Customer Service

Holiday e-commerce sales will grow 11 percent to 15 percent this season, per Deloitte, with retail sales right behind at a 7 percent to 9 percent increase. In total, people will spend about $1.49 trillion to $1.52 trillion dollars holiday shopping. That’s a lot of spending — and 83 percent of people say they would stop…

Some of retail’s busiest days are coming up fast, and contact centers everywhere are going to be stretched to their breaking point as shoppers log on and call in to ask about offers, seek recommendations, chase packages, and organize returns. Whether it’s Black Friday, Cyber Monday or the first day of January sales, the contact…

This year, a different type of grinch looms over the holiday season: global supply chain shortages. The same gremlin that earlier emptied out appliance stores and caused the price of microchips to skyrocket now threatens retailers still trying to rebound from the throes of the global pandemic. And this time, no industry is safe. With…

For some of the most customer-centric retailers, artificial intelligence will be hard at work this holiday season. While there are many applications of AI for the e-commerce industry year-round, there are a few that are uniquely suited for the holiday rush this year. The global pandemic squeezed budgets for more established retailers, while influencer and…

All signs point to this being yet another challenging holiday shopping season for both customers and retailers. Amid shipping delays and labor shortages, retailers are facing a series of operational challenges that are certain to impact their ability to fulfill customer demand. All of this means more stress for support teams, which will undoubtedly deal…

With the supply chain crisis causing headaches for retailers, brands must not pass their inventory problems onto holiday shoppers. Due to various factors, including the pandemic, countries changing trading status creating port backlogs, and unplanned fluctuations in demand, brands can be affected by supply chain snags and stock-outs. If a retailer doesn’t have a current…

In this episode of Total Retail Tech Insights, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Seb Reeve, director of market strategy at Nuance Communications, a speech recognition and artificial intelligence software company. Reeve discusses a few highlights from a recently released report by Nuance in conjunction with Total Retail, "How Retailers Can Leverage AI for Superior Digital CX," and how…

Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) is fast approaching, and retail/e-commerce brands are anxiously planning for what's sure to be another record-breaking year. Ada, a brand interaction platform, automated over 1.5 billion customer interactions last year and has drawn insights to help retailers gear up for the shopping season. Below are the top takeaways from Ada’s research.…

The busy holiday shopping season is already upon us, bringing today’s brands an important opportunity to strengthen relationships with new and existing customers. As increasing numbers of consumers rely on e-commerce to meet their shopping needs while the overtaxed supply chain is simultaneously slowing down order fulfillment, brands are competing to navigate this challenge. As…

Retailers are juggling multiple pressures as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic linger on, making it more challenging than ever to provide an exceptional customer experience. Supply chain disruptions, product cost inflation, increased demand for omnichannel shopping, and the labor shortage have converged to make the current retail environment as difficult to navigate as any…