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When you think of customer service, you likely imagine a team of agents responding to incoming customer complaints and questions. This type of customer support, called reactive customer service, is an important way to help customers, but it’s only one dimension of a larger customer service experience.

You can upgrade your customer service with a proactive customer service strategy that includes:

• Creating self-service resources like FAQ pages or help centers
• Live chatting with potential customers on your website to provide real-time help
• Offering tutorials, discount codes, and recommendations to help customers make a more confident purchase

With proactive customer service, you can set customer expectations, create more opportunities for positive customer interactions, and increase your brand’s conversion rate. All without requiring your shoppers to put forth the effort of reaching out to you.

Below, we’ll share a few strategies for proactive customer service that will support a happier customer base and, in turn, long-term sales. 

What is proactive customer service?

Proactive customer service means that you make the first move, proactively providing customers with support resources, rather than waiting on them to contact your brand first. Proactive customer support can be provided directly via an agent messaging customers, or indirectly via self-service resources such as an FAQ page or knowledge base. Examples of proactive customer service include:

• Contacting a customer pre-purchase via a live chat widget to walk them through the purchase process (and boost sales)
• Providing automated product recommendation pop-ups that are triggered based on specific customer actions
• Offering customers a knowledge base where they can find answers to common questions
• Responding to social media posts that mention your brand.

What is reactive customer service?

Reactive customer service is the type of customer service that most people are much more familiar with. Despite the growing popularity of a proactive customer service approach, reactive customer service remains a vital form of customer support as well. 

As the name suggests, reactive customer service involves reacting to customer issues when they are brought to your attention by the customer. Examples of reactive customer service include:

• Answering phone calls on your brand's customer support line
• Responding to SMS and email messages
• Engaging with customers via live chat support when the customer was the one to open up the live chat window

While examples of reactive customer service can be found in virtually any customer-facing business, Zappos executes especially effective reactive customer service. Part of their strategy is sending a personalized response to every single email that they receive. This level of personalization ensures that the customer feels seen and acknowledged, lending itself to more positive customer experiences. 

Why more online stores are turning to proactive customer service

There are two main categories that customer service can fall into: reactive customer service and proactive customer service. If you would like to create a customer service strategy that is as efficient and effective as possible, it's important to balance both of these approaches.

The numerous benefits of proactive customer service have led more and more online stores to adopt a more proactive approach to meeting customers' needs. According to data from MyCustomer, 73% of customers who are contacted proactively report a positive experience that changes their perception of the brand for the better. 

Here are three additional benefits of proactive customer support:

It gives you more opportunities to drive sales

Proactive customer service can be the difference between an abandoned cart and a placed order. Why? Customers need information — such as sizing guides, product details, and refund policies — before placing an order. However, a customer might opt to shop elsewhere before reaching out to customer service.

You can keep customers on your site by reaching out proactively via live chat to ask if they need any help in those key moments. With Gorgias live chat campaigns, you can even automate this process and trigger a live chat that offers support (or even a discount code) when customers reach certain cart values, linger on a purchase page, return to your site multiple times before making a purchase, or a number of other situations. 

The result? Better customer support, higher conversion rates, and more opportunities to drive upsells.

It reduces tickets and shrinks your customer support team's workload

Adopting proactive customer service means that you will be able to resolve common issues without the need for customers to contact your customer service team. In many cases, providing proactive customer service does not require the assistance of a customer support agent at all. Self-service resources, for example, allow customers to find the answers to common questions on their own. 

Self-service chatbots alone are estimated to save companies across the globe a projected total of $11 billion by 2023, according to data from Kindly. Not only can reducing the size of their customer support staff help save your company money, but shrinking your support team's workload via proactive customer support solutions can also provide your team with more time to focus on high-priority customer conversations. This can help you further increase customer satisfaction as your team can focus its efforts where they are needed the most. 

Take a look at Rio de Janeiro’s help center, powered by Gorgias. Customers have access to a number of support articles about the product, the company’s shipping and returns policies, and more. Plus, they can even track and manage their orders without ever having to contact an agent. 

It improves customer experience and can boost customer loyalty

The entire goal of proactive customer support is to provide value to customers without waiting for them to make the first move. This isn’t always easy: you have to study the customer journey, from first exposure to repeat customer, in order to anticipate and proactively address customer issues and pain points.

Providing proactive customer support lets a customer know that your company truly cares about their needs. Today, offering great products alone isn't enough to ensure high customer retention rates. Customers choose, share, and stick with companies that offer a customer-centric experience in addition to excellent products and services — it’s the secret to Amazon’s success. 

Want to learn more about live chat for proactive customer service? Check out these resources:

• The best live chat apps (general)
• The best live chat apps for ecommerce
• The best live chat apps for Shopify stores
• 22 live chat statistics
• How to add a live chat to your Shopify store

5 ways to implement proactive customer service and drive revenue

The benefits of proactive customer service are undeniable, but implementing an effective proactive customer support strategy requires a carefully developed plan. If you would like to start leveraging a proactive approach to customer support to create more happy customers, here are five strategies to consider.

1) Proactively chat shoppers with best-selling items in their cart to reduce cart abandonment

One of the most effective forms of proactive customer support is to reach out to customers while they’re shopping. It’s like a sales associate asking in a physical store asking a shopper whether they need anything — but easier to ignore if they’re happy shopping solo.

