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Closing the Gap Between Online and Offline Customer Support Quality
The most important factors that are continuing to contribute to the growth of online shopping are likely convenience and availability. Retail stores, unable to stock everything a customer might want, are instead stocking best sellers and leaving other merchandise to the online channel. Customers, juggling busy lives, appreciate the ability to order merchandise off the computer or mobile device. For these reasons and others, more than one-third (35 percent) of American adults are doing more of their shopping online than they were even just a year ago.
That’s the good news for the online channel. The bad news is that online customer support is miles and miles away in terms of quality of where customers would like it to be. A recent Gallup study found that most retailers are falling short of delivering the ideal online experience because when it comes to engaging customers who are shopping online, service is more important to customers than products. It may be a matter of companies trying to do too much with too few resources.
“Before retailers move to expand existing channels or create new ones, such as mobile apps and social media, they need to examine the customer experience they're currently providing online,” wrote Kurt Deneen and Daniela Yu for Gallup’s Business Journal. “Getting the online experience right provides retailers a significant opportunity to increase customer engagement and to grow their business.”
There is evidence that due to poor customer service, companies are not only missing opportunities for growth, they are actively driving customers away.
“Gallup analysis shows that the more a customer shops online, the more likely he or she is to become antagonistic toward a brand,” wrote Deneen and Yu. “Among retail customers overall, about one in six (17 percent) are fully engaged, while the majority are indifferent (58 percent) or are neutral and don't care, while one in four are actively disengaged.”
As more customers move to online shopping, companies that take an opportunity to improve the quality of their online customer engagement will be well positioned to reap huge rewards. This will involve making online support more personalized and friendly. Adding live chat could be a significant driver of this, according to Gallup.
“[Customer support agents] should also offer personalized recommendations and take extra steps to individualize the shopping experience for their customers,” according to the company.
Other tactics to improve the quality of online customer support include ensuring that all channels, including online and brick-and-mortar, are in sync. A major source of frustration for customers is when action taking in one channel does not carry over to another.
“Customers will continue to shop online and offline, reinforcing that retailers must provide them an aligned experience both online and in person,” wrote Deneen and Yu. “Merely focusing on digital solutions will not be enough to fully engage customers; retailers must deliver a seamless online and in-person experience. Customers want a consistent brand experience across all channels.”
Edited by Stefania Viscusi