A recent e-commerce conference in Chicago highlighted that online customer care is key to online business success. Laurika Bretherton, ITWeb`s overseas correspondent, reports.
US conference firm, The International Quality and Productivity Centre (IQPC), brought e-tailers together at a recent e-commerce conference in Chicago, Illinois. Some of the big names, such as American Express, Visa and Yahoo, mingled with lesser-known companies like MATRAnet, My Points and Brigade to share their secrets to e-commerce success.
One of the key points highlighted during the conference was customer care on the Internet. Bizrate.com, a consumer online marketplace that asks consumers to rate the performances of online merchants, listed an impressive array of statistics relating to customer care on the Internet.
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"One out of every five online buyers contacts customer support regarding their orders," said Annette Gleneicki, director, client research solutions at Bizrate.com. "The top three reasons buyers contact customer support are because of late orders, questions and for back-ordered or out-of-stock items. Almost half of online buyers contact customer support while waiting to receive their orders."
She highlighted the way in which consumers contact companies. "For the most part, online buyers contact customer support either via e-mail or toll-free phone call."
Gleneicki added that a staggering 20% of online merchants do not offer live phone support, while 57% don`t have online order tracking. Another interesting fact is that customer support is the number one driver behind an online buyer`s likelihood to purchase again from a given merchant. Also, 18% of buyers who contact customer support are unlikely or highly unlikely to buy again from the merchant, compared to 6% of those who do not make contact.
Gleneicki concluded that being proactive in providing product and order information and reacting quickly to resolve any problems are key to successful customer support.
Myths and facts
In his discussion about Yahoo`s success in the e-commerce market, VP to Yahoo`s commerce group, Tony Surtees, pointed out some of the myths that still exist in the e-commerce world.
The first is that there are millions of buyers out there, making sales easier. The problem with that, according to Surtees, is that there are just as many Web sites out there. "After taking the number of Web sites and the number of people surfing the Internet into account, you only have two people for every one Web site. Not as big as you thought after all."
Another myth is that flashy sites drive sales. "In reality, flashy sites often do just the opposite. Too much information and frames can be confusing. Then there is the great myth that online success is a mystery. And finally, that e-tailing is different to retailing. The fact is that successful e-tailers apply the same principles as retailers, including good customer service, marketing and promotions."
Surtees concluded: "Just because this is the Internet, don`t take leave of your senses - use common sense. Ask yourself what would work somewhere else?"
Basic steps to success
Craig DeNoce, VP of e-commerce software firm MATRAnet, listed five basic steps to turn e-browsers into e-buyers. The first is to track and profile Web site visitors in real-time. This will help you to know who your customers are and which pages they visit on your site.
"The next step is to use profiling and tracking to intelligently route Web calls to the most appropriate agent. This includes providing agents with the tools they need to access customer information.
"Thirdly, connect with visitors in real-time by engaging them in e-mail, e-chat or collaborative browsing. The fourth step is to deliver personalised content with interactive Internet tools. One size fits all simply doesn`t work. Write variants of your Web site, customised to the needs of different types of customers."
Finally, capture the history of the customer-agent interaction. "You can reduce customer frustration by making sure that every customer service agent that communicates with a customer knows what has transpired in earlier interactions," noted DeNoce.
Support mechanisms
Brian Jeffries, VP of technology and strategy and founder of Brigade, a company that provides outsourced Internet customer support, briefly compared two mechanisms for support - self-help vs live agent.
"Self-help alone satisfies some customers in some situations. On average, 35% of people are very satisfied with self-help alone. Live agent support on the other hand, satisfies a lot more customers, with 63% saying they are very satisfied.
"Interesting enough, when you have an actual human being answering a question, customers are more forgiving on errors."
Gerry Sweeney, VP of marketing at e-Visa, a division of Visa, highlighted some research findings from the Jupiter research company. "There are basically three key purchase drivers. They are ease of use, the value proposition, and security and privacy issues. Getting these right will bring you a lot closer to success."
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