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Customer Service Articles

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No Same-Day Delivery? No Big Deal, Shoppers Say

March 29th, 2013 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

Are you stressing because you know big retailers are increasingly offering same-day delivery, and your small ecommerce site can’t afford to do so? If you’re worried that same-day delivery is a game-changer that will make or break your business, you can breathe a sigh of relief. A new study by the Boston Consulting Group found that customers don’t actually care that much about same-day delivery, despite the emphasis that big ecommerce sites and retailers like Amazon.com and Wal-Mart may put on this service.

The BCG study found that consumers care much more about low prices and free shipping than they do about same-day delivery. Only 9 percent of consumers polled say same-day delivery would improve their online shopping experience. In contrast, 74 percent say free shipping would and 50 percent say lower prices would.

The study notes that lots of dotcom companies touted same-day delivery in the first dotcom boom in the 1990s-2000s, and that the service didn’t prove popular enough to keep those companies afloat.

There is one niche market that could be willing to spend on same-day delivery. Affluent, urban Millennials with incomes of $150,000 or more have shown greater than average interest in this service. If that’s your target market, you may want to consider this option.

However, even so, keep in mind this advice that BCG offers for making same-day delivery work without breaking the bank:

  • Charge additional fees for same-day delivery. The average respondent in the survey was willing to pay $6 for this service; affluent Millennials were willing to pay up to $10.
  • Limit same-day delivery offerings. It’s best to offer same-day shipping only for smaller, lightweight products, like electronics, office supplies or apparel, that can be quickly packed and don’t cost a lot to ship.
  • Focus on high-margin items. Products where you’re making a higher profit make more sense for same-day delivery.
  • Consider your location. If your customers are primarily in upscale, urban areas where delivery is common, such as New York City or Boston, it may make sense to test same-day delivery. If you’re in a rural or suburban area, however, it’s likely not going to be cost-effective.

Keep an eye on what happens with same-day delivery so you don’t get caught behind the eight-ball if the concept takes off—but also keep in mind that currently, BCG found that only 2 percent of online purchases are delivered the same day, meaning demand for this service is far from widespread.

Image by Flickr user Lachlan Hardy (Creative Commons)

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Does Your Retail Business Need a Mobile App?

March 11th, 2013 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

Does your small business need a mobile app? If you’re a retailer or etailer, maybe so. A new study from Flurry measured the time consumers spent using more than 1,800 iOS and Android shopping apps between December 2011 and December 2012.

The study divided apps into five categories:

  1. Retailer Apps (such as Walmart, Target, Macy’s, Victoria’s Secret, Gap, Saks 5th Avenue)
  2. Price Comparison Apps (such as RedLaser and Grocery iQ)
  3. Purchase Assistant Apps (such as ShopSavvy and ShopAdvisor)
  4. Online Marketplace Apps (such as eBay and Amazon)
  5. Daily Deals Apps (such as Groupon and Living Social)

Time spent on all five types of apps grew quite a bit, but time spent with retailer apps skyrocketed the most (by 525 percent). That percentage far outstrips the overall growth in the use of both shopping apps (274 percent) and apps as a whole (132 percent).

The time consumers spent with Price Comparison and Purchase Assistant apps also grew significantly, by 247 percent and 228 percent, respectively. Even Online Marketplace and Daily Deals apps grew, though at 178 percent and 126 percent, respectively, the growth rate was far less.

The big winner in the growth of app use is retailers. Overall, in 2012 consumers spent 27 percent of app use time on retail apps (up from 15 percent in 2011). By contrast, the share of time spent on Daily Deals shrank from 20% in 2011 to 13% in 2012, and the share of time spent on Online Marketplace apps decreased from 25% in 2011 to 20% in 2012.

Flurry concludes that smart retailers will begin examining their customer relationships through the “mobile-first” lens. The rise in mobile app use—and especially in retail app use—shows that it’s more important than ever to extend your customer relationships to a variety of channels.

Instead of focusing solely on getting customers into your store—or even onto your website—you need to also focus on attracting them via their mobile devices. “In the new mobile app economy, devices are always with you, always on and always connected,” Flurry writes. Yes, 95 percent of sales still occur in physical stores, but mobile allows you to intercept customers in store aisles and affect their purchasing decisions before they ever reach the cash register. Consider tapping into apps that let customers save their credit card info, apps that let them ship an item to their homes, or apps that let them scan an item with their phones to place an order.