With the right helpdesk, you can automatically reach out to customers with best-selling items in their cart offering to answer questions, recommend accessories, or provide a discount code to incentivize a purchase. Customers may respond by asking for your opinion about sizing or other product details, or just feel delighted to save a few extra dollars. This kind of proactive conversation, which we call a chat campaign, can reduce cart abandonment or even lead to upsells. 

Here’s an example of a customer adding a best-selling product to their cart:

Customers with best-selling items in their cart are only one segment you can target. With chat campaigns, you can automatically start a chat with customers who:

• Add a certain amount of merchandise to their 
• Linger on a product, help, or checkout page
• Visit your website multiple times without making a purchase

If you want an inside peek at how to set up chat campaigns in Gorgias, check out our help doc on the subject. Alternatively, book a demo (and ask about chat campaigns.)

By the way, this tip is part of our CX Growth Playbook, which offers 18 tactics to boost ecommerce revenue by 44% through exceptional customer service. 

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2) Proactively welcome new followers on social media with a DM

Most brands already use social media for customer service. But in addition to managing incoming DMs and comments on your various social media accounts, you can nurture customer relationships by sending a welcome DM to new followers on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, or any other social media platform.

You can say hello, thank them for the follow, direct them to some helpful new-shopper information, or even offer a unique code for their first purchase. Also, let them know they can chat with you right within your DMs should any issues come up now or in the future.

This kind of proactive, relationship-building activity reinforces the notion that your customer support team isn’t just there to respond to tickets (like the 21st-century version of a call center). Instead, they should find new ways to nurture long-lasting customer relationships and proactively provide the information and discounts customers need to make their first, second, or tenth purchase.

Here’s a template for welcome DMs you can use:

“Welcome to [brand] 🙌. [Personalized message related to your brand.] Here’s a 10% discount code for being a new member: [coupon]. Please explore our Insta and our products and reply here if you have any questions!”

3) Celebrate key customer moments 

Proactive customer support isn’t just helpful for new customers. You can delight your most loyal customers by proactively reaching out to celebrate key milestones like their birthday or the anniversary of their first purchase.

If you want to automate this process, you can use a tool like Zapier to trigger a workflow whenever a customer creates their first order and, if the customer spends more than a certain amount once those 11 months are up, create a support ticket in your helpdesk reminding your support team to send them a gift for their first purchase anniversary.

Plus, a customer may opt to share this special occasion on their own social media accounts, broadening your brand’s exposure in a very positive light.

4) Solicit customer feedback at every opportunity

Offering customers proactive customer support that is actually helpful first requires your brand to develop a thorough understanding of its customers' needs, pain points, and common issues. With that in mind, there's no better way to determine what your customers need from proactive customer support than asking them directly. 

For this purpose, surveys and customer feedback tools can prove incredibly valuable, helping you gather direct feedback that you can use to fine-tune your proactive customer service approach — as well as other aspects of your product and customer experience. 

If you don’t, we recommend at least measuring customer satisfaction (CSAT) with a field for open-ended responses where customers can tell you what they like and what they’d change about your business. 

Your CSAT score will give you a gauge of the quality of your offering, making it one of the most important customer service metrics out there. Plus, the qualitative feedback you receive can help you identify areas of the product and customer journey to improve, which helps you proactively avoid issues for future customers.

As you send your CSAT survey to more customers, you may get overwhelmed with responses. A customer service platform like Gorgias can give you a big-picture view of your CSAT across all tickets, as well as let you zoom in on low-scoring tickets to understand what went wrong. 

5) Implement self-service resources that proactively solve common issues

According to customer retention statistics from Microsoft, 66% of customers try self-service options before they decide to contact a brand's customer service team (see our full customer service statistics guide for more stats on consumer behavior). With this being the case, one of the best ways to provide proactive service to your customers is to offer them helpful self-service resources — such as FAQ pages, knowledge base pages, forums, and automated chatbots. 

In addition to improving the customer experience by enabling customers to quickly resolve common issues on their own, self-service resources can also dramatically reduce a company's customer support ticket volume. This way, your agents spend less time answering repetitive questions and more time on high-impact tickets that require a human touch. 

For example, childcare product brand JOONE gets notified when a customer's package runs late. JOONE passes on that information to customers rather than waiting for them to reach out and ask why their order hasn’t arrived yet. 

"If we're more proactive,” says Clara Zaoui, JOONE’s Head of CRM and Customer Care, “the customer can be only happy to be informed and to know that customer service is following their package. It's a more personalized experience."

Take your proactive customer service to the next level with Gorgias

Proactive customer service offers a wide range of benefits — from improving customer satisfaction, to building empathy, to reducing the workload of your customer service team. However, implementing a proactive approach to customer service is also something that requires a very specific set of customer service tools.

As a comprehensive customer service solution, Gorgias provides everything that ecommerce store owners need to start offering effective proactive customer support, including social listening tools, live chat widgets, an automated customer service workflow builder, and self-service solutions such as FAQ pages and knowledge bases.

If you would like to start taking a proactive approach to customer service, improve customer satisfaction, and reduce the size of your customer support staff, then Gorgias is an excellent solution to consider. To learn more about the benefits that Gorgias can have for your online store, be sure to check out our comprehensive overview of Gorgias's many features and uses.

