4 Ways to Improve Customer Support for Your E-Commerce Business

It's no secret that the online market is infamous for being quite competitive and oversaturated. E-commerce businesses are predicted to reach $4.9 trillion in retail sales worldwide by 2021. This makes it difficult and challenging for new e-commerce stores to succeed in such an environment. However, the market conditions may not look all too well for new businesses but essentially, it's the consumers who have the final say.

As a matter of fact, consumers are more focused on who they're dealing with and what kind of experience they can provide. In other words, an e-commerce business can outrun even the more-developed competitors simply by providing customers with a better experience. That said, customer support is one of the most important factors in customer experience. If you can provide seamless support you'll definitely be able to improve the overall customer experience. With that in mind, here are a few ways to improve customer support for your e-commerce business.

Provide multichannel customer support

As you may already know, you have to be where your customers are. This is a simple rule to follow if you want to reach success and it also applies to customer support. E-commerce businesses usually don't have a specific target audience. They target a wide range of consumers that belong to various demographic groups and different generations. In other words, your customers are more likely to use different channels to contact your customer support and you must be available for them, to begin with.

As an example, the preferred channels by your customers may be social media, live chat, email, telephone, instant messaging apps and so on. That's where multichannel customer support can be a great advantage. Instead of providing support on a single, most-used channel, try providing it on all channels your customers use. That way you'll not just be more available but you'll be able to cater to customer needs as well.

Ask customers for feedback

Your customers are your best source of information when it comes to providing not just exceptional support but the overall experience as well. Many e-commerce businesses hesitate to ask customers about their needs, demands or expectations. This is a mistake because what a better way is there to improve your efforts than to get customer feedback effectively?

That way you'll learn what your customers want or need and you can implement it into your customer support. Not only will the customers appreciate you more for taking the time to ask them, but they'll also hold you in high regard for acting upon their feedback and making an effort to meet their needs. The more effort you make to cater to customer needs the more satisfied they'll be. As mentioned before, satisfied customers can be your competitive advantage in a crowded market.

Offer live chat

When talking about seamless customer support, implementing a live chat feature on your e-commerce can be a major benefit for both yourself and your customers. The main reason is that live chat can be used to deal with any inconveniences or issues on the spot. Moreover, you can answer any questions your customers may have right there on your website. This is not only convenient but also beneficial as customers don't have to wait too long to get answers.

As a matter of fact, consumers themselves prefer live chat as a customer support channel. 79% of consumers prefer it because of the fast response rate while 46% of consumers believe live chat is the most effective method for communication. It goes without saying that live chat can greatly improve your overall customer support efforts.

Offer a self service feature

Nowadays, consumers prefer to try and solve any issues they might be having on their own before resorting to customer support. You can make things more convenient for your customers by including a self service feature on your e-commerce website.

Self service can be in the form of a knowledge base or a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page. In any case, make sure you include all the relevant information your customers might need, such as detailed return policies, details regarding payment options, copyright and trademark rules, shipping costs outline and so on. That way, customers can get informed and only contact your customer support when they really need to.

Today, e-commerce businesses have to compete in an oversaturated market. Reaching out to customers is becoming increasingly difficult to manage. However, those e-commerce stores that focus on customer experience, service and support can stand out from others and ensure that they'll reach success sooner rather than later.