Customer Service
March 21, 2022 at 1:21 pm
Whether you sell online, from a physical store, or both, there are probably people communicating with your customers on your brand’s behalf who are not on your payroll. It could be a delivery partner, a warranty or call center, an app that provides automated shipping updates, or a partner that provides online chat services. Each…
March 7, 2022 at 11:56 am
The convenience of online shopping is indisputable — and it continues to give brick-and-mortar retail a run for its money. While 2021 saw a rise in brick-and-mortar retail as a result of lifted pandemic restrictions and vaccine availability, e-commerce sales still grew at nearly three times the rate of brick-and-mortar. But digital retail does not…
March 3, 2022 at 2:06 pm
The world of online shopping is here to stay. With retail and e-commerce so intricately connected, 2021 saw global e-commerce sales reach $4.2 trillion, and 2022 predictions are to surpass $5.5 trillion. This already growing trend to switch to online shopping was propelled forward when COVID-19 hit. This has brought about new challenges for the…
February 21, 2022 at 3:36 pm
In episode 337 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Natalie Hurst, director of customer success at Nuuly, a clothing subscription rental experience from the Anthropologie, Free People and Urban Outfitters family. Hurst discusses Nuuly's rental and resale services, her role in creating a seamless rental experience for the brand's shoppers, and the customer…
February 16, 2022 at 4:19 pm
The holidays are behind us. The November and December rush leaves most companies exhausted and in a turbulent cycle of catch-up after the hectic time from Black Friday through Christmas. Before you know it, spring will be here and planning for the 2022 holiday season will kick off. You might not have taken more than…
January 31, 2022 at 11:53 am
Off the heels of the busy holiday season, digital consumers are continuing to rewrite the rules of retail in 2022. To keep up with evolving demands, the industry will see the rise of a “digital workforce.” A digital workforce is powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and can work alongside retailers’ sales and service reps to…
January 25, 2022 at 9:14 pm
The 2021 holiday season brought with it several trends and surprising changes to consumer habits that were unexpected across the retail industry. After nearly two years of sporadic lockdowns and social distancing, it’s unsurprising to many that, for the first time in history, brands experienced a year-over-year decline in online sales during Black Friday and…
January 20, 2022 at 6:57 pm
In order to delight customers in a post-pandemic world, retailers must optimize an increasingly delicate balance between technology and a human touch. The bar for personalized experiences continues to rise, with 95 percent of shoppers adamant that they don't want to talk to a robot, and 84 percent say being “treated like a person and…
January 19, 2022 at 12:24 pm
Gartner recently published its annual list of strategic technology trends that will shape the year ahead for businesses around the world. It’s no surprise that included among the 2022 list are cloud-native platforms, artificial intelligence (AI) engineering, and total experiences. At the intersection of these we can find conversational AI solutions. Conversational AI is the…
January 19, 2022 at 12:00 pm
A year when shifting consumer behaviors and heightened expectations made the jobs of customer service (CS) teams a whole lot more difficult, 2021 illuminated the rising value of great CS for brands looking to pave a path towards success post-pandemic. Navigating a historic increase in customer query volumes, dramatic operational reconfigurations, and intensifying pressure to…
