E-commerce Customer Service: How to Satisfy and Retain Your Customers

In e-commerce, the relationship between customer and brand is unique in that it is dematerialized. Brands rarely meet their buyers face-to-face, unlike in traditional retail. Yet e-buyers need attention, assistance and support just as much: that's what customer service is all about .

The aim of e-commerce customer service is to deliver impeccable customer service to consumers who buy online. The aim is to help customers before, during and after their purchasing journey. Typically, all these interactions are handled by a dedicated department within the company. But delivering memorable customer service and experience must be everyone's priority, in-house!

In this guide, find out how to optimize your online customer service. Benefits, differences with in-store customer service, best practices... Let's get started.

1/ The benefits of e-commerce customer service

5 out of 10 French customers contact customer service with a question or an update on their order or delivery (source: Essendex survey, 2023). More often than not, these requests concern the resolution of a problem... But that's not the only role of customer service!

 

Graph Source : Essendex survey 2023

 

A (good) e-commerce customer service department takes care of rapid assistance, managing returns and refunds, collecting customer reviews... But also of personalizing the shopping experience, by proposing exclusive offers and promotions. The aim? Take care of customer relations on digital channels, and offer a memorable consumer experience.

Deploying such an e-retail customer service strategy offers numerous advantages:

• Improved customer knowledge : at the heart of a customer service approach is listening. By listening to customers' needs, expectations and problems, you can improve your knowledge of them. And thanks to this customer knowledge, you'll be able toanticipate the best actions to satisfy each customer. Perfect for boosting conversion rates over the long term!
• Lower customer acquisition costs: thanks to exceptional customer service, companies can increase re-purchase and loyalty. And thus reduce their prospecting and acquisition efforts (and, above all, costs!). A new customer costs on average 5 times more to acquire than one to retain... Hence the importance of delivering perfect assistance, at every stage of the purchasing process.
• Increased customer loyalty : according to Microsoft, 95% of customers consider support to be an important criterion when choosing and deciding to stay with a brand. For an online store, customer service is the cornerstone of retention and loyalty. This is one of the main benefits: thanks to the efforts made by customer support, loyalty increases!
• Increased growth: the impact of good customer service on ROI and sales is considerable. First of all, if customer service helps build loyalty, this loyalty rate is reflected in profits. According to a study by Bain & Company, increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can boost profits by 25% to 95%. Today, 64% of business leaders say that customer service has a virtuous impact on their brand's growth (source: Zendesk, 2023). Food for thought!
• Improving the customer experience: in e-commerce, the experience is not just transactional. It's also relational! When a customer service department responds responsively to customer expectations, customers are all the more satisfied. This increase in customer satisfaction impacts loyalty, and all the other benefits described above. Remember: the customer experience (both in-store and online) remains the most important preference criterion for consumers... And customer service is part of the reason why! (Source: Dunnhumby Barometer, 2023)
• Improved team productivity: in e-commerce, having a dedicated customer service department is a guarantee of productivity. But it also enhances the quality of exchanges, thanks to a team trained in customer support and relationship management. Deploying a customer service department and a dedicated team increases the productivity of all other teams... Where everyone can concentrate on their missions, as efficiently as possible.

Now you know why you should set up a customer service department for your online store, DNVB or ONVB. But do you know how to differentiate it from in-store customer service? And which features to deploy, to deliver the right 2.0 support?

2/ In-store customer service vs. e-commerce

No, in-store customer service is not the same as e-commerce customer service. There are many differences. And online site owners must learn to adapt, to satisfy consumers.

Between the physical store and the e-commerce site, each channel has its own strengths and constraints, influenced by buyers and the specificity of the product or service on offer. And if you're an e-commerce player... Here's how to take advantage of customer service 2.0, which modernizes and improves the customer experience:

Criteria	Physical store	E-commerce
Availability	Limited to store opening hours.	24/7, accessible at all times.
Interaction	Direct and personal.	Mainly digital (e-mail, chat, social networks).
Problem resolution	Often immediate for returns and exchanges.	Can be delayed by delivery and processing times.
Personalization	Based on human interaction.	Use of data to offer personalized solutions.
Advice	Personalized advice and product demonstrations.	Advice via FAQ, forums or chatbots; less personalized.
Returns and exchanges	Immediate processing possible.	Requires shipping, with variable lead times.
Associated costs	Depends on store policy.	Return or shipping fees may apply.
Accessibility	Requires physical presence of customer.	Accessible from any location with internet.
Request tracking	Managed in-store without systematic digital tracking.	Detailed, automated online tracking of requests.
Technology	Limited to in-store equipment.	Technological advances such as AI to improve after-sales service.