How are you using mobile apps to enhance your customers’ retail and e-tail experience?

Image by Flickr user Dru Bloomfield – At Home in Scottsdale (Creative Commons)

 

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Posted in Business Development, Customer Service, Marketing, Sales Process, sales process, Small Business, small business, Technology, Web Design | No Comments »

Web.com Small Business Toolkit: Zendesk (Customer Service Solution)

March 4th, 2013 ::

Zendesk: If you’re finding yourself spending most of your time handling customer service questions, it may be time to get some help. Now there’s a way to provide good customer service without having to hire a full-time staff. For $9 per month, Zendesk offers startup businesses 12 months of customer support by Web, email, phone, Twitter, Facebook, online chat and more. And for those first 12 months your $9 per month goes to a chosen charity. After the year, the lowest level goes to $29 per month. Zendesk’s mobile app makes sure you never miss a customer’s request and support is available in 40 different languages.

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Maybe Showrooming Isn’t as Scary as You Think

February 28th, 2013 ::

By Karen Axelton

During this past holiday shopping season, media reports were full of stories about how brick-and-mortar shoppers were “showrooming”—viewing products in-store, then checking their mobile phones to find lower prices at other retailers or online. The trend struck fear into the hearts of retailers, but those fears may be unfounded, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Consumers are using mobile phones while shopping like never before—that much is true.  The report, In-Store Mobile Commerce During the 2012 Holiday Season, found that nearly six in 10 cell owners used their phone inside a physical store for assistance or guidance in making a purchasing decision during the 2012 holiday season. But they’re not just comparing prices. Here’s what they’re doing:

  • 46 percent of cell owners used their phone while inside a store to call a friend or family member for advice about a purchase they were considering. Women and young adults (age 18 to 29) are more likely to do this.
  • 28 percent of cell owners used their phone while inside a store to look up product reviews to help them decide whether to buy a product it or not. Young adults (18 to 29), smartphone owners, and those with at least some college experience are more likely than average to use their phones to search for product reviews in-store.
  • 27 percent of cell owners used their phone while inside a store to look up the price of a product and see if they could get a better price either online or at another retail store. Young adults, smartphone owners and those with some college experience were most likely to do price comparisons.

Altogether, more than half (58 percent) of cell owners used their phone for at least one of these purposes. As you might expect, young adults and smartphone owners led the way, with 78 percent of those aged 18-29 and 72 percent of smartphone owners using their phones for at least one of these purposes in the 2012 holiday season.

But here’s the good news: Even among those who look up prices in-store, a majority end up either buying the item in the store or not buying it at all. Some 46 percent of “mobile price matchers” report they ultimately bought the product in that store. That’s an 11-point increase from the 35 percent who said this in last year’s study. Just 12 percent ended up buying the product online, compared to 19 percent who did so in last year’s survey. So while consumers are becoming more sophisticated in using their cell phones to become savvier shoppers, what they learn from doing so is persuading more of them to make purchases in-store.

Image by Flickr user Rebecca L. Daily (Creative Commons)

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Web.com Small Business Toolkit: ParkerMap (Parking App)

February 26th, 2013 ::

ParkerMap

More often than not, customers will look up a business’s website to do price comparisons, check store hours or even to get directions and figure out where to park. You can make the latter easy for them by adding the free ParkerMap app to your website. ParkerMap lets visitors know where on- and off-street parking is available near your business in real time. Visitors can also find out rates, hours and other policy information about the parking locations. Simply enter in your business’s location, choose a map size, embed your special code on your site and you’re done.

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4 Lessons On How Customer Service Is Your Brand

February 26th, 2013 ::

Customer serviceIt’s not a secret that your brand is very closely tied to you and your employees. The customer service you provide speaks volumes about your company and values and leaves a very strong impression – for good or for bad.

Scott Stratten, President of UnMarketing and author of The Book of Business Awesome, put together a great Slideshare presentation for Citrix about how you can take your company from good to awesome. It’s worth reading, as I am not really going to share what is in the presentation.

What I am going to share is 3 lessons in branding via customer service that he provided – as well as one of my own. All of the stories drive home the fact that you and your employees are a critical part of your brand.

