subject: Emphasize Customer Service Options To Minimize Frustrated Shoppers [print this page] How much customer service should you provide on your website?
In a recent survey of ecommerce shoppers conducted by PayPal and Comscore, twenty- two percent of consumers abandoned their shopping carts because they could not locate any customer support. The survey does not elaborate whether this is product information or technical support for the website. Business owners would be wise to assume it could be both.
The survey ranks a variety of reasons for abandonment:
- High shipping charges: 46 percent
- Were comparison shopping: 37 percent
- Could not afford the product: 36 percent
- Went looking for coupons: 27 percent
- Wanted to shop offline: 26 percent
- Preferred payment option not available: 24 percent
- Item unavailable: 23 percent
- Could not locate customer support: 22 percent
- Concerned about security of credit card data: 21 percent
Forty-five percent of the five hundred and fifty three people surveyed had abandoned multiple shopping carts in the previous three weeks.
Post Customer Service Information
Make your business accessible by e-mail, telephone, live chat, and mailing address. All contact information should be posted clearly and in various locations on multiple pages throughout your website. Response time is critical to capture the consumer and their purchase. Even smaller businesses need to have a knowledgeable person for answering all the forms of correspondence.
Frequently Asked Question List
For the consumer who does not want talk to anyone, a frequently asked question section would help this potential buyer to answer their own question by locating a similar question that has been posted by another buyer. Response time and diligent updating to the information being posted is a must for a helpful information tool.
Sitemaps
Sitemaps are designed to help searchers if they get lost in the site and can not retrace their steps to get to where they want to go. Although they are less common, the site map is an excellent way to help a user understand the logic of the site, get to where they want to go efficiently and tie together all of the sites elements. You can actually use a sitemap generator tool to build your site map and, in some of the paid versions, the tool will also submit your sitemap to search engines.
Technical Customer Service
Can your business personnel handle technical issues or do you have to contract these inquiries to your web designer or software companies? However you decide to handle technical support you should first look at eliminating some of the need for technical assistance by reviewing how well your website functions, specifically in the check out process which is where much of the shopping cart abandonment occurs.
New Shopping Cart Software
Do you have a shopping cart button that has color, is distinctive, and is located high up on the page so the consumer does not have to scroll down to find it? If you are shopping cart software is more than a couple of years old it is time to shop for a new one which uses some new advances in technology. Do your research; there are hundreds of software packages on the market. Read the reviews, many ecommerce sites and web design experts post reviews of the latest shopping cart software. As a business owner ensure that your shopping cart functions with your target markets needs and abilities in mind.