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How many times have you left an online store, mid-purchase, after trying and failing to find the answers you needed?

According to Baymard Institute, about two-thirds of carts end up abandoned. Luckily, live chat can help convert those customers — providing well-time customer service at the height of buying intent.

Companies that leverage live-chat tools on their websites provide a stronger customer experience, maximize the efficiency of their customer support agents and see bigger gains in revenue and customer retention. 

Plus, it has exploded in popularity recently and continues to grow. Even if you don’t have live chat enabled on your website, there’s a good chance your competitors are in the 85% of companies projected to be using it in 2022.

In this article, we’ve listed 22 live chat and chatbot statistics that show just how beneficial these tools can be for your company and customer support team. 

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1) 86% of live chat tickets end with a satisfied customer

Recent live chat statistics from the Gorgias platform demonstrate that the majority of customers are satisfied with their live chat experiences for support. In fact, we found 86% of live chat conversations on the Gorgias platform end with a 4- or 5-star CSAT rating. There are a number of issues that can arise with any type of digital customer communication method, but based on these statistics, it’s fair to say that live chat offers a clear path to customer satisfaction. 

Source: Gorgias

2) 79% of businesses say offering live chat features has positively impacted sales, revenue, and customer loyalty

This data point drives home the win-win nature of live chat for companies and customers. If your company is going to invest in new technology and take the time to train your customer support team in how to use it, you’ll want to make sure it’s worth it. 

If you’re still not convinced: In 2021, brands using the Gorgias chat widget generated an average of $38,702 from conversations involving chat.

Sources: ltvplus

‍3) Adding live chat to your website can improve conversions by 12%

Converting website visitors to customers is key to any successful ecommerce business, so most companies will do whatever they need to in order to boost their chances of a conversion. Recent statistics show that adding live chat can increase conversion rates by 12%. This data also tells us that visitors who chat via live chat are 2.8 times more likely to convert than those who do not engage in this form of communication.

This is much more attainable when you combine automation and a human touch in your chat strategy. (Not sure of the difference? Read our post on live chat vs chatbots.)

Source: ltvplus

4) Organizations that used chatbots in 2019 saved an average of $300,000

Leveraging chat tools on your company’s website can help save your company money on staffing and the costs of high churn, and can improve overall customer experience — which often leads to customers spending more money while on your site. 

Source: Intercom

Keep reading with our list of 60+ customer service statistics you should use to inform your team’s support strategy.

5) Approximately 66% of customers expect an immediate response to their inquiries

Nearly two-thirds of buyers report that they expect an immediate response from a support team (“immediate” is defined as within 10 minutes). This may be partially because many customers are used to old-fashioned phone support, which usually results in an immediate solution to the problem. 

This statistic should also tell you that when your customer success team is providing live chat support, they should either respond immediately, or set up an automated message that is sent immediately that states when a team member will be available to assist them. 

With some live chat products, you can also provide a self-service solution. We have found that it can deflect up to 30% of tickets and provide your customers with immediate responses at any hour. You can see an example of the Gorgias self-service chat below.

Source: HubSpot

6) Most problems on live chat are resolved in 42 seconds

Speed doesn’t mean much for live chat customer service if the issues aren’t ultimately resolved. The good news is that a recent industry assessment shows that most customer issues brought to a company via live chat are resolved in less than one minute, once the agent gets to the ticket. 

At the end of the day, your customers want to know they can rely on you and your team to help them out in a reasonable amount of time — especially if the issue is simple and straightforward. 

Source: SnapEngage

7) 42% of customers prefer real-time online chat as their communication method

There’s no question that real-time support via chat is taking over traditional phone support. But it’s not just phone support that is losing to live chat — there are other forms of digital communication that are no longer preferred among customers. Only 23% of customers report preferring email communication for support, and 16% report social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) and forums as their preferred mode of support communication. 

If a customer has a question, they’re more likely to visit your company’s website and try to engage with a live chat agent. But the real takeaway here is that different customers have different support needs.

It’s important to choose a solution that unifies your support operation across all channels, so you can meet customers where they are without keeping 15 different tabs open. 

Source: SuperOffice

8) 29% of customers report that scripted live chat experiences are the most annoying

Most people can agree that talking to a robot with scripted responses can be a negative and even entirely unhelpful experience. Furthermore, 38% of companies agree that their customers are most annoyed by scripted responses on live chat. 

At Gorgias, we have found shoppers are less bothered by self-service features if they are fast and, more importantly, helpful in getting them to the right agent more quickly. But if you’ve ever typed “I need an agent” five times in a row in a live chat window, you know firsthand that those experiences can be rare.

Source: ltvplus

9) 69% of companies use canned responses in their live chat service

As we discussed earlier, many customers are still turned off by auto-scripted chat bots. Even though many companies agree with this notion, more than two-thirds of companies continue to use canned responses in their live chat services. 

It is important to recognize that there is a distinction between a bot that provides automated responses, and a live customer service agent who refers to a script. Your customer support agents should be able to bring in their own personalities and styles when chatting with customers, but it’s not necessary to reinvent the wheel for each response. 