The Ritz-Carlton Goes Above and Beyond

When a little boy left behind his favorite stuffed animal, Joshie, following a family vacation, the Ritz-Carlton didn’t just mail it back posthaste. Nope, the employees took photos of Joshie enjoying his extended vacation – on a chaise lounge by the pool, on the golf course, hanging with friends, getting a massage, etc. When Joshie arrived home, the photos were enclosed, along with his own Ritz-Carlton employee ID. As you can imagine, this story went viral.

A CEO Saves the Day

A few years ago, my husband went to Neiman Marcus to buy me a Tom Binns necklace as a surprise birthday present. When the jewelry counter employee refused to help my husband track down the necklace, my husband went straight to the source: Tom Binns. The company’s CEO was horrified by my husband’s experience, and she personally packed and mailed the necklace, including a handwritten note. My husband and the CEO are now on a first-name basis, and we tell this story every time I wear the necklace. I am not a big jewelry person, but I am a big Tom Binns fan.

A Delta Flight Attendant Said What?

Stratten was waiting on an impossibly long security line on his way to a Delta flight at JFK. He was nearly at the front of the line, when a crew of Delta flight attendants pushed their way to the front of the line, bumping and pushing Statten without a word. When he said, “Come on now. Not even an ‘excuse me?’” he got a nasty retort from one flight attendant, “We said excuse me. Why don’t you open your ears?” Stratten jumped on Twitter, where he has more than 135,000 followers, and got a reply and apology from Delta pretty quickly.

FedEx Employee Plays Catch

This is another story that went viral. A FedEx employee was caught on video chucking a computer monitor over a gate at someone’s house. Instead of ringing the bell and walking it up to the house, he decided to play catch – with the ground. FedEx had to go into major crisis control mode. They responded super fast and published a blog post on their corporate page titled, “Absolutely, Positively Unacceptable” and their senior vice president of U.S. operations recorded a video to apologize. The response was overwhelmingly positive.

So, how do you ensure your employees represent your brand more like the Ritz-Carlton and Tom Binns and less like Neiman Marcus, Delta, and FedEx?

  • Be passionate about your work and customers
  • Show your employees how they make a difference
  • Empower your employees to help customers – and then recognize or reward them for it
  • If you need to apologize, do it swiftly and genuinely

How has customer service improved or hurt your experience with a brand?

Image courtesy of postcardmania.com

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Web.com Small Business Toolkit: OrderAhead (Customer Service App)

February 25th, 2013 ::

OrderAhead

Here’s a tool that can add to your business’s bottom line and makes preorders a no-brainer. OrderAhead is a mobile app that allows consumers to place and pay for orders from their phones or computers and then pick them up at a designated time. For your customers, it saves time and makes shopping more convenient. For your business, it eliminates some of the hassle of preordering. The orders are placed and paid for through OrderAhead (which takes a 7.9 percent commission on each order). Customer orders are then faxed to your business and you receive your check from the company weekly. You still get the chance to interact face to face with your customers when they pick up their order.

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Web.com Small Business Toolkit: TalkToTheManager (Business Review Solution)

January 30th, 2013 ::

TalkToTheManager

Why wait to see the Yelp review to know what customers think of your business when you can find out instantly with TalkToTheManager? You post a phone number and customers can text you anonymous reviews of your service, products, food or whatever your business does well or not so well. The text is then forwarded to your cell phone and you may choose to respond or not. Your cell number is kept private at all times. TalkToTheManager costs $29 per month and you can cancel at any time. You can also receive preprinted signs with your assigned number for displaying in your store or restaurant.

