Intro
When it comes to running an eCommerce business, it is very important to consider the well-being of your customers. Customer service is a core part of businesses success, and though you may not be dealing with them face to face it is crucial that it is done well.
Because of the solely online nature of eCommerce business, you must ensure that your customer service is pristine to create loyal buyers. Over 80% of online customers cite poor customer service as a deciding factor in stopping them from shopping at an eCommerce business.
This blog will discuss why customer service is so important in eCommerce business, as well as ways to better your service.
Create Loyal Customers to Your eCommerce Business
A business with great customer service encourages customers to continue shopping with them. Displaying care when dealing with customers shows them that you are a business that prioritises their interests and concerns.
Moreover, being able to retain customers is more cost-effective in the long term. It can be very expensive to continuously invest in attracting new customers, costs mainly include marketing and advertising. However, if you can encourage customer loyalty you create a consistent revenue pool and improve your word of mouth in the space.
Better Public Image
Your brand’s image is very important to its success and longevity. This is even more so for eCommerce businesses, as not having a physical storefront means customer impressions will mainly come from their online shopping experience.
Good customer service strengthens the trust customers have in your eCommerce business, this can help in opening the door to more opportunities for your brand. Also, customers are more likely to forgive occasional mishaps from businesses if they have been shown to display great customer service. People may forget what you say, but never how you make them feel. As such, great customer service is very important in bolstering public perception of your eCommerce business.
Increase Your eCommerce Business Profits
It’s simple, the more customers are coming back to buy, the more profit you will make. Great customer service encourages repeat buyers for your eCommerce business. As a result, this will only serve to positively impact your profit margins. If customers are constantly coming back to you then they aren’t going to your competitors. Because of this, great customer service coincides with making yourself more competitive within the marketplace. This leads to growth in profits since customers are seeing you as the gold standard for the products they want.
This further reinforces the importance of customer service in eCommerce business.
Now that we’ve given many reasons why great customer service is vital, we will now discuss some tips as an eCommerce business you can use to improve it.
Ways To Develop Better Customer Service
Use Customer Feedback
Your customer’s experience shopping with you is important, and what they have to say can be beneficial to improving your services. Pay attention to the concerns and reviews that your customers give for your products. If you want to retain customers it is ideal that you listen to and consider improvements they suggest. This doesn’t mean you have to take onboard everything a customer says, but be mindful of how they communicate their feedback.
Personalise the Customer Experience
Just like customer feedback, the experience of your customers shopping at your business can give cues on how to better your service. Customers respect brands that show authenticity, and this can be done effectively by tailoring your services to the customer themselves. Personalisation can separate you from your competitors. Simple ways to do so can be showing repeat customers a recommended products tab on your site which suggests items based on prior purchases. This proves great for improving brand image and retaining customers.
Create Video Tutorials
Another great way to improve your eCommerce business’ customer service is by creating tutorial videos. If you have a product that could benefit with a video walk-through on how to use and operate it this can ease the customer experience.
Tutorials allow you to educate your customers on your products. Doing so can help increase the trust that customers have in your eCommerce business. These videos can also further bolster the reputation of your brand. Customers strongly value brands that can teach them things without a fee, and video tutorials are a great way to improve your customer service while doing so. Good news is that there are various types of videos you can use to better engage with customers.
Use Social Media to Engage With Customers
Social media is called what it is for a reason. It is a great tool to use to communicate with people to varying effects. As an eCommerce business, social media can prove useful in creating and sustaining meaningful engagement with customers. Platforms such as Twitter allow you to conduct polls, which are great to gauge customer perceptions of your brand and products.
Moreover, social media allows for direct and immediate communication with your customers. Being active and present is important as a business, and as such social media is useful in staying relevant with your customers.
In Conclusion
Customer service is something that cannot be overlooked as an eCommerce business. How your customers interact with and experience shopping with you greatly influences your business’ reputation. Not only can good customer service improve profit by retaining customers, but it also gives you the edge over your competitors.
Good news is that there are simple ways to improve your customer service regardless of whether you are doing fine or not. This can range from personalising the customer experience with wish-lists as well as using social media to interact.