For example, a script at Disney might look like this:

The above script is called a Macro, and it’s an example of how we strike this balance at Gorgias. Agents can use Macros to quickly respond in a way that is personalized and in line with your company’s voice. This allows for a warmer, more natural support experience. Plus, all the information is pulled in automatically.

Source: Forbes

10) People who spend more online are more loyal to companies that offer live chat

When the pandemic started, online shopping increased dramatically. A household can easily spend $250 per month online — especially if they’re ordering groceries or items they would have normally bought in person. 

Statistics show that, out of consumers who spend between $250 and $500 a month online, 63% are more loyal to companies that have live chat services. They are also more likely to be repeat customers. 

Live chat services can help customers feel seen and heard, so regular customers feel comforted knowing that someone from your customer success team is one message away. This level of service will keep them coming back time and time again.

Source: Kayako

11) 38% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company if they offer live chat support

Even if customers don’t necessarily take advantage of your live chat support feature, over one-third of consumers report they are more likely to make a purchase from an online retailer if they simply have live chat support as an option. Live chat can help show customers that your company is available for any question they have, and that the company cares about their experience. 

Source: Kayako

12) More than 30% of customers expect live chat on your website

To further support the fact that many customers in today’s retail landscape prefer live chat, close to one-third say that they expect to see a live chat option on a company’s website. Similarly, almost 50% of mobile device users visiting your website expect to see a live chat option. To ignore live chat is to ignore a large portion of your customers’ expectations, leading to a poor ecommerce shopping experience and ultimately, less revenue.

Source: Forrester through TechJury

Have Shopify? Learn how to add a live chat to your store.

13) By 2022, about 85% of businesses will use some form of live chat support

Recent data shows that by 2022, the majority of businesses are expected to incorporate some form of live chat experiences to their websites or mobile apps. 

In addition to the statistical benefits of live chat, other benefits include an overall increase in customer satisfaction rate, better customer experience with personalized interactions, and fewer costs while providing simultaneous support to multiple customers. 

Source: Software Advice

Keep your business ahead of the curve: Read about 8 must-know customer service trends for 2022.

14) More companies use live chat for sales than for customer support

Live chat is most commonly used among B2C businesses for customer support and to further enhance the customer experience. According to recent data, more companies use live chat for sales than support. Among B2B companies, 85% are using live chat mainly for sales and 66% are using it mainly for support. Among B2C companies, 74% are using live chat for sales more, while 67% are using it mainly for support.

Source: FinancesOnline

Drive more sales with these 9 tips for ecommerce upselling.

15) The global live chat software market is set to hit $987 million by 2023

Perhaps one of the most important statistics on this list, the global live chat software market is set to grow at unprecedented rates over the next year. The live chat software market is also registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.5% from 2017 to 2023. 

As a business leader or owner, this is excellent news for your company because it means that you will have multiple options for live chat products. All live chat software is not created equal, so researching companies and asking questions to make sure a product can meet the unique needs of your business is key. 

For example, you should consider:

• Website performance and loading time
• Front-end customization options
• The ability to use templated replies (we call them Macros)
• How easy it is to integrate other tools
• Availability options, if you don’t offer 24/7 support

Source: Allied Market Research

Related: Get our in-depth list of the best live chat apps for Shopify.

16) 95% of customers value high-quality support over speed with live chat

Research shows that almost all customers (95%) value higher quality support over speed when it comes to live chat apps. This isn’t to say that customers are content with long average wait times. Rather, it reveals that consumers prefer slower, more personalized live chat support when it leads to higher quality service. 

Luckily, with a combination of live chat and a chatbot, you don’t have to compromise between speed and customer experience.

Source: Finances Online

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17) Most customers prefer live chat because of the shorter wait times and added convenience

Among the reasons customers prefer live chat over any other form of customer communication are the lack of wait times (34%) and the increased convenience (26.9%). The data also shows us that customers appreciate that they can privately engage with a brand, express their concerns, and receive quick solutions to their issues. 

In this case, live chat is a critical tool for building trust with your customer base and establishing long-term customer relationships. 

Source: SoftwareAdvice

18) Online chatting with a human provides the quickest solutions

The time spent talking to a customer service agent is often cited as a reason customers prefer live chat over other customer communication options. In one study, chatting online with a human came in first place for the shortest chat duration, resolving an issue in just 24 minutes. This is compared to email (157 minutes), social media messaging (58 minutes), and online chat with a bot (27 minutes).

Source: TopBots

19) When initiating a live chat, 40% of consumers are skeptical they’ll receive help promptly

Although customers prefer live chat sessions over email, phone, and social media support, two-fifths of them lack faith that they’ll get the support they need in a reasonable amount of time. 

While this lack of confidence isn’t ideal, it provides an opportunity for you and your customer success team to prove to your customers that your company’s live chat is fast and helpful. This is also a key reason many of our customers use self-service features in their live chat experiences.

Building trust with your customers turns them into lifelong customers, helps with your company’s ecommerce churn rate and lead generation, and can ultimately boost your customer success team's morale as they successfully resolve tickets. 

Source: Kayako

20) Millennials prefer live chat for customer service over every other communication channel

When it comes to younger generations, speed and convenience are priorities. Among millennials specifically, live chat tools are the preferred method of communication when contacting a company. 

