Call Centers for retail and e-commerce

Customer experience is critical to differentiate a brand in the challenging retail market. As consumer preference for an omnichannel experience continues to grow, retailers will need to provide superior customer service via phone, chat, video and social media, in addition to the traditional in-store experience. Top customer service challenges for the retail industry include:

• Omnichannel experience across digital channels: whether customers start their experience on one channel and shift to another, they expect brands to know who they are, where they’ve been and what they’re calling about in real-time.
• Effective seasonal workforce management: ramping up staff to handle holiday and seasonal peak volume times is a big challenge for retailers across all customer engagement channels.
• Staying up to date on emerging technologies: companies are raising the bar on shopping convenience with voice-activated shopping, video kiosks and the use of augmented reality (AR) to allow consumers to preview products in different surroundings. Retailers will need to ensure that they have the support staff in place to assist and educate consumers on the use of apps and new technology.
• Providing a “wow” experience across channels: leading retail brands are raising the bar for service excellence that customers have come to expect. Expectations for a unique and outstanding experience will only increase as retailers evolve their business models for immersive in-store experiences, personalized service and memberships.

An increasing number of eBusinesses across the globe tap the services of call centers mainly to outsource their growing customer service operations. Ecommerce call center outsourcing is an ideal way to help manage an increasingly online business. This option saves a company a great deal of time, money, and effort as many non-core tasks are assigned to an external service provider. With outsourcing, the third-party vendor will take care of the ecommerce firm’s secondary but important functions at an affordable rate. The company is no longer required to hire extra full-time employees to do the job or to invest more in hardware, equipment, and systems to put together its own customer service team.

The financial resources saved through outsourcing can then be channelled to high valued projects or business ventures. Delegating certain operations to a call center company allows an organization to focus on its core competencies. As ecommerce transactions are on the upswing, online companies turn to their call center services to improve customer experience (CX) and enhance brand loyalty. They seek the assistance of BPOs to boost sales and properly address consumer issues and concerns about their products and services.
Below are some of the ecommerce firms that use call centers for their customer service functions:

• Amazon
  Amazon.com is a global technology company that provides retail shopping services. The Seattle-based ecommerce firm operates via three subsidiaries: North America, International, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). It has customer service partners in the Philippines and India.
• eBay
  Headquartered in California, eBay is an ecommerce company that offers an online marketplace, off-platform businesses, and a suite of mobile apps. The firm simplifies consumer-to-consumer (C2C) and business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions through its website. One of its call center partners is in the Philippines.