Service

Online shoppers expect a lot from their ecommerce companies today. No longer will they tolerate 48-hour delays in responses to email, or a 30-minute wait time to reach the call center. Their idea of what customer service should be like can be summed up by the common phrase “the right product at the right time to the right place at the right price.” But more specifically, their top expectations from retailers are:

Fast turnaround on calls and emails. One frequently cited complaint of consumers is that companies take too long to reply to their queries. It’s no longer acceptable to take 48 hours to reply to an email or return a phone call, nor do they tolerate being passed from agent to agent or put on hold for long periods. They expect to be helped quickly, or they’ll move to the retailer’s social media presence to get help there. It’s not smart to teach consumers to crowd your Facebook page with help requests, especially when most of those queries will have to be dealt with offline anyhow. Should you also happen to be slow in responding to their Facebook post, you also risk destroying your social media reputation. Work harder to ensure rapid replies to customer service phone calls and emails.

Flexible delivery options. Free and overnight shipping are common consumer expectations today, and virtually no consumer is willing to wait long for an order. With the increasing number of delivery services available from outsourcers, there’s no reason a retailer can’t provide fast, inexpensive delivery services that fit each customer’s needs. Some providers will offer scheduled delivery windows so the consumer can plan to be home when the package comes, or will deliver to a post box or alternate address for a more convenient pickup. No excuses for slow or inconvenient deliveries.

Read More – What Online Shoppers Want in Customer Service | NetSuite Blog.