ECommerce Expert Explores How Bad Customer Service Is Killing Your Brand.

Over the past decade, online purchases surged, however as the world faces economic instability it is more important than ever before for ecommerce businesses to ensure their customer experience and feedback helps their business grow. According to a recent Prosper Insights & Analytics survey, over 50 percent of US Adults, 18+ say that it is “Important” or “Very Important” that there is a Toll Free "Live" Customer Service Person available when they are buying from a site online.

Qualtrics XM Institute found that companies with the best customer experience ratings outperformed their industry peers’ stock performance between 2019 and 2022 and doubled their lead over companies that provide poor customer experiences. Delivering top customer service is therefore essential for company growth particularly in the face of the market correction we have seen in recent months in eCommerce.

Customer reviews tell a company how their customers perceive them and how they felt about their experience; however, unlike direct customer feedback, online reviews are public and can be seen by competitors and other potential customers. According to eDesk's own data of 2000 people who have purchased a product online, over 80 percent of buyers look at reviews of products online before they purchase them. Reviews generate trust and help build brand awareness and credibility.

Good reviews matter a great deal, on the flip side, bad reviews are also impactful to a business – negatively so. However, according to eDesk over 90 percent of respondents to their survey say they will talk with a customer services team member before leaving a negative review. They found that there is always something to help turn a negative customer service experience into a more positive experience.

I recently sat down with the founder and CEO of eDesk Ray Nolan. eDesk is an eCommerce help desk that helps online retailers to deliver extraordinary customer service, everywhere they sell. eDesk’s suite of AI-powered eCommerce tools improves productivity, profitability and reputation through automation, commercial insight, and competitive benchmarking. eDesk integrates seamlessly with more marketplace, webstore, communication, social media, and logistics channels than any other customer support software provider, so eCommerce brands can respond to customer queries quicker, and focus on selling more to realize their growth potential.

Gary Drenik: What steps can companies take to make sure that they have a strong customer support strategy? How does it impact a company's growth?

Ray Nolan: Communication is key to having a strong customer support strategy. Having an easy-to-use website is essential to telling the story of your company and your brand. According to a recent Prosper Insights & Analytics survey, almost 80 percent of US Adults, 18+ said it is “Important” or “Very Important” that a website is easy to use. The language your company uses should also be consistent with the brand image you’d like to portray, and you should personalize interactions whenever possible. Take every opportunity to demonstrate the human side to your business – customers gravitate towards authentic voices. This will create customer loyalty and increase company growth and revenue.

Drenik: Do you think selling via marketplaces such as Amazon has changed customer support? If so, how has it affected it?

Nolan: Marketplaces like Amazon have increased the stakes when it comes to customer service and support. The pressure is always on sellers to achieve a high feedback score as it contributes significantly to your Amazon Buy Box and eBay Best Match performance. Every online marketplace and search engine wants to provide a good customer experience and to achieve this, they favor sellers who have lots of great feedback over those who don’t. The top online sellers automate this customer support strategy process using feedback software. This helps you to send out personalized feedback requests on multiple channels, with minimal effort.

Drenik: Are there any stories you can share on how a company has improved their customer service by using eDesk? What outcomes did they see?

Nolan: Trainz.com had a goal to respond to 95 percent of customer tickets within 24 hours and asked eDesk to help them consolidate all their retail channel communications into one centralized inbox. With a dashboard view of their eCommerce ecosystem, the business can now respond to queries more quickly, and easily plug in different eCommerce platforms as they grow. Trainz.com now has full oversight of the customer support escalation process which enables them to achieve their goal of resolving 95 percent of customer queries within 24 hours and has increased their revenue three times.

Drenik: Do you think there is a generational divide when it comes to expectations around customer satisfaction?

Nolan: In 2020, the social commerce market was nearly $500 billion. By 2028, it’s expected to reach $3.4 trillion. According to a recent Prosper Insights & Analytics survey, 51 percent of Gen-Z and Millennial shoppers use the "shop now" feature to buy products advertised on Facebook compared to just 32 percent of Gen-X and Boomers. With nearly 40 percent of Gen-Z preferring to search on TikTok and Instagram over Google, brands need to capture these consumers now and stay with them as their buying habits evolve to include the metaverse. Gen-Z doesn’t think of social commerce as a superfluous experience, so they expect top-quality customer service when shopping on social media. If they have to wait, they move on, swiping to the next brand.

Drenik: There have been huge changes since the pandemic around e-commerce, what is the future of e-commerce in your view?

Nolan: The future of ecommerce is definitely going to focus on the next digital frontiers, facilitated by AR, VR and the metaverse ecosystem. Gen-Z consumers aren’t just digital natives– they’re the first residents and adopters of the metaverse. Gartner predicts that by 2026, 25 percent of people will spend at least an hour per day in the metaverse. As the metaverse evolves, it will transform e-commerce as we know it, creating a marketplace expected to be worth $800 billion in just two years. The smartest brands have already begun thinking about how best to use metaverse technologies to enhance customer experience. By paying attention to what consumers like best about both the physical and digital worlds, they’re building out “phygital” strategies that bring the best elements of the physical world into the metaverse.

Drenik: Thanks so much Ray for your interesting insights about the importance and future of e-commerce. As we face economic uncertainty it’s great to hear your recommendations on what brands should focus on to ensure that they provide top customer service. It was great chatting with you.