Could the boom of the e-commerce sector be possible without the advent of robust communication technologies? The answer is a resounding ‘No.’ The name ‘e-commerce’ (short for electronic commerce) came into existence in 1979. That year, noted English innovator and entrepreneur Michael Aldrich pioneered online shopping by connecting a modified TV to a real-time transaction processing computer through a phone line.
But the concept only became economically viable 25 years later after the advent and popularity of the Internet. Since then, propelled by rapid advancement in digital communication technologies, the industry witnessed exponential growth. As per data released by Research and Markets, the global e-commerce market size touched USD 16.6 trillion in 2022 and it’s expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 27.38 percent to reach USD 70.9 trillion by 2028.
At present, many e-commerce players are focusing more on customer service. That’s because, in such a highly competitive sector, where most companies offer similar products or services at more or less the same price points, customer service can be a massive differentiator. A recent study found that more than 80 percent of e-commerce stores that took part in the survey don’t outsource their customer service.
In such a scenario, leveraging sophisticated communication tools such as call center software for e-commerce businesses can give immense advantages to many online retailers. This blog post discusses what benefits e-commerce companies can get from using sophisticated call center software and how to select the right call center software for e-commerce companies.
Benefits of Using E-Commerce Call Center Software
Since its invention, call center software has proved to be extremely useful for the e-commerce industry. Let’s take a look at some of the major benefits.
1. Wide range of cutting-edge features
Sophisticated call center software for e-commerce businesses comes with a wide range of advanced features including automatic call distribution, auto dialer, predictive dialer, skill-based routing, least cost routing, multi level IVR, WebRTC, and real-time analytics and reports.
Each of these sophisticated features enables online retailers to connect with customers in the best possible manner.
2. Reduced Costs
Call center software for e-commerce businesses reduce costs in many ways. By using VoIP technology, online retailers can save more than 50 percent on local call costs and more than 90 percent on international call costs. The least-cost routing feature finds the cheapest path to handle incoming and outgoing calls. It eliminates the need for many manual activities in the calling process, which saves agents’ time and enhances their productivity.
When agents are super productive and have more time at their disposal, they can provide higher value to customers and businesses. Being highly flexible and scalable, e-commerce call center software can easily scale up and scale down e-tailers’ customer support operations depending on demand and seasons.
3. Better customer service and consistent customer experience
Ever wondered why some e-commerce companies such as Amazon and Zappos command tremendous loyalty from their customers all around the world? Customer service sets the two iconic companies apart from their competitors. Several data and stats have found that nine out of every ten customers say customer service is as important as an e-commerce company’s products or services.
Now, let’s talk about customer experience. As per the latest stats, nine out of every ten e-commerce businesses compete on customer experience. Sophisticated call center software for e-commerce companies helps in providing a superior customer experience.
4. Increased customer satisfaction
The e-commerce sector has one of the highest customer satisfaction levels. As per a stat, the customer satisfaction rate in the industry is estimated to be between 75 and 80 percent. With such a high benchmark, achieving higher customer satisfaction can provide a competitive advantage. Specialized call center software for e-commerce companies can help with just that.
Apart from efficiently streamlining customers’ calls and increasing first-call resolutions, sophisticated call center software provides a broad array of self-service options to customers and enables them to contact businesses using a wide range of channels.
5. Effective lead generation and higher conversions
Generating high-quality leads is extremely critical for the survival and success of e-commerce businesses. But over 60 percent of e-tailers consider lead generation as their biggest challenge, a study by B2B Technology Marketing revealed. Sophisticated call center software for the e-commerce industry can allow online retailers to generate high-quality leads by interacting with their prospects directly.
After generating high-quality leads, e-commerce call center software can guide leads from one step of the sales funnel to the next.
6. Secure billing and payments
Credit cards and digital wallets are the most commonly used payment mode in e-commerce. As per stats published by banking behemoth J.P. Morgan, both payment methods account for 75 percent of the payment split. In both cases, online shoppers enter their card details when they make the payment. This is where sophisticated call center software designed exclusively for the e-commerce industry can be immensely useful.
The CRM integration feature in the software can enable contact center agents to access the entire transaction and billing history of customers, without being able to see their credit card information and other payment data. It can also secure payments by using a variety of payment processing and security measures.
7. Sophisticated analytics and reporting
As clichéd as it may sound, data is the new oil. Relevant data can help e-commerce businesses with better decision-making, holistic marketing campaigns, predicting risks, and much more strategies. Online retailers that efficiently leverage data analytics can have a massive edge over their competitors that don’t use data.
Equipped with sophisticated analytics and real-time reporting systems, call center software for e-commerce businesses can understand customer behavior and improve customer service.
Tips to Select the Right Call Center Software for E-Commerce Ventures
When it comes to choosing the right e-commerce call center software, it can be overwhelming due to the sheer volume of choices available in the market. But if you follow the right strategies, you can handpick the right software that would benefit your online shopping business immensely. Here are five simple tips.
1. Determine the purpose, list key features, and set a budget
First thing first, determine what you want the call center software to do. Do you want it to streamline all incoming calls and route them to the right agents? Or do you want it to generate high-quality leads and help you with marketing campaigns? That’ll determine the types of calls you are going to handle and the features you would need the most. That’ll also help you to set a reasonable budget.
2. Look for call center software for e-commerce businesses
Now you know the features you want and the amount you’re willing to pay for the call center software. What’s next? Well, it’s time to look for some promising call center software providers on the internet and choose one of them. Type search terms such as “top call center software for e-commerce companies,” “best e-commerce call center software,” and “affordable call center software for e-tailers.”
3. Compare features, prices, and reviews
After the results appear, click on the top results and see what they have to offer. All websites may not belong to call center software providers. Some may be aggregator websites (for example, Software Suggest.) Compare the products, features, pricing plans, reviews, ratings, and pros and cons.
4. Contact call center software providers
In the next step, contact the shortlisted call center software providers to know more about their products and pricing plans. Ask them if they provide a free demo. That’s the top prerequisite to carry on the discussion. If they don’t, end the conversation politely and move on to the next. It won’t be hard to find a provider that offers free demos though. A lot of reputable and trustworthy companies do.
5. Use the software and make a buying decision
Once you get the demo version of the call center software, introduce it to your customer service team and seek their feedback. If everything is fine with it and your agents can use it easily and effectively, consider purchasing it.
To summarize
For e-commerce companies, customer service and experience is a huge differentiators. Every online retailer should do whatever it takes to provide excellent service and experience to online shoppers. Using sophisticated communication tools such as call center software for e-commerce can be extremely beneficial.
Equipped with sophisticated features, contemporary e-commerce call center software can automate a lot of manual calling processes and activities as well as benefit your business in a lot of ways. If you want your customer service department to score high in customer satisfaction levels, consider partnering with a trustworthy and reputable call center software provider.
