Customer Service

Ace Hardware and Dollar Tree deliver the best customer experience in the retail industry, according to the 2018 Temkin Experience Ratings, an annual customer experience benchmark of companies based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers. Of the 49 retailers included in this year's ratings, Ace Hardware and Dollar Tree tied for the top spot. Each earned a…

Brands that understand their customers and strive to continuously improve customer service will be successful. Why? Because these companies understand, care about and are obsessed with their customers. We live in a time where consumers can have anything they want at their fingertips, but it’s up to the retailer to deliver. You never know how…

In episode 138 of Total Retail Talks, Michael Hoffman, director of e-commerce and customer service for Rainbow Shops, a women's apparel, accessories and footwear retailer, shares his thoughts on how retailers can do a better job of managing customer data. Hoffman was a speaker on Total Retail's most recent webinar, "Customer Intelligence 360: Laying the…

With the busiest retail season of the year behind us, it’s the perfect time to assess performance and reflect on opportunities to improve and ensure an even more successful holiday season in 2018. The holidays always bring with them the highest ticket volume, as customers reach out to businesses with a flurry of questions around returns, password…

Nearly 90 percent of retail sales still take place in physical stores. Yet the rise of voice-activated “intelligent assistants” such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home is taking the brand relationship out of the store and into the home, forever changing the way that consumers engage with products and services. Fortunately for retailers, the same…

In this episode of Retail Right Now, Total Retail's Joe Keenan and Caitlin Sullivan discuss L.L.Bean's decision to change its famously generous return policy, the implications it may have on the brand, and what it means for its competitors.

The 2018 retail landscape is one of evolving platforms and new technology-driven consumer dynamics in which they change their preferences and purchasing methods as often as they change their shopping lists. So, how can retailers keep up with today's chaotic consumer behavior? Customer centricity is no longer an option, it's a marketing imperative.Today’s consumers are…

As ticket volume invariably rises during the holidays, companies can find it challenging to manage both the influx of customers and the accompanying surge of support tickets. What’s more, that ticket surge will vary by channel, along with increasing service expectations for the channel of their choice. This report evaluates trends in customer service from past holiday seasons, what they mean for retailers, and how companies can better prepare for this year's holiday season — the biggest, most crucial time of year for customer support.

The holiday season can be a chaotic time for businesses. Customers set high expectations for company services and retailers must typically hire temporary workers to keep up. While the holiday season might be a time of complicated balancing acts for any retail business, a company owner or manager should also be aware of the post-holiday…

Digital consumers today play retail hopscotch as shopping spans many channels. Wherever consumers buy, in stores or online, one competitive challenge remains — ensuring great customer experiences. Exemplary service is the differentiator. It will separate businesses that step up from those forced to step aside in 2018, as these trends shaping customer service indicate. Trend…