How Can Customer Service Software Improve The Shopping Experience?

Great customer service keeps buyers coming back. If companies provide streamlined communication, real-time assistance, and personalized support, they can create a seamless shopping experience that sets them apart from the competition and encourages customers to make repeat purchases.

The challenge? As customer expectations evolve, companies need tools that can keep pace. Here’s how customer service software can help improve the shopping experience.

The Impact of Shopping Experience on Customer Satisfaction

Experiences are the primary driver of lost purchase opportunities. According to recent research, 37% of customers said they stopped buying from brands after a bad product experience, while 32% said they left after a bad experience with customer service.

In practice, this means that companies can’t rely on product quality or pricing alone to drive customer loyalty. Instead, they need to create customer experiences that seamlessly guide buyers through the shopping journey and leave them satisfied with the results.

How Customer Service Software Can Help

Customer service software can take many forms. It may include solutions that simplify shopping cart and checkout processes, services that facilitate post-purchase communication, or customer relationship management (CRM) tools that help companies track purchase and service history.

No matter the specifics, customer service software facilitates one of three broad aims: Delivering value, optimizing friction, and building loyalty. 

Delivering Value

For customer service software to be effective, it must deliver value to customers, which in turn delivers value to brands.

Consider a customer making his or her first purchase. If the company’s website makes it easy for buyers to find what they’re looking for, offers intelligent product recommendations based on price, function, and inventory levels, and then provides a streamlined checkout experience with clear price calculations and shopping dates, the overall value offered makes customers more likely to return.

Given that return buyers are more profitable over time than capturing new customers, shopping experiences that create loyalty also drive business value.

Optimizing Friction

Friction in the buying experience is often seen as negative, but when used properly, the right amount of friction can improve overall sales. Collected customer service data can help companies create learning experiences for customers that provide just enough friction to help buyers better understand their own goals and, in turn, make more purchases.

Building Loyalty

First-time purchases are typically for smaller, lower-cost items. It makes sense: Since it’s their first interaction with a business, customers don’t want to risk an expensive disappointment. By building loyalty, brands can encourage customers to come back and spend more. While this starts with high-quality products at a fair price, customer service software can help build loyalty through follow-up satisfaction emails, opt-in promotional emails, and social media messaging.

Getting the Big Picture

Customer service software doesn’t exist in isolation. While technology sets the stage for improved buyer engagement and loyalty, businesses must ensure they have the right people and processes in place to make the most of customer service solutions.

For example, even the best customer service software won’t deliver desired outcomes if staff haven’t been given the time and training necessary to fully understand the benefits of new applications. Businesses must also ensure that service tools are fully integrated with key data sources such as transaction history and call center databases to provide critical customer context. An experienced customer service company can help brands effectively navigate both the people and process components of effective software integration. 

Put simply, experience can make or break customer satisfaction with the shopping journey. Customer service software can help companies create seamless, streamlined experiences that keep buyers coming back.