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The holidays are (always) right around the corner

Christmas is over and Chinese New Year is around the corner. And while this may be a period of laughter and festivities for most people, for retailers it is typically a period of high stress, unreasonable demands and frenzied behaviour. This is because customers tend to be in a rush, wanting immediate and exceptional service. There are also likely to be an increased number of product returns, as individuals may have bought wrong products for loved ones during Christmas. All this can lead to a fall in customer satisfaction.

Here are some strategies for online retailers looking to make the most during the festive season, while at the same time providing the best service to their customers.

Be clear on your product return policy

Impulse buys or buying presents for others usually leads to high levels of product returns in the following weeks. Ensure the return policy is well displayed on the company website and that your customer agents know how to handle return policy queries. Typical questions include the period of when returns can be made, whether money reimbursement, item exchange or credit is provided, and how to return products that were shipped to the customer.

Also Read: 3 reasons why businesses should put the ‘help’ back in helpdesks

This information must be consistent across different platforms, so customers receive the same message, whether they make their purchase at the physical retail store, the business’ online store or third party platforms, such as Groupon.

Incorporate live chat – your friendly online sales assistant

Online shopping has been increasing in popularity. Forrester Research estimated that seasonal online sales would exceed US$100 billion in 2016. One reason why people prefer to shop online is to beat the queues and avoid the crowds. However, when shopping online, if the customer needs help, there is no one around to answer it. This is where live chat comes in handy.

This is a chat widget on the retailer’s website that allows customer agents to chat with customers real time, similar to how a friendly sales assistant would provide help in a retail store. Because live chat provides help quickly, customers like it. An ATG Global Consumer Trend study revealed 90 per cent of customers find live chat helpful.

Another benefit of live chat is that businesses can set automatic triggers when they sense a customer is having difficulty. For example, the live chat box can pop up automatically, offering assistance when the technology detects that the online customer is lingering too long at the checkout page. This significantly reduces shopping cart abandonment. Zendesk’s research found customers are three times more likely to make an online purchase when businesses reach out via live chat.

Encourage self-service

During the festive period, some employees may wish to take leave, which could result in insufficient customer agents available. Fortunately, most customers prefer to find answers on their own, as long as the information is easily accessible. Self-service solutions include website articles that address common issues, video tutorials to guide users on how the product works and an online community that offers crowdsourced support.

Not only are such solutions effective in keeping the customers happy, but they also reduce costs and pressure from the service team. By improving self-service offerings, it frees up customer agents’ time to provide support where it is really needed.

Care for your staff

The increase in festive season online shopping can be stressful for staff, and it is important they do not burn out. Businesses may wish to hire additional staff to reduce the load or rotate tasks around the existing team more effectively. Online retailers need to ensure support is available 24/7, as customers may come from anywhere in the world. Examine trends from previous years to understand where the majority of customers come from and when the bulk of support requests come in. This allows businesses to schedule support staff appropriately (including those that speak the right languages) and reduce waiting times.

Also Read: Indonesian companies lose 1 in 6 customers due to poor customer service

Recognition for hard work keeps staff motivated and on track to providing excellent customer service. Understanding better how the team operates allows businesses to identify and reward star employees. For instance, businesses can use analytics that measure agents’ performance, including their customer satisfaction ratings, first-call resolution rates and time taken to solve the problem.

By preparing themselves in advance for this busy period, online retailers can provide consistently great service, to keep their customers happy.

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Sandie Overtveld is the Vice President Sales, APAC at Zendesk, a company that builds software for better customer relationships.

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The post The holiday rush is yet upon us again; Here’s how to keep your customers happy during the festive period appeared first on e27.

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