Customer reputation is driven by the customer satisfaction, which are e-shoppers extremely sensitive to. The only bad reference on Facebook, whether negative rating on a price comparator, can throw a bad name on your online store and discourage potential customers from buying from you. And you can not afford it!
How can e-shop improve its services? What trends in online customer communication have we noticed?
1. Customer communication moves to social networks, especially Facebook
Facebook rulles the internet, whether we like it or not. A number of customers address their demands and complaints directly by contacting the online store on their own fanpage.
Customers often solve their problem publicly, less into private messages. As a result, companies, in addition to quality content on social networks, must also pay attention to quality customer service and often manage crisis communication.
TIP: Manage your fanpage professionally. Follow your customers' posts and respond to them in a timely manner. Your speed and activity will also be rewarded by Facebook.
2. Price comparators are not just about prices anymore.
The original and still major mission is comparison of product prices. We perceive this especially when comparing the prices of electronics and generally more expensive items.
For customers, however, there is a further trend - comparators are often visited even if they are going to buy in the online store where they do online shopping for the first time. During the year 2015, customers, as one of the reasons for the purchase, cited positive reviews of previous buyers on price comparators.
TIP: If you are not already on price comparators, change it. If you already are, do not underestimate buyers reviews. If so, respond to each one - thank, explain, justify and defend yourself! Customers will appreciate your openness in communications.
3. Online chat
A few years ago, online chat in e commerce was a unique gadget, now it is a necessity. Just choose the one that suits you the best (Zopim, LiveAgent, Smartsupp). Customers are increasingly making use of the opportunity to contact a seller through this service.
People often contact the store during the work, when most of them can not afford to write long private emails, or talk several minutes with the customer support. Online chatting is a quick and easy way to get in touch with your customers. From a merchant point of view, online chat is a proven effective conversion tool.
TIP: Do not be offline on the online chat during the "opening hours" - customers are irritated by that. The busiest hours at the online chat are recorded between 8AM-10AM (start of work shift) and after 4 PM (before end of work shift).
We believe our short blog post has been beneficial to you. If you have any tips you consider effective and important when communicating online with customers, let us know about them!