According to a report by Software Advice, the top reason they prefer live chat is because it can dramatically decrease holding time. Even more, 71% of those surveyed between 16 and 24 years old think the customer experience could be drastically improved with quicker response times. That percentage drops only slightly (65%) for those between the ages of 25 and 34. 

Source: Comm100

21) 29% of customers say they’ve shared a positive live chat experience with friends

As much as marketing and sales have gone digital, there’s still something extremely powerful about word of mouth. People are more likely to share positive customer service experiences over “just okay” experiences. Among younger generations like millennials and Generation Z, talking among friends and sharing experiences about online retailers is the norm. 

Online shopping experiences have become even more widely discussed since the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020, as many people have defaulted to shopping online instead of making trips to brick-and-mortar stores. 

Source: Kayako

22) 58% of millennials want access to brands anytime, anywhere

Following up on how millennial customers prefer to communicate with brands, more than half expect to be able to engage with a brand whenever they choose. 

To be available to them across all platforms, you need to ensure your live chat integrates into a customer support solution that can bring those channels into your dashboard. Otherwise, you’ll be clicking back and forth between different windows for every new ticket.

It may seem easier to just make them come to your preferred channels, but overlooking the preferences of millennials and Gen Z can negatively affect your business as their buying power grows.

Source: Comm100

Gorgias brings live chat to ecommerce businesses

Now that you’ve explored the latest data on chat tools, you can see why a live chat tool is a worthy addition to any ecommerce business. But as we mentioned earlier, all live chat solutions are not created equal. I

Gorgias live chat integrates into our leading platform for ecommerce customer support. You can handle live chat tickets alongside those from email, phone, and social media to more easily serve your online customers. You can even proactively reach out to customers to resolve more issues and boost sales. Then automate your most repetitive inquiries to make time for the conversations that matter to your business.

Our tool was specifically built to work seamlessly with major ecommerce platforms like Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce, and our integrations go deeper than any other platform. Sign up today to see how our chat tools can help your business grow.

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TL;DR:

• Ecommerce automation replaces manual processes and can improve productivity and growth.
• Automation can streamline workflows, reduce costs, and increase customer satisfaction.
• Eight ecommerce tasks that should be automated include aspects of customer service, sales scheduling, product rollouts, fraud prevention, inventory management, email marketing, accounting, and web development.
• Automation should be used to enhance, not replace, customer relationships.

No matter how small or large your operation is, you probably have hundreds of small tasks that only take just a few minutes out of your day. On their own, these manual tasks don’t appear to be huge time-wasters. However, when they accumulate, they may end up wasting a full hour.

What falls into these time-wasters? Well, it can be anything from small tweaks to your ecommerce platform, to running email campaigns and sending follow-up messages to your customers. All of these tasks, when taken lightly, can become dangerous. 

In fact, these small tasks can destroy your productivity and hinder the growth of your business. As Deloitte recommends, you have to avoid wasting time on insignificant tasks and focus all of your attention on fundamentally improving your operation.

That’s where automation comes into play. In this article, we’re going to talk about the following three things:

• What automation means for ecommerce businesses
• How you can benefit from automating tasks
• Which tasks you need to automate

What is ecommerce automation?

Ecommerce automation is when businesses implement tools to replace manual processes. For ecommerce specifically, this might mean sending an automatic response to common questions like "where is my order," automatically generating order updates (like shipping and delivery), offering additional product suggestions at checkout, or sending a welcome email to first time customers.

Benefits of ecommerce automation

Automation can help you streamline ecommerce tasks while still maintaining a human touch. It also helps teams keep track of inventory, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, lower first response time, and eliminate tedious or repetetive answers for your customer support team.

1. Streamline workflows

Everyone has a routine. Your employees do too. But insignificant tasks don’t need to be a part of it. Roughly 25% of employees simply want to “do their jobs.” Use automation to give your employees an opportunity to do their jobs and improve satisfaction rates. 

2. Reduce costs

Without spending an hour or two easily-allocatable jobs, your employees can concentrate on working on their tasks and getting things done on time. That will eliminate the need for working overtime and, in turn, save your company a good amount of money. 

3. Increase customer satisfaction

Your employees won’t be the only ones feeling more satisfied than ever. More than a third of consumers feel that response time is the most important aspect of customer service. By automating customer services (including adding customer self-service options), you’ll ensure high satisfaction rates among shoppers. 

8 ecommerce tasks you need to automate

By now, you’ve hopefully realized just how useful automation can be. Regardless of the size and type of your online store, some processes need to be automated as soon as possible. 

1. Customer service

The biggest difference between traditional and automated customer service is that the latter can work 24/7, gather real-time feedback, and provide answers instantly, usually through features in your helpdesk. All of this can improve your customers’ experience immensely. 

For example, luxury shoe and garment care retailer Kirby Allison's support team was inundated with simple, repetitive questions like, “Where is my order?” or, “What kind of shoe polish do I need?” Plus, they were processing exchanges and returns manually. The time loss meant a slower response time, and limited business growth because the team had little time to tackle anything else.

Once they implemented Gorgias Automate, which resolves basic CX requests with AI and automation, they saw 23% more conversions, 46% more sales from support, and 30% of tickets deflected by automation.

