In this day and age most people don’t think twice about making purchases online. The benefit of sitting at home on a computer, mobile phone, or tablet and being able to have an entire e-commerce world at your fingertips has created an ease in the shopping industry that can not be ignored.
Most consumers find a product of interest by visiting a retailers website or by doing a simple Internet search. Once a particular product has been found, most customers are then able to do research, read reviews, and add to their shopping cart to do a one-time online check out when they are done. Many customers no longer have to worry about making those uneducated; impulse buys because they have time to shop around.
However, the online retail market still needs some work, specifically in the UK. A live chat software company provider, Netop, completed a survey with more than 2000 consumers and businesses throughout Britain and found that also the companies participate happily in the online shopping experience, but don’t live up to buyers expectations when it comes to Social CRM and mobile care.
According to a recent press release customers want to connect with someone instantaneously rather than speak to a computer or go through a troubleshooting automated system. “Customers also prefer to engage online, from the comfort of their own home, using a tool such as live chat to help avoid call center misunderstandings that arise from unintelligible accents,” said Netop.
Although the results show exactly what customers want in a business’s customer service department, many are failing to provide those services. According to Netop’s results over 90 percent of the surveyors said their companies do not make the live chat service available to its customers. The results also showed that 75 percent of customers are typing waiting in a queued on the phone, while 71 percent try to get a response via email.
Kurt Bager, CEO at Netop, said that companies are missing out on satisfying its customers and there are simple solutions. “Live chat resolves almost all the problems of a call center and does so much more quickly. At the same it allows businesses to give a personalized service experience making customers feel more valued and bringing them closer to their brand,” said Bager. “Hands down, live chat beats listening to hold music and saves you having to pop into town to sort something out that could be easily addressed online.”
These results suggest that more businesses should take the time to offer more personalized customer service solutions to keep consumer satisfaction high because without it more businesses are likely to see decline in revenues.