Customer Service

Talk doesn’t come cheap, and this is especially true in retail, where managing customer care costs across the ever-expanding landscape of communication is top of mind for retailers. While retailers will spend exponentially more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one, taking care of an existing one is expensive. Recent research…

Many major e-commerce players such as Amazon.com, Taobao, Tmall and JD.com have already gone global, and they’re erasing customer borders for other retailers. Now, merchants in countries like China can access consumers in the U.S. and vice versa. While reaching new customers worldwide has its benefits (Chinese customers account for about half of e-commerce purchases,…

You know what they say about making assumptions, right? Well it’s true in life and in customer support. For years, marketers and customer experience leaders have leaned on traditional assumptions of customer needs and preferences when identifying when and how to engage with consumers. The problem is that these types of assumptions oversimplify who the…

In this digital age, retailers are able to communicate with customers in a multitude of ways and a wide variety of places. As new opportunities arise, it becomes even more crucial for retailers to be strategic about which channels and tactics they decide to use. Companies need to consider where, when, why and how their…

This Friday, Dec. 29, marks the second annual Amazon Digital Day. A close cousin to the retail giant’s Prime Day, this retail holiday gives shoppers the best deals on products like e-books, video games, DVDs, apps, and more. This one-day-only event will likely bring in more sales than normal, which means brands whose products are…

Customer service is evolving. Companies are beginning to find and favor advanced technologies and automated strategies that allow them to field customer questions and needs more efficiently and without the need for direct human management. For example, more companies are launching interactive knowledge bases that customers can consult to find the answers they need on…

It’s hard to go a day without reading an article about the brands and industries millennials are killing off. From napkins to cereals to banks, the lineup of sectors that these 20- and 30-somethings are rethinking seems endless. It’s enough to make marketers think that brand loyalty among millennials is dead. However, the opposite is…

For consumers, the most wonderful time of the year is here. For retailers, it’s the busiest time — and customer service plays a vital role in the sales process. Contact centers are the backbone of any customer service strategy, and this is never more important than during the holiday season. Having an effective contact center…

The holiday selling season is shaping up to be all about convenience and control for consumers. Successful retailers will deliver on this wish list by using the right strategies to capture holiday sales and win over consumers. Based on our work with many of the world’s most recognized brands, Alliance Data recently looked at how…

When it comes to in-store shopping during the holiday season, opinions tend to be mixed. PwC's “Retailers and the Age of Disruption” survey found that while 68 percent of respondents intentionally browse products in-store before purchasing them online, 73 percent said they browse online and then purchase the products in-store. Consumers can’t decide which channel to…