“Now my support agents can focus on the most important tickets,” says Addison Debter, their Head of Customer Service. “And I can focus on developing the website, inventory management, and updating product information — growth aspects that would historically have been put on the back burner because of the heavy manual workload.”

2. Sales schedule

In the past, having a sale every few months was the standard. Now, most online stores have weekend sales almost every month. It’s no wonder why more than 60% of salespeople feel that selling is much harder today than it was just a couple of years ago. 

Now you’re forced to have frequent sales as well -- just to compete with other stores. While having a sale may seem like a simple thing to an untrained eye, you need to look beneath the surface.

You’ll realize that the automation process has a lot of moving parts:

• Having regular social media posts about it
• Keeping shoppers engaged until the end of it
• Making sure shoppers are hyped with a countdown
• Teasing low prices and items going on sales

Tools like Shop Workflow Automation and Arigato Automation, as well as Shopify Flow - which will get a few more mentions in this piece - can help you here.

3. Product rollouts

Every time you're restocking or adding a new collection of products, you have to treat it like a new product launch. You have to see what platforms you need to target, what consumers to notify, at what time, and deal with many other aspects. 

Even something simple like a product rollout requires much preparation. A lack of preparedness is the biggest problem an online store can encounter.

The promotion starts on your website. And you want people to know about new products right away, right? Then you can use a heatmap tool like Crazy Egg to get an idea of where to place ads on your site. It will help you see what’s working, what's not, and give you new ideas. 

4. Fraud prevention

Although few people today fall for “Nigerian Prince” schemes, credit card fraud is still a big problem on the Internet. The ecommerce industry loses over $12 billion every year due to fraud. And there are many types of ecommerce fraud. 

That’s why order management is a tricky task for so many employees. 

If you want to eliminate human error out of the equation, you should try Shopify’s risk analysis tools. The tool verifies every order that comes to your dashboard through address verification, IP address check, and other business processes. 

In the video below, you can hear Eric Bandholtz of Beardbrand and Brett Burns explain how they use Shopify Flow to filter out fraudulent orders:

5. Inventory management

Managing your inventory is not something many of your workers look forward to. Of course, if you don’t keep track of your stock, you won’t be able to know what items need to be restocked or to communicate effectively with your suppliers.

And the last thing you want is more supply management problems. 

A lack of inventory management can also lead to lower sales and lost revenue. That’s why you need to oversee products coming in and out of your company. This may be time-consuming, but you can use an inventory management platform to make things easier.

You need a platform that will help you manage the supply chain more carefully, assess your stock, and keep your suppliers in tune at every moment. 

6. Email marketing

When it comes to your ecommerce store, email is one of the most powerful tools you have. It can help you with cross-selling efforts, customer retention rates, and of course, your marketing strategy. Automating email marketing makes a lot of sense. You don’t want to spend hours writing and sending out emails to your shoppers.

But many businesses fail to realize this. 

In fact, in the United States, less than 5% of companies with more than 20 workers apparently use any marketing automation at all. You can’t allow your company to not leverage marketing automation. 

Businesses that have embraced ecommerce automation tools and improved their email strategies have managed to increase their conversion rates by up to 77%. So what should you look for in an email marketing automation tool? 

Here are a few things to consider:

• The ability to send welcome emails to new customers
• Behavioral triggers that lower shopping cart abandonment rates
• Post-purchase engagement emails with order notifications

Recommended reading: Ecommerce Email Automation Series for Online Stores

7. Accounting

When you were just starting your own online business, you probably didn’t think too much about accounting. It’s one of those aspects of a business that doesn’t require too much focus in the beginning, when you’re not making too much. 

But as your business grows, that changes completely. 

Hiring an accountant is a great idea unless you’re just starting and you don’t have enough money for it. If that’s the case with you, you need an alternative solution. Fortunately, studies have shown that you can actually automate 50% of accounting-related tasks. 

There’s plenty of tools for you to choose from. And they can help you with everything from managing your funds to invoicing and keeping track of supplies. 

Some of the most widely used accounting platforms include: 

• FreshBooks
• QuickBooks

8. Web development

The look of your website accounts for 75% of your brand’s credibility with users. That means every aspect - from design and graphics to easy-of-use and navigation - needs to be running smoothly. And that also means that you need to have someone overlooking everything. 

Working on a tight, calculated budget can make having a 24-hour on-deck team for these kinds of problems next to impossible. However, you can still have all of the minor problems under control with the use of automation. 

Small theme changes, action-oriented visuals, and pop-up banners can all be handled without the developers’ involvement with a bit of help from Shopify Flow. You should only call in the big guns when you got a real problem on your hands.  

Automate tasks, not relationships

A little automation can go a long way but try not to overdo it, especially when it comes to ecommerce automation. You can’t use automation as an excuse to ignore customer support completely. If you start completely relying on robots to communicate with your customers, you’ll start losing them. 

Here’s what you need to keep in mind about automation:

• There’s a ton of software out there for eliminating inconsequential tasks
• Automation is there to help you think about the high-value aspects of your business 
• You have a number of repetitive tasks that require automation ASAP so start with those

If you want to give your brand a human feel, you need to treat your customers right. And you can’t treat them right without the right tools. Sign up for Gorgias today and get a 7-day free trial.

