Customer Service

L.L.Bean is No. 1 in online customer experience, according to the e-tailing group's 2013 Customer Experience Index, which is based on a mystery shopping study conducted during the fourth quarter of 2013. L.L.Bean received a top score of 88.75, followed by HSN at 87.25. Other retailers scoring higher than 80 included Office Depot, Overstock.com, Amazon.com, Wal-Mart, Sears, Abt, Target and Dick's Sporting Goods. The average score in 2013 was 71.06, up from 69.3 in 2012. Repeat winners from 2012 included Amazon and Office Depot.

Cold weather has been blamed for a lot of bad economic data this year, including retailers’ weak sales. After all, it's easier to stay home and order everything online. But for shoppers who still make the effort to drive to stores, retailers are trying to make the process a little more rewarding. Sears has introduced a drive-through shopping option: if you buy something online and choose to pick it up at the store, you don't have to leave the warmth of your car. In five minutes or less, a store associate will bring your shopping cart out to you.

For ShopRoxx, an omnichannel fashion retailer for younger women, increasing customer loyalty and lifetime value with the brand is a key initiative for 2014. To help make this goal become reality, ShopRoxx is using email marketing. Specifically, the retailer is leveraging profile and behavioral data sets that enable it to send emails that feature highly relevant suggested products to its subscribers.

Returned goods are an issue for retailers throughout the year, but they can really cause headaches in the aftermath of the holiday sales peak. You can set your calendar by it: customers who, for some reason, aren't satisfied with the gifts they've received or the purchases they've made will begin returning those items en masse even before the first quarter is over.

Q: "I sell merchandise on eBay and via my own site, and have much better sales on eBay. How can I convert those eBay buyers to purchase on my website?"

In its latest brand-positioning shift, struggling consumer electronics retailer RadioShack is emphasizing one of its longtime core tenets: customer service. A new national advertising campaign called "Do It Together" aims to show how RadioShack and consumers can collaborate to solve technological problems like connecting today's many devices, said Jennifer Warren, the retailer's chief marketing officer. Four 15-to-30 second ads, plus two more ads targeted specifically to the Hispanic market, will roll out beginning in early February during primetime and sporting events; radio, print, digital, social and in-store marketing will support the campaign. 

It's certainly no secret that the rise of social media and consumers increased use of mobile devices has steadily transformed the shopping experience. This shift may have come to a tipping point this holiday shopping season. There are certainly battles to be won in this new digital landscape, but what's the potential upside of retailers getting less face time with shoppers? Although preferences may shift to new and often multiple channels, so will the need for a new kind of customer service.

Amazon.com and Apple have topped the list of best mobile retailers in customer service for three years running, according to a new report from ForeSee Results. As mobile and brick-and-mortar retailers strive to find ways to better serve consumers, reports such as this are guideposts. Marketers are looking to Amazon and Apple as mobile's influence continues its upward rise. "The value of a satisfied consumer is huge," said Larry Freed, CEO of ForeSee Results. "Highly satisfied consumers are 76 percent more likely to purchase from that retailer online than dissatisfied consumers."

If we removed the noun "consumer" from the retail lexicon, what would we lose? The reason I ask is because the participatory nature of social media has rendered the term invalid (or at least not as valid as it once was). In an era where people are no longer merely consumers of information, but purveyors of it, the appellation seems out of place.

Zappos founder Tony Hsieh's famous obsession with customer service paid off this holiday season. The Amazon-owned online shoe emporium came out on top in a Christmas delivery stress test performed by StellaService, a Nielsen-like ratings firm for internet shopping. StellaService's team of mystery shoppers set out to see which of the top online retailers met their promise of getting gifts under Christmas trees as long as orders were placed by their cut-off date.