But how do you know if your support operations are disconnected? Here are some of the prominent signs of an inconsistent eCommerce experience:

• You can’t tell when the same customer reaches out for support on across different channels, and you treat them as a first-timer without context

• You don’t have a support CRM purpose-built for the unique needs of eCommerce customers; you force-fit processes around generic tools instead

• Your online and brick-and-mortar stores don’t talk to each other well to deliver a consistent experience

If these problems sound familiar to you, be assured that most eCommerce support teams go through similar pain. That’s why, in this blog, we’re going to explore how Bicycle Warehouse took on these challenges head on by unifying their support operations, reduced agent workload, and improved response times with Richpanel.

Bicycle Warehouse Needed a Tool that Would Never Require Agents to Leave their Support Window

Bicycle Warehouse, an online and offline retailer for bicycle enthusiasts, is a household name in San Diego. Receiving over 2500 tickets on a monthly basis–almost half of which were through a separate phone line–they needed a system that could track customer requests across channels. 

Brian Ryder, their eCommerce Manager, felt that understanding customer context and differentiating between online and offline requests was a huge tradeoff at that point.

A standalone chat software, separate phone line, and Zendesk for emails were not only detrimental to customer and agent experience but were cutting into Bicycle Warehouse’s operating costs with little payoff.

All things considered, making the transition to an eCommerce-first support software like Richpanel was a natural call for Brian Ryder. Richpanel’s fluid integration with Aircall for telephony was another factor that nudged Brian, because the phone line would now feel like an extension of Richpanel along with Shopify, social media, live chat and instant messaging channels.

Understanding How to Leverage eCommerce Support CRM – Bicycle Warehouse’s Success Story with Richpanel

Customers and agents face a lot of hurdles in keeping each other on the same page. Based on the use-cases that Bicycle Warehouse solved with Richpanel, here are some proven ways to leverage a fully integrated eCommerce support CRM.

Putting Customer Context at the Forefront of Agent Tasks

Imagine you’re on live chat enquiring the best lightweight bicycles for long off-roads. And the agent cold transfers you to another internal expert for a callback. And when you receive a callback you realize that you have to repeat yourself all over again, down to every detail that you mentioned in the chat. This is just one example of loss of context between channels.

Before Richpanel, Bicycle Warehouse did not have a foolproof way to identify buyer intent and the context behind customer requests. Apart from finding all customer conversations in one place, agents could also access the lifetime value, product interactions on the website, order history, and all relevant Shopify fields that help know the customer better.

Richpanel’s deep integration with Aircall helped Bicycle Warehouse integrate their 5 physical stores and also bridge the experience gap between online and offline call support.

Advantages of a context-rich omnichannel customer view for agents

• Agents can personalize customer interactions with readily available personal information across channels and systems

• Ensure faster response and resolution times as the historical context provided by the 360-degree view removes the uncertainty in responses

• Open up opportunities to proactively recommend products based on their recent interactions and interests

Learn More: Omnichannel Customer Service: How to Ace CX on all Channels

Automating Routine Tasks for Faster Responses and Reduced Workload

Bicycle Warehouse has always had a very lean support team. In fact, it was just one person most times. But their growing patronage was starting to affect their existing processes with an overwhelming volume of customer queries. 

But with the automation functionalities offered by Richpanel, they resolved more queries and reduced their workload without adding any headcount to their support team. Bicycle Warehouse resolved 80% of their tickets with either zero-touch resolution through self-service and auto replies; or automation-assisted features such as macros and insta actions.

3 Impactful ways Bicycle Warehouse Utilized Richpanel’s Automation Capabilities

• Self-service widget: Solved for routine enquiries such as “where’s my order” and “is the model available” with a dedicated self-service widget on the website. The returns process was especially streamlined, getting the back and forth qualifying conversations between agents and customers out of the picture.

• Automated routing: Tickets around warranty and in-store queries required inputs from the respective experts. These tickets were routed directly to the right team without an online support agent acting as liaison and passing on information.

• Macros and insta actions: Leveraged “plug and play” workflows and “drag and drop” replies for different support scenarios with just 2-3 clicks for a ticket.

Real Revenue Impact from Customer Support

Having automated a major chunk of the common customer queries with self service, agents now had more time to engage in personal 1:1 conversations. For instance, as customers interact on the website’s live chat, Bicycle Warehouse could respond faster without a hard wait time and nurture customers with personalized suggestions.

The CX team became a significant revenue driver contributing about 12% of the total revenue. 

Richpanel's detailed reports helped them continuously look for improvements. The report drill-down allows the team to unearth more avenues for revenue growth.

Conversational commerce has never been this simple 

Richpanel is a tool purpose-built to uncomplicate eCommerce customer support. There’s no longer a need to settle for a generic agent helpdesk that doesn’t adapt to the whims of the unique problems in the eCommerce space.

By putting conversational commerce at the heart of its operations, Bicycle Warehouse continues to build a moat high on personalization, self-service, and a seamless digital experience. Bicycle Warehouse has ambitious goals for 2023 as they are set to leverage Richpanel’s self-service widget to collect buyer preferences and make hyper-personalized product recommendations.

If you are running an eCommerce store with a lean support team and want to deliver on world-class, Amazon-like support with at least 50% less ticket burden on your agents, schedule a personalized demo with us and we’ll show you how Richpanel can add tangible value in no time.
Siloed and disconnected customer experiences is a typical problem faced by eCommerce companies that are on an ambitious growth trajectory. It’s a growth pain that presents itself when it’s time for brands to optimize their store for the growing ticket value and an ever-increasing inflow of customer queries.