Your customer support team juggles a variety of responsibilities. But it will all come crumbling down if you can’t provide helpful responses to customer messages with a fast response time.

Customer expectations regarding average response time have become increasingly demanding in recent years. 90% of customers rate an immediate response as "important" or "very important" when they have a support request, with 60% of customers defining "immediate" as 10 minutes or less.

To help your customer service team meet these expectations, this article will cover everything you need to know about average response time — from how to calculate your average response time to seven proven tips for lowering it.

What is average response time?

Average response time, also known as average reply time, measures how long it takes for a customer support team to reply to a customer inquiry. This metric helps assess how quickly a company assists its customers and directly impacts customer satisfaction scores.

A lower average response time usually indicates faster customer service, while a longer response time can mean slower assistance. Companies often aim to reduce this time to provide better support and satisfy their customers.

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Why ecommerce merchants need to know their average response time (ART)

Average response time is a vital customer support KPI for ecommerce merchants because customers expect prompt responses. Even if your support team is friendly, professional, and helpful, your customer's experience suffers if they have to wait forever to hear back from you.

By improving customer loyalty and thus boosting your average customer lifetime value, offering a low average response time can directly benefit your brand's revenue. In fact, brands that resolve their customers' concerns within six hours or less see an estimated revenue lift of 2%.

Average response time (ART) vs. average handle time (AHT)

The difference between average response time (ART) and average handle time (AHT) is that AHT is how long a support agent spends on a call or support ticket that they open, while ART is how long it takes to first respond to a customer support request. 

When you add AHT and ART together, you get average resolution time, which measures the total time it takes to resolve a customer's issue, including the amount of time they spend waiting for the first contact.

Average response time formula + how to calculate

There is a simple formula for performing an average response time calculation: 

Average response time = Total amount of time to respond to tickets divided by the # of tickets

Let's look at a real example. If you had four support tickets one week that took 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 25 minutes, and 20 minutes to respond to, here's what your average response time calculated would look like for that week:

Average response time = (10 minutes + 15 minutes + 25 minutes + 20 minutes) / 4 

Average response time = 17.5 minutes

That said, calculating average response time by hand isn’t feasible for most brands, especially as your customer base (and number of responses) increases. Fortunately, most customer service platforms and helpdesks calculate these kinds of performance metrics for you:

In Gorgias, you can also break down real-time support metrics (like first reply time, resolution time, revenue generated by support, CSAT, and more) broken down by:

• Agent: To understand each agent’s performance and workload
• Time period: To understand how a new process compares to an old one
• Ticket type: Using tags like Urgent, VIP, Return Request, and more

📚 Recommended reading: Our VP of Success’s guide to evaluating customer service

What is a good average response time?

The answer to this question depends on the customer support channel that you use: Each channel has different customer expectations and urgency. For instance, average response time benchmarks for email requests will naturally be much higher than those for live chat messages, when the customer is actively waiting for a response. 

This is why it’s important to calculate your average response time for each specific channel. 

Your industry can also impact what constitutes a good average response time. A company selling B2B software is likely to have longer response and resolution times than an ecommerce company due to the technical nature of their product and the expectations of their shoppers.

With that in mind, let's take a look at average response time benchmarks for each different type of customer support channel.

Average response time benchmarks by channel

Here are best-in-class, average, and below-average response time benchmarks based on the customer support channel that you are using according to our Director of Support, Bri Christiano:

ART benchmarks for email

• Unacceptable: Multiple days
• Blow average: 1 day
• Average: 12-24 hours
• Above average: Under 4 hours
• Stellar: Under 1 hour

ART benchmarks for social media

• Unacceptable: Multiple days
• Blow average: 1 day
• Average: 12-24 hours
• Above average: Under 4 hours
• Stellar: Under 15 minutes

ART benchmarks for SMS

• Unacceptable: Over 1 hour
• Blow average: 1 hour
• Average: 10 minutes
• Above average: Under 5 minutes
• Stellar: Under 1 minute

ART benchmarks for live chat

• Unacceptable: Over 1 hour
• Blow average: 1 hour
• Average: 10 minutes
• Above average: Under 5 minutes
• Stellar: Under 1 minute

If your reply times aren’t close to these benchmarks, don’t worry. It’s much more important to continually improve on your current than it is to match industry benchmarks. Focus on developing your customer service automations, customer service training, and templates to help your team offer fast replies. 

7 tips for lowering average response time

If you would like to improve your average first response time, here are some of the top strategies that Gorgias customers have used to speed up their response times!

1) Implement live chat, SMS, and other live support channels

Live support channels like live chat and SMS inherently support faster response times than social media and email channels — which is probably why 43% of customers list live chat as their preferred customer support channel. 

Adding a live chat widget to your website such as Gorgias Live Chat enables anyone who visits your website to quickly connect with a live support agent. Gorgias live chat also integrates with SMS, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and other social media platforms so that you can offer live chat support via these channels as well. 

You can also incentivize your customers to use these faster channels by sharing a service-level agreement (SLA) that lets them know they won’t have to wait as long if they use live chat or SMS. Berkey Filters, a Gorgias customer, does this brilliantly at the top of their Contact Us page:

How Gorgias helps

Gorgias offers fast-loading live chat widgets that let you offer live chat support directly from your website. You can also connect your live chat support to SMS and social media messaging platforms to offer chat support via these channels, too. 