 

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100 Trends to Watch for 2013

January 17th, 2013 ::

By Karen Axelton

As you prepare your small business for greater success in the coming year, be sure to take a look through trendspotting company JWT’s list of 100 Things to Watch for 2013. While you’ll want to peruse the whole list at leisure, here are a few that stood out to us as of interest to business owners:

  1. Allergen-free foods: JWT cites a 2011 study showing that as many as 1 in 12 American children may have a food allergy. That’s twice as high as previously believed. In 2013, JWT predicts that “allergen-free” will become as ubiquitous as gluten-free, with more food manufacturers, restaurants and retailers devoting themselves to allergy-free meals and snacks.
  2. Ambushed by Amazon: Is Amazon today’s Wal-Mart or Barnes & Noble? Like those mass merchants before it, the ecommerce giant is threatening to run all types of independent retailers out of town. With same-day delivery currently being tested in some cities, its Amazon Flow app that shows shoppers in your store how much the same product costs on Amazon, and everything from luxury jewelry to food for sale, Amazon is a major “disruptor” that retailers and etailers will have to take into account. Latest news? It’s reportedly considering opening brick-and-mortar stores
  3. Appcessories: Accessories are taking on high-tech functionality, turning into “appcessories.” Whether it’s smart eyeglasses, wristwatches or wristbands that integrate with tech toys, or even gloves and socks with RFID tags or embedded microphones, companies are creating dozens of ways for consumers to integrate technology into their clothing and accessories.
  4. Coaching brands: Companies now have the ability to gather unheard-of reams of data about their customers. In 2013, they’ll increasingly use that data to “coach” their customers on how to do things better, provide personalized recommendations for products and services, and otherwise provide customized assistance to help clients improve their lives.
  5. Hyper-personalized customer service: In a closely related trend, businesses in some industries are using information about customers to provide extremely personalized service. For example, restaurants can log details about customer preferences and then provide “the usual” cocktail or a gluten-free menu without the person even having to ask. As technology enables bigger companies to provide the kind of personal touch that used to belong to small companies, your firm will have to find new ways to keep pace.
  6. Dads in the aisles: With women working outside the home and the number of stay-at-home dads multiplying, more marketers that used to focus
on moms will need to include dad as well. Whether you sell cleaning supplies, household products and décor, children’s clothing or food, you will need to market to men and take into account how they like to shop, buy and spend.

Read the full report for 94 more thought-provoking trends.

Image by Flickr user Steve Bowbrick (Creative Commons)

 

 

 

 

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Are You Leaving Money in Customers’ Online Shopping Carts?

January 16th, 2013 ::

By Rieva Lesonsky

The holiday shopping season resulted in as much as $43.4 billion in sales for online retailers. But a study performed by The Adcom Group for Virtual Hold Technology (VHT) suggests that number could have been much higher if consumers hadn’t struggled with a variety of obstacles to completing the online sale.

The study found that more than three-fourths of online shoppers ran into shopping roadblocks when they had a problem completing the purchase, but couldn’t find help online. A similar number reported that this frustration led them to give up entirely and abandon their online shopping cart.

What specific issues were causing problems?

  • Problems correctly reading and using the captcha – 80.3 percent
  • Trouble using promo codes, gift card redemption, or with other discount – 46 percent
  • Product was back-ordered – 32.5 percent
  • Had questions about product features and had difficulty finding answers  - 31 percent
  • The site timed out (or appeared to) – 30.5 percent
  • Had problems logging onto the site, setting up your account or remembering your password – 29.3 percent
  • Had questions about shipping and had difficulty finding answers – 24.7 percent
  • Had problems entering  credit card data or with credit card acceptance -22.6 percent
  • Had questions about product availability and had difficulty finding answers – 20.1 percent
  • Had problems re-setting your password – 18.9 percent
  • Had questions about the return policy and had difficulty finding answers – 15.9 percent

Here’s the really scary part: When faced with these problems, more than 37 percent of customers just give up, and 25.5 percent head to a competitor.

How could online retailers help combat the problem of abandoned shopping carts? Rapidly resolving the problems that get in the way of buying was the number-one answer. Customers overwhelmingly said they would buy more from a site that offered the ability to click or tap to get immediate customer service assistance. In fact, more than three-fourths said they would prefer a site that offered this convenience to a competing site that didn’t.

Providing better customer service would not only drive customers to complete purchases, but also inspire new business. Over half of survey respondents said they would become promoters of brands that offered the ability to click or tap for customer service, and that they would refer others to the brand, website or mobile app.

Of course, many of the issues mentioned above could be solved with a robust set of FAQs that’s easy to find on your site. Make sure FAQs about issues such as shipping, return policies and more are clearly visible on every page of your site navigation.

You can download the full results of the study at www.virtualhold.com/onlineshopping.

Image by Flickr user zion fiction (Creative Commons)

 

 

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