Ecommerce Customer Service Experience: Why Does it Matter & How to Improve

ECommerce customer service is vital to the success of any online store. It's one of the most important aspects of running a successful eCommerce business.

With the rise of online shopping and the growth of eCommerce, businesses are under pressure to provide a better customer service experience than ever before.

And Amazon is leading the pack when it comes to customer service experience. That does not mean retailers are left in the dust, though. There are many ways to improve eCommerce customer service experience for businesses of all sizes. 

This article will explore some of the best ways to improve eCommerce customer service. By the end, you'll have a better understanding of what it takes to provide an exceptional customer service experience for your online store.

What Is Ecommerce Customer Experience? Why Does it Matter?

The Ecommerce customer experience (CX) is the customer's overall experience when interacting with your online store, from the first time they visit your website to post-purchase follow-up. A positive ecommerce customer service experience can lead to increased sales and customer loyalty, while a negative experience will drive customers away.

CX is important because it’s one of the main factors determining whether a shopper will purchase from your store. A study found that 88% of consumers will leave the brand they trust after two poor customer service experiences. 

ECommerce CX has many different aspects, but the most important ones include website design, navigation, product pages, checkout process, customer service, and post-purchase follow-up.

Customer service is a crucial part of the eCommerce customer experience. Good customer service can help resolve issues and improve the overall experience, while lousy service will only worsen.

Reasons Why Ecommerce Customer Experience Matters

There are many reasons why you must invest in building your store's customer experience. But here are three major reasons why customer service experience is important and you should spend the time working on it:

1. Improves Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) Through Good Customer Service

Good customer service is essential to maintaining high customer lifetime value (CLV). CLV measures the total value a customer brings to your business throughout their relationship with you. This includes their initial purchase and any repeat business, referrals, and word-of-mouth marketing they generate.

2. Good Customer Experience is a Direct Proposition to Increase NPS

The customer experience (CX) is a significant factor in determining your company’s Net Promoter Score® (NPS). NPS is a measure of customer delight and loyalty, and it’s a key metric for businesses of all sizes. The higher your NPS, the more likely your customers will recommend you to their friends and family.

3. Helps To Build Trust and Credibility

Customer service is a key part of building trust and credibility with your customers. If you can’t resolve customer issues or fulfill customer expectations efficiently and effectively , they’re not likely to trust you with their business again. Trust is essential for maintaining long-term relationships with customers and fulfilling customers expectations.

Investing in good customer service will pay off in the long run by improving ecommerce CX and increasing CLV.

We've been talking about how customer service impacts customer experience and helps increase your CLV. But what's the difference between these terms?

Related Read : Key Strategies to Boost Ecommerce Customer Experience

Customer Experience vs. Customer Service

Customer service and customer experience are used interchangeably quite frequently, but they represent two very different concepts. Let's look at a quick comparison between these two terms.

Customer experience refers to the overall feeling that a customer has when interacting with a company. Customer service specifically refers to the act of assisting customers

Customer experience is about creating a deeper connection with customers over the long term.

Customer service is more about providing support when they need it most.

Positive customer experience relies on creating positive emotions and exceeding customer expectations

Good customer service relies on solving problems efficiently.

Customer experience encompasses the entire journey a customer has with a company. Customer service is just one touchpoint along that journey. Improving customer experience requires looking at the big picture and making changes accordingly. Improving customer service means making changes to specific processes or touchpoints.

Customer experience is the overall impression that a customer has of your company, based on all of their interactions with your brand. This includes everything from the quality of your products or services to the way your employees treat them.

Customer service, on the other hand, is a specific interaction between a customer and your company that is focused on solving a problem or addressing a need. This could be anything from answering a question about how to use your product to dealing with returns or exchanges.

While customer service is an important part of the customer experience, it's one piece of the puzzle. To truly create a great experience, you need to focus on the entire journey that your customers take with your brand.

But, how can you improve the customer service experience of your eCommerce store? Are there best practices that you can follow to get started? 

How to Improve Customer Service Experience

There are many ways to improve your customer service experience. By following a few simple tips, you can make sure that your customers have a positive experience every time they interact with your business.

Handling Complexity in  Customer Service

As your business grows, you'll likely handle more customer service requests. This can be difficult to manage, but there are some things you can do to make sure your customers have a positive experience.

Many businesses are now using self-service and automation to relieve the load on agents and make it more streamlined and straightforward for customers.

Self-service helps reduce the number of calls or chat requests to your support centre. It also helps free up agents to handle more complex issues. You can also add forms like Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSAT) to ensure that customer feedback is properly taken care of.

Automation offers customers the information they need without waiting for an agent to become available. Many chat support tools automatically pull data from your FAQs based on keywords used by customers. This can solve the majority of your repeating queries. 

Using self-service and automation can provide a better customer service experience by making it easier for customers to get the information and assistance they need. You can also improve efficiency in your customer service centre, leading to lower costs.

Related Read : Customer Self-Service: Benefits, Best Practices & Examples

Supporting Customers at Multiple Touch Points

Customers today are active on multiple touch points like social media platforms, WhatsApp, email, and phone. Businesses need to be present on all these platforms to ensure they don't miss out on any customer queries or complaints.

The easiest way to do this is to use customer support software that offers multi-channel support. This way, you can manage all your customer interactions from one central place. These tools help you support customers on multiple touch points using an omnichannel approach. This means that your business is present on all channels, but each interaction is treated as part of a more extensive customer journey. 

Many customer support software tools also can automate repetitive tasks like sending out follow-up emails, responding to common questions, or taking customer feedback making it easier to manage support.

By supporting customers on multiple touch points, you can provide a better customer experience by ensuring that you're always available when customers need you.

Offer Superior Post Purchase Support

A great customer service experience doesn't end after the purchase is made. Post-purchase support is just as crucial as pre-purchase support. There are a few things you can do to offer superior post-purchase support.
First, make sure you have a system to track and respond to customer complaints. This way, you can quickly resolve any issues that may arise.
Second, proactively reach out to customers after they make a purchase. This can be done through follow-up emails or phone calls. Ask them how they're enjoying the product and if they have any questions or concerns.

Finally, offer additional services like product insurance or extended warranties. This shows customers that you're committed to their satisfaction and there to help if anything goes wrong. And keep raising the service quality every so often.
By offering superior post-purchase support, you can ensure that your customers are happy with their purchases and don't quick buying from you because of a bad customer service experience.

Leverage Analytics and Planning

Customer service is an integral part of any business, but it's often difficult to know how to improve it. This is where analytics and planning come in.

Analytics:

Analytics can help you track customer satisfaction levels, agent performance, and customers' most common issues. This data can then be used to improve your customer service strategy.

Planning

Planning is essential for great customer service experiences. You need to set goals and target metrics that you want to improve. It will help you focus your efforts and ensure that you're making progress.

Leveraging analytics and planning can help you improve your customer service to leave a positive impression. By tracking data and setting goals, you can ensure that your customer service is constantly improving.

Conclusion

Excellent customer support is an integral part of delivering superior customer experiences. While there's a lot more you can do to improve customer experience on your eCommerce website, providing excellent customer support is a great place to start. It's important to remember that customers are the lifeblood of any business, and their satisfaction should always be a top priority.

By delivering exceptional customer experiences, you'll keep your customers happy, ensuring their loyalty and repeat purchases. So, if you want to know how to improve customer experience in eCommerce, this is where you can start!

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