Shift4Shop eCommerce Blog | Customer Service

Are you prioritizing customer retention? Even a 5% increase in customer retention can shoot up your business and increase revenue by 25-95%.

Yes, you heard that right! 

If you run an eCommerce business, what matters most to you? Sales and conversions? Quality products? Great customer experience and service? Of course, with global eCommerce sales totaling around $5.2 trillion in 2021 and expected to reach $8.1 trillion by 2026, the correct answer is likely all of them. You want to be sure that every aspect of your business is the best it can be. 

The value of excellent customer experience (CX) is second to none for all types of businesses. In this day and age, developing a customer experience strategy to differentiate your brand from your competitors is vital.

As an established eCommerce business, you understand the importance of leveraging your online presence. You know all about social media marketing, email newsletters, and SEO. However, there is another essential resource that can help convert customers into strong brand advocates, get feedback, and generate new leads. This is the humble support forum, a tried and true type of online community that has allowed people to ask official representatives and experienced users questions about whatever[...]

Nobody likes buying a product only to find that it’s the wrong fit, faulty, or simply not what they’re looking for. This is especially true when it comes to online shopping since we don’t get to see, touch, or try out what we’re buying before making a purchase.

Customer education is becoming a high priority in business technology, especially for SaaS (Software as a Service) companies. The pace of advancement in business technology is rapid. New software and hardware options are always appearing, leaving even the most tech-savvy consumers confused.

Most buyers prefer to help themselves while shopping online and only reach out for assistance when they are stuck. If these buyers cannot quickly get answers to their concerns, they will ditch your store and shop elsewhere. As a result, providing them with the resources they need is a must.

Today, consumers are flooded with thousands of ads and messages streaming from multiple communication channels daily. More consumers are seeking out excellent customer experience from brands rather than specific features. Failing to deliver an outstanding customer experience will result in your clients switching to a competitor who would gladly provide what they are looking for.

A fantastic customer experience can make or break a brand. No matter how amazing your product is or whether you’re offering lower prices than your competitors, a great customer experience often keeps customers coming back.

You did it! You’ve received an order and your store has officially sold a product. That’s it, right? While receiving a paid order is the final step in the marketing cycle, it is the first step in a new consumer journey. For your business to succeed, you need to have a new set of protocols in place during this phase. 

The customer is king, and for SaaS companies, this rings particularly true. SaaS companies, or Software as a Service, provide on-demand software services that are usually licensed on a subscription basis (monthly, yearly, etc.).

The perfect example of a SaaS company is Netflix. Netflix users pay the company a certain amount each month for web-based services (streaming of movies, shows, etc.), following a fixed subscription model.

The industry has grown in leaps and bounds with easy access to[...]

Automation makes our lives easier and more convenient while allowing us to accomplish our goals in an increasingly efficient way. This is especially true for online business owners, who are constantly seeking ways to improve their operations and do more with less. That means automating where you can and constantly learning about the best tools to do so. It also means knowing how to implement those tools correctly so that customers are easily able to understand and use them. 

E-retail sales surpassed the $4.2 trillion mark in 2020. Moreover, the number of digital buyers and spending is rising, making eCommerce the perfect business for entrepreneurs.

But as the industry grows in revenue, so does the competition as more people are jumping onto the eCommerce bandwagon and opening new stores.

That’s why you need to have strategies in place that will help you effectively reach your target audience and sell to them.

Enter: ideal customer profiles.

As a business owner, you understand that a variety of factors go into making the right choices for your company. After all, running a business is so much more than just sales and marketing. When clients and customers purchase something from you using any cashless payment option or have to provide any sort of personal details to you through a form, they are trusting you with incredibly important information that you have an obligation to treat with sensitivity. 

The most successful online businesses look and function great, but sometimes customers need more effective eCommerce customer support.

Whether you're selling purses or sinks, customer support plays a major role in your purchases and overall customer satisfaction. In a competitive industry like online shopping, what will set you apart from the competition is exquisite customer service.

Ecommerce returns can slowly eat into your bottom line if you’re not strategically attacking them with post-purchase loyalty-building tactics.

As a business owner, you likely put a lot of time, money, and energy toward improving your marketing efforts and growing your sales — but what about your customer service?

Your word as an online seller will always have limited power. No matter how big your operation becomes and how firmly you fix your brand in the minds of your target audience, every claim you issue about your products will be taken with more as grain of salt — and it’s all due to your obvious bias. You want people to buy from you, so of course you’ll have good things to say about your value propositions, and of course you’ll hide all the negatives.

Customer feedback is truly the backbone of a thriving business.

A customer review alone is not sufficient – but a positive customer review has become vital in the decision-making process. In fact, a majority of customers are looking for 4 out of 5 stars, because negative reviews are driving factors.

The writing is on the wall: Customer reviews not only instill trust among users but can also positively impact your business's bottom line.

The automation revolution is already changing the face of business. From retail to manufacturing and from healthcare to finance, few sectors have been left untouched. With the arrival of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, the possibilities for the years ahead are almost endless.

What you might not have realized is that you can also automate many customer service tasks. The progress of automation in customer service has perhaps been slower than in some other sectors. Retailers –[...]