With so much money spent at this time of year, the Holiday period is crucial for retailers. In today’s competitive industry, a good Christmas can literally mean the difference between survival and going bankrupt. But getting it right isn’t easy – the internet has greatly increased competition, putting pressure on prices, while consumer demands are ever increasing. They ...
According to new academic research people check their smartphones 85 times a day and use them for a daily average of 5 hours. The study, from Nottingham Trent University, also found that much of the time most users don’t even realize they are doing it, with consumers spending twice as much time on their phones as they think.For many, their phone is the first thing they...
When it comes to customer service, consumers want the ability to contact you through their channel of choice and get the same positive experience - receiving fast, accurate and consistent answers - however they get in touch.Delivering consistency is therefore important to both customers and the organization itself. Inconsistency frustrates consumers as they cannot be sure that they’ve...
Thanks to the internet, retail is a global industry, with companies now facing competition from peers around the world. As we’ve discussed before, this means that a focus on the customer is vital – with businesses needing to understand what consumers want and provide them with a tailored experience that meets their exact requirements. At the same time as the internet has...
Recruiting and retaining high quality customer service staff is one of the cornerstones of keeping consumers happy and loyal. Even with the rise of self-service options, for the majority of channels (email, social media, chat, phone, face to face) the experience created by the people you employ is crucial to the success or failure of the customer relationship. Gartner predicts...
As we approach the holiday shopping season, retailers are getting ready for their busiest time of the year. So at Eptica we thought it would be a good time to look at how they perform when it comes to the customer experience. The 2015 Eptica Retail Customer Experience Study therefore evaluated 500 U.S. retailers, in 15 sectors, on their ability to provide answers to 10 questions...
In a more and more complex world, consumers are asking an increasing number of questions – and want fast, accurate answers, whatever channel they use to make contact on. Delivering consistent, accurate and compliant answers is at the heart of delivering the excellent customer service that they require, meaning that knowledge management has moved center stage...
It’s less than a month from Black Friday, which is now seen as the first milestone holiday shopping day on both sides of the Atlantic. Retailers have therefore spent the past months ensuring that everything is in place for the festive period. From making decisions on stock levels to fine-tuning marketing campaigns, websites and stores, companies have been working hard to prepare...
Consumers are sending an increasing number of questions to companies, across more and more channels. This rising volume of customer interactions, covering everything from questions about products and post-sales queries, to complaints and positive feedback, threatens to overwhelm many organizations.The numbers are vast. Over 1 million people view tweets about customer service...
We’re now coming to the end of National Customer Service Week, which highlights the vital importance of customer service to businesses and puts the spotlight on the great work done by those in this sector. It also looks at sharing best practice to further improve standards, ultimately benefiting consumers everywhere.On that note, let us focus on the positive side of customer...