Customer Service

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) struggle to compete on equal footing with the enterprise behemoths that dominate their industry. In other words, how do local retailers compete with the Amazon.com and Walmarts of the world? Providing a better customer experience is fast becoming the competitive differentiator and driver of success for businesses of all sizes…

In this week’s Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Kristina Stidham and Ashley Chiaradio discuss an article recently published on Total Retail titled “What Traditional Retailers Can Learn About Customer Service From Today’s DTC Brands,” written by Brad Birnbaum, CEO of Kustomer. The article focuses on how direct-to-consumer (DTC) businesses prioritize and excel at providing frictionless customer…

Today’s top direct-to-consumer (DTC) startups have built their businesses by creating differentiated, frictionless customer experiences that focus as much on how they serve customers post-sale as they do on the shopping experience. As a result, these new brands are building lasting customer relationships that are fueling e-commerce’s rapidly growing share of retail sales and the…

Mad4Tools.com is an online retailer that specializes in delivering thousands of products, from power tools and workwear, to lighting and electrical equipment to DIY enthusiasts and tradespeople all over the world. Today, Mad4Tools.com operates across three main channels — its website, Amazon.com, and eBay — and stocks over 30,000 products. Mad4Tools.com has successfully built a…

Every shopper wants to be treated as an individual. Whether that be in person or online, demonstrating a clear knowledge of preferences and past purchases goes a long way in crafting a best-in-class customer experience (CX). Historically, the ability to deliver such deeply personalized experiences has been the backbone of small business success — think…

As we live and breathe in the age of technology, retailers look to compete in customer service by adding new technology into the infrastructure. Technology promises to eliminate friction, deepen customer engagement, uncover insights, and automate processes. In fact, one could argue that artificial intelligence (AI) is reviving retail. Take chatbot-based interactions for retail sales,…

Would you appeal to more consumers if you eliminated a large portion of your inventory? That’s exactly what Petco is doing. Petco announced that as of May 1, 2019, it will be the first major pet food retailer to sell only pet food without artificial ingredients. This bold move puts Petco’s brand ethos at the forefront and appeals…

Good customer service is a core driver of retention, as 75 percent of consumers would stop doing business with a brand if they had a bad experience or received poor customer support. According to a recent Gartner report, on average, 18 percent of total marketing budgets is spent on customer experience (CX) initiatives, and CX,…

With the importance of customer experience (CX) firmly entrenched in their psyche, most successful retailers now understand that if they want to retain customers long term, they need to think about what happens after shoppers hand over their credit card numbers. These retailers get that they need to think about customer journeys and not one-off…

Today’s consumers are wary of shopping experiences that feel one-sided. They don’t just want to make informed decisions; they also want to trust the brands and retailers they choose. They want shopping to feel more like a human connection, not just a transaction. Every company wants to be known for having a superior customer experience.…