Thanks to electronic channels or tools, connected customers want to benefit from unified assistance. The challenge for e-commerce customer service? To offer reactive, personalized assistance, accessible from any support and seamless. Indeed, customers hate having to repeat themselves, between different channels of exchange with the company. 93% of them are even prepared to spend more if the brand avoids repeating itself. And 73% of customers want to be able to start a discussion on one channel, then continue on another... And face an interlocutor who understands them, who knows them.

But how do you create this seamless, unified customer service experience? How do you deliver the best online support? Follow the guide!

 

3/ E-commerce: 6 best practices for outstanding customer service

1. Focus on omnichannel customer service

Today, 57% of customers prefer to interact with a company via digital channels. Even if, in the event of a major problem, the most suitable channel remains the telephone for 81% of professionals (source: Salesforce Report, 2023). So, e-mail, telephone, social networks... which channel should you choose?

Rather than asking the question of "which channel to choose", ask yourself: what are the complementary channels for my target e-commerce customers? To meet the needs of all your customers, you need to be omnichannel. The aim is to offer consistent points of contact to meet consumer expectations. But be careful! Each channel requires resources (human, technological or financial). The multiplication of channels must not impact your responsiveness!

2. Respond quickly to customer requests

Responsiveness is one of buyers' top expectations when it comes to e-commerce customer service. in fact, 39% of customers consider it a priority to receive a response or solution as soon as they make their first request (source: Qualimétrie, 2022). On the other hand, waiting hours on the phone, or e-mailing support several times... that's the best way to drive customers away!

To deliver quality customer service, you now know what to focus on: responsiveness! Digital channels such as chatbots and instant messaging are particularly interesting for responding to customers in real time.

3. Offer customer autonomy tools, such as an FAQ page

94% of French people want to solve their own problems (source: Yext study, 2023). Today, autonomy is paramount. With just a few clicks, consumers want to find accessible answers, at any time of the day or night. To guarantee such access to information and answers to the most frequently asked questions, here's a golden tool: the FAQ.

On an e-commerce site, FAQs can be used to group together the most frequently asked questions, such as :

• What delivery methods are available ?
• What are the conditions for returning a product?
• What should I do if an item is defective?

The ideal solution? Create a dynamic FAQ. This tool integrates a search bar on the FAQ page, enabling the customer to type in specific keywords... to bring up the right question, providing the right answer. Rather than scrolling endlessly through a web page.

4. Personalize assistance, for maximum satisfaction

Being treated like a number: that's what customers hate, in e-commerce as in retail. Especially when it comes to asking for help! As soon as a customer contacts your customer service department, make sure you personalize your exchanges. Customers need to feel unique, listened to and recognized.

Here are a few best practices to demonstrate this personalization:

• Collect, analyze and centralize customer data. When you contact them, your support team will know their purchasing history, preferences, key information, etc
• Address customers by name. Whether you're communicating with them in writing (by e-mail, on social networks, by chatbot, etc.) or over the phone, always make sure you name them, to create a sense of proximity.
• If there's a quid pro quo to offer (such as a gift, as compensation), be sure to offer a personalized product or service recommendation. Rely on previous purchases to offer the most appropriate attention.

5. Train the team for maximum efficiency

You can't become a customer support expert by snapping your fingers. To take care of customer relations, offer effective assistance, respond to customer problems in a responsive and appropriate way... Training and a qualified team are necessary! Human and interpersonal skills are required, as well as technical skills.

Indeed, to respond to the concerns of online buyers, it's important to be trained in the products, services and tools used in-house. Knowledge base, customer support channels, self-care tools such as chatbots... A properly trained customer service team means optimized customer satisfaction!

6. Collect, manage and respond to customer feedback

Online reviews are an integral part of customer service. What do customers have to say about your company after they've purchased your products or services? And what do you do with these reviews once they've been collected? And who is responsible for responding to each customer?

Defining a customer feedback strategy is essential to delivering a quality experience. In e-commerce, your three priorities are to :

• Collect post-purchase reviews : via a satisfaction questionnaire, or through spontaneous review platforms.
• Manage the opinions collected : share them with all internal teams, and use these opinions to demonstrate continuous improvement (on the product, marketing, the online purchasing process, etc.). Don't forget to publish each product review on its own product page.
• Respond to all feedback: whether it's positive or negative, show customers that every piece of feedback counts.

