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Online customer service: Mixing live talk with automated tech
USA: Last year's online shopping season surpassed US$29 billion in sales, up a full 20% from the previous holiday. More consumers did their shopping online than any holiday season before, due to the convenience and increasing popularity of the Internet as a way to get too many things done in too little time.
This year's online sales have already been projected to produce another solid online shopping season, with many analysts predicting another 20% increase in online shopping sales. How many more will make their gift-buying decisions online isn't the central issue. Rather, given the fact that more consumers are shopping online, is online customer service able to handle the rising traffic seen on retail sites?
The fact is that many sites still use e-mail to respond to customer queries or feedback or default to their search engines to help consumers without human contact at all. This is at conflict with some of the fundamental drivers behind the growth of the online retail industry.
The issue is not insignificant. Despite the Internet's massive growth and adoption as a shopping option, particularly for holiday consumers everywhere, customer service remains the ugly stepchild of America's business. Everyone wants online sales to continue to grow this year, but many are slow to evolve the manner in which they communicate with their customers on service and support matters. With the holiday season looming before us, the e-commerce industry needs to raise its level of customer service for an overall better customer experience in time for this year's gift buying season.
