The world is becoming ever more digitized by the day. There’s nothing particularly profound about that statement, as mobile devices and the Internet are almost completely ingrained into our everyday lives at this point. There are, however, profound implications for the business and service sectors.
As we as a species become ever more entwined in the world of digital communications, the way in which we do business with one another must change. And changing it is – this Cyber Monday, Amazon.com (News - Alert) recorded record-breaking transactions per second, with over 36.8 million items ordered worldwide. Indeed, Forrester (News - Alert) Research projects that the average U.S. shopper will spend $1,738 annually online in 2016, totaling some $327 billion. In Europe, meanwhile, Mintel Research sees online retail sales doubling by 2018 to $438 billion. Thus, businesses must be prepared to meet their customers in the digital arena if they are to stay relevant going forward – and that includes the customer service department.
The online customer experience is not unique to retail, however. There are plenty of other products and services that exist in the digital realm, which also call for next-generation customer care. Take Match.com, a popular online dating service, for example.
Used by millions, the company operates entirely online. And, given that the service is Web-based, it only makes sense that it should offer its members Web-based customer support options.
Among other tools, the company employs co-browsing technology from Oracle (News - Alert), powered by LiveLook’s Co-Browse solution. With this, Match.com is able to utilize robust and secure screen sharing capabilities, allowing customer service representatives to guide members in real time through the site.
“Our member base age range is diverse, so we encounter members who need a little extra assistance in navigating some features on our site. And since we know photos are important to successful profiles, we’ve had great success using Oracle RightNow Cobrowse Cloud Service to assist them in finding and uploading photos (a critical key to online dating success). And we’ve seen really great results. The customer satisfaction rates of cobrowse interactions average 98 percent,” explained Match.com Senior Vice President of Customer Care Michele Watson in an interview with Oracle’s Tony Berk.
The success rate alone should enough to convince any organization of the merits of co-browsing technology. Going back to e-commerce, such technology can be particularly useful for assisting customers through complex Web forms, checkout processes and account management in both the retail and financial sectors. It can also be used to facilitate technological training or to provide step-by-step troubleshooting support for both customers and business partners.
The potential applications are seemingly limitless, and in a seemingly limitless sea of technological innovation, this is just what a company needs to stay ahead.
Edited by Alisen Downey