By doing so, you take care of existing customers, while attracting new buyers! To find out more about customer feedback strategy and measuring customer service success... Be patient. We'll explain it all right after.

4/ Should you automate your e-commerce customer service?

This is THE big debate. Should you automate all or part of your customer service for your e-commerce site? At Rakuten, here's our opinion: automation tools are golden levers for relieving the burden on support teams... without replacing them! Indeed, technology is not intended to replace an entire team of online customer advisors. On the contrary, it can speed up the processing of the most common customer requests.

Thanks to these automated tools and processes, customer service teams can concentrate on less time-consuming or repetitive tasks. Like responding to the most important customer issues. It's a real time and efficiency saver.

Among the automation tools most frequently used by e-commerce customer services are selfcare solutions. These chatbots or FAQ solutions enable customers to be more autonomous, and get instant feedback on their questions. Certain channels can also be automated, such as e-mail or telephone messaging. The latter is known as an IVR, or interactive voice response system.

Finally, knowledge-base or CRMtools are particularly important for automating part of the customer management process in-house.

If you'd like to start automating your e-commerce customer service, here are a few interesting tools, depending on your needs:

E-mail automation	Salesforce Pardot, Mailchimp, Sendinblue , ActiveCampaign HubSpot Email Marketing Get Response , Constant, Contact ConvertKit, Drip, Autopilot
Live chat and chatbots	Dialogflow, ManyChat, Drift, Intercom, Chatfuel, Zendesk Chat, Tidio, Botsify, LivePerson, Watson Assistant
Customer relationship management (CRM) software	Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, Zoho CRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Freshsales, Pipedrive, Insightly, Oracle CRM, SAP CRM, Nimble
Interactive Voice Response (IVR)	Twilio, Genesys, Avaya, Cisco Unified Contact Center, NICE inContact, 8x8, Five9, Aspect, RingCentral, Interactive Intelligence
Skill-based routing	Avaya, Cisco, Genesys, NICE inContact, Five9, 8x8, RingCentral, Aspect Software, Mitel, Interactive Intelligence

5/ Customer service and marketplaces: how to manage after-sales service?

Now you know how to manage customer service on an e-commerce site. Now imagine: you decide to join our 12,000 sellers on Rakuten, our marketplace. You create your e-shop, complementary to your e-commerce site, directly on our digital marketplace. Our 13 million loyal buyers are just a click away ... And you'll quickly make your first sales. But if you have any questions, how do you handle customer relations? How do you provide customer service on a marketplace?

At Rakuten, nothing could be simpler. Our marketplace offers complete, dedicated support for after-sales service. We provide you with specific tools for your online store. And as a Rakuten seller, you'll benefit from extensive support via internal messaging, to help you manage and optimize your after-sales service.

Delivering service excellence (omotenashi) is one of Rakuten's fundamental pillars. Our priority? To guarantee a caring approach and a committed presence with our sales staff... And to encourage them to adopt a similar attitude towards their customers!

To find out more, find out how to communicate with a Rakuten buyer and answer their questions.

6 / Measuring the success of your customer service: the last essential step

E-commerce customer service now holds no secrets for you. Ready to launch your own digital customer support strategy? Once you've deployed your support and initiated the first interactions, think about this indispensable step: measuring the strategy's performance. Gathering KPIs is essentialto improving customer experience and operational efficiency .

Here are the main KPIs to collect and track:

1. First Contact Resolution Rate (FCR): Indicates the percentage of problems resolved on first contact.
2. Average Response Time (ART): Calculates the average time taken to respond to customer queries.
3. Average Resolution Time (ART ): Measures the average time required to completely resolve customer queries.
4. Call Abandonment Rate: Percentage of calls abandoned by customers before speaking to an agent.
5. Contact Volume: Tracks the total number of requests received by all service channels.
6. Agent Satisfaction Rate: Assesses the level of satisfaction and well-being of customer service agents.
7. Sentiment Analysis: Uses AI to analyze the emotions expressed in customer communications.
8. Cost per Contact: Calculates the average cost of handling a customer service request.
9. Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): Measures immediate customer satisfaction after an interaction or purchase.
10. Net Promoter Score (NPS): Evaluates the likelihood of customers recommending your company to others.

These last two indicators are particularly important. As we mentioned earlier in this article, collecting customer reviews is essential for gaining insight into customer satisfaction and recommendation.

At Rakuten, this monitoring is a priority. We offer you the opportunity to evaluate your quality as an e-retailer through several criteria linked to customer satisfaction, your delivery strategy and your catalog. So you can improve the quality of your customer service... and much more besides!