Our many years of experience with e-commerce customers has shown that in many cases, store owners want to minimize the number of calls from customers in the first place. It turns out that for many users it is more convenient to call the phone number that is always visible in the header of the site, than to look for the information they need. In order to reduce the frequency of direct contact, we always focus on a clear presentation of information and the transparency of the store. Thanks to hundreds of audits carried out, we were able to observe what mistakes shop owners most often make and how customer satisfaction increases after the implementation of changes. If you want to achieve the same effect at low cost — we invite you to read!
Based on our experience with many stores and the advice we share with our customers, we have prepared 10 ideas for customer service in your store at the highest level, thanks to which you will be able to serve customers in a practically contactless way.
Customer service, help, frequently asked questions, contact
These are generally accepted forms of names for customer service-related sections that users are used to and should be used on the store's website. Important information such as returns, delivery or payments should be linked separately, not just in the general customer service tab, so that users can quickly reach them.
Links to help or customer service
They are available from anywhere on the site. Remember that they are always in the same location (e.g. at the main navigation, in the top bar or at the bottom of the page). Do not make users look for links in different places, and especially make them available during the purchase process. This is a crucial moment in which you should lead the customer to finalize the purchase, so any doubts or problems should be solved immediately. Also, make sure that the user who uses such a support link can easily return to the purchase process and does not have to fill in all the details again. You can include the most important information in the same view (e.g. under the form), in the form of a modal window, or add a “Go back to shopping” button with the ability to go to the moment the user left.
Privacy Policy and Terms
All information related to the privacy policy or the rules of the store should be in all places in the store. Remember to make sure that the information is consistent, not mutually exclusive in each document, in the terms and conditions, privacy policy, frequently asked questions and other such subpages.
Product Returns and Complaints
If such an option is possible in your store, provide all instructions for the return. Try to simplify this procedure so that the user does not need too many documents (and preferably none), also take care of a simple form and explain the whole process and the waiting time for consideration of the reason for the return or complaint. Thanks to this, you will avoid unnecessary questions, calls or messages and users will be satisfied with the accessible and simple possibility of return. To further increase satisfaction with this type of service, allow customers to track the status of a product return or complaint. This option should be available not only to customers who have an account in your store, but also to those who are not logged in (e.g. via a link sent in an email).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
For FAQ pages with 20 questions or less, the questions and answers should be on the same page, without having to expand them or go to subsequent subpages. If possible, group questions by topics such as shipping, payments, warranty, etc. Remember that this section is primarily about user priorities rather than business, so focus on questions that your customers could actually ask (or are already asking). A good source of this type of information will be the customer service department that is closest to the problems of your users. In the case of an extensive FAQ section, for stores with a specialized range of products, it is worth considering introducing a search engine, showing users the most frequently asked topics, allowing them to sort by category of questions or listing some of the most popular keywords so that they can quickly reach the answer they are looking for.
Walkthrough
In the case of complex products or specific purchases, it is worth providing users with some kind of guide or ongoing assistance in the purchasing process, which will facilitate the selection of the product or its configuration. Explain at every step what the user should do, make sure that each field is legible, show examples of their completion and design friendly handling of errors in the forms. For example, if a user provides an incorrect email address, don't limit the information to just finding an error in that field. You can specify the required format of the email address and ask to check the entered content again.
Contact Information
Information about the available contact with the store should also include the working hours and the expected response time to the response by e-mail. If users know how long they can wait for an answer to a question they didn't find on the site, they won't be stressed by the lack of news on your part. Also, remember to stick to the promise, write back at the set time and not leave the user unanswered!
Live Support
Consider introducing on-line chat. It is an increasingly popular form of contact that is fast, always accessible and convenient. When implementing this functionality, make sure that the chat window does not interfere with users browsing the store or obscure its most important elements. Remind about the possibility of this type of contact only at appropriate moments, e.g. during a long break in the user's browsing, after visiting several product cards, etc.
Proactive customer service
It is a business approach to customer service that is about getting ahead of potential problems and questions from users by giving answers and solutions in a timely manner. The opposite of such a proactive attitude will be, for example, providing a telephone number or e-mail address everywhere to contact in case of questions. Keep in mind that not all users will want to contact you. Some of them will bypass your store with a wide arc if the solution is not quickly available. To properly design such solutions, carefully trace the path of your users, conduct research, analyze their traffic with the available tools and draw the appropriate conclusions. Try to optimize the customer journey so that the store is the first to reach out to its users and overtake any potential concerns. Such an example element often used in stores are guides, but you can also add hints and tips when browsing products (for example, if suede shoes need special care, it is worth recommending a special remedy and informing the customer about how to care for the material), add frequently asked questions to a given product, etc. There are many ways, if you only know exactly what your potential customers need, what issues are for They are key and what they pay attention to when shopping.
Omnichannel
It is the strategy of the organization, which is to have access to all methods of contact for the client. It focuses on operating through multiple channels of reach that are intertwined and consistent. Thanks to this, users can find the store through any medium and in many available ways. Despite the well-developed information section, frequently asked questions and instructions for users of your store, there may be people who decide to contact directly anyway. So give them the opportunity to communicate through any channel convenient for them. Don't limit yourself to just a standard phone or email and be where your audience is — on social media, via mobile app or chat. Remember not to focus on just one way of contact and mark at the links to the store profiles in social media that they can also count on a response there. Don't hide your customer service phone number at all costs, as this can be a quick way to lower conversions in your store.
We encourage you to try at least a few of the above ideas. We are sure that they will bring the desired results, and after some time you will manage to reduce the number of incoming calls from customers to a minimum. At the same time, we remind you that completely hiding contact details will have the opposite effect - the store will lose its credibility and some users who need direct contact will abandon the purchase altogether. It is better not to cut off this road
