Customer Service

My seven-year-old son, Hendrix, has quite the green thumb. Last winter, we started preparing for our upcoming gardening season. Together, we researched what types of fruits and vegetables we wanted to plant, and we plotted it against our garden footprint. Hendrix was diligent in making sure each plant had everything it needed to be healthy…

Not long ago, customers wanting to make a purchase had two choices: physically walk into a retail store or call a 1-800 number to place an order. While these seem limited in today’s world of omnichannel commerce, there were benefits. Most importantly, it supported the ability to create and maintain a strong brand. After all,…

As we begin 2018, it’s safe to say that artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to infiltrate our everyday lives and challenge business processes to become more intelligent and proactive. In fact, according to Forrester, 38 percent of enterprises are already using artificial intelligence, growing to 62 percent by 2018. Additionally, IDC believes AI will be a $47 billion…

Ask and you shall (usually) receive. According to research from Accenture, 35 percent of millennials and 40 percent of Gen Zs say they often or very often provide retailers with direct feedback when prompted. Make the most of this opportunity, especially with the younger part of your customer base, by gathering valuable insights whenever possible. The…

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…