The biggest benefit of Gorgias is the additional tools and features designed to speed up your response times and improve the quality of your customer support services even further:

• Automated Rules to auto-respond to simple tickets and trigger relevant actions (like order cancellations)
• Macro templates to reduce copy/pasting and writing from scratch
• Ticket prioritization to help you handle urgent support requests, fast

📚 Recommended reading: Our guide to omnichannel customer service

2) Install self-service menus in your chat widget

Installing self-service options (like chatbots and self-service menus) in your chat widget is an excellent way to ensure that customers on your website can find immediate answers to common questions. This directly lowers ART by reducing your support team’s workload so that they are able to respond to complex tickets that can’t be resolved with self-service faster.  

However, practice caution when implementing chatbots. While some are strong, others diminish your customer experience. That’s why we believe self-service options that don’t pretend to be human are superior:

‎How Gorgias helps

Gorgias’ Automate lets you add Self-service Order Management and Quick Response Flows to your chat widget. 

Self-service Order Management lets customers handle the following via self-service, both in the live chat as well as a Help Center:

• Requests returns
• Cancel orders
• Track orders
• Report issues

Quick Response Flows let you add buttons to your chat widget that provide instant answers to FAQs, without roping in your agent: 

If the customer isn’t satisfied with the pre-loaded response, they can click “No, I need more help” to be connected with a live chat agent. 

📚 Recommended reading: Learn more about how Gorgias Live Chat supports your team

3) Use automation to answer simple questions instantly

We've already touched on how you can use automation tools to provide immediate answers to common customer questions, and using Gorgias to add self-service menus to your live chat widget is one example of this practice in action. 

However, you can also use automation to answer simple customer questions that come in via email, social media, and SMS. 

For instance, creating automated responses to customer questions such as “where is my order” and “what is my tracking number” can eliminate a large volume of support tickets, providing an immediate response to these questions while at the same time speeding up the response to other tickets by freeing up your support team.   

How Gorgias helps

Gorgias provides Rules, Macros, and Intent/Sentiment Detection features to create automated customer support workflows:

• Intent detection scans the language of all tickets
• Rules trigger when a relevant ticket is found, taking action (like canceling a recent order or updating a shipping address) and responding to the customer
• Macros are the templates that get sent to the customer, with variables that automatically populate with customer information from other tools like Shopify, AfterShip, and more

Here’s what an automated response to “Where is my order?” (WISMO) looks like in Gorgias:

This automated workflow works across email, social media, live chat, SMS, and more.

4) Use autoresponders to acknowledge customers' requests immediately

Remember that first response time is an entirely different metric than resolution time. In other words, you don't have to immediately resolve a customer's issue to achieve faster response times — you just have to respond to the customer's request and let them know that you're working on the issue.

One great way to do this is to use autoresponders that acknowledge the customer's request the instant that they send it in. This way, customers know that your team got their message and is working on their request. While this automatic response might not resolve their issue, it is a response still the same and counts toward reducing your average response time. Another big benefit of leveraging autoresponders is that it allows your brand to respond to customer requests outside of normal business hours when live support agents are not available. 

How Gorgias helps

You can set up a Rule in Gorgias, usually for live chat, SMS, and other instant messaging channels, to automatically respond to customers and let them know an agent is on their way. 

Here’s what that kind of Rule looks like in Gorgias, from a real customer (Berkey Filters):

5) Build out a knowledge base or self-service help center

By offering a comprehensive knowledge base or a self-service help center, you can provide the answers to common customer questions so that customers can find the information they need on their own. 

This won’t be directly reflected in your average response times: If customers resolve the issue on their own, no ticket is created and nothing gets measured. However, if a bulk of simple requests get deflected from self-service options, your helpdesk will be much less cluttered with repetitive requests, letting agents respond to leftover tickets that much faster.

Plus, separate from average response times, self-service options are great to boost customer satisfaction and provide the necessary variety of support channels to meet customers where they’re at.

Not convinced yet? Check out some of the other stellar advantages of customer self-service support options.

How Gorgias helps

With Gorgias, you’ll be able to create a comprehensive knowledge base — we call them Help Centers — that includes product information, information on your returns policies, general shipping information, and any other information that your customers commonly request. You can also offer self-service order management (described above) in Help Center, just like the chat widget:

Gorgias makes it easy to create a helpful and attractive knowledge base for your brand that includes answers to all of your customers' most common questions. 

Branch built an excellent help center using Gorgias. It's well organized, easy to navigate, and lets Branch customers find information on everything from returns to ordering to general product questions.

6) Prioritize customer service tickets automatically with a helpdesk

Some tickets demand a faster response than others. If you detect that a customer is upset or angry, then it's important to respond to their request as quickly as possible to prevent them from churning.

Some companies dedicate a customer service agent to routing duty, where they manually assign incoming tickets. With a high-quality helpdesk like Gorgias, you can prioritize tickets automatically so your agents can focus on responding to the most important tickets without manually triaging each ticket. Since agents aren’t required to manually triage tickets that are prioritized automatically, they’ll be able to respond to them faster. 

📚 Recommended reading: Our Director of Support’s guide to automatic ticket prioritization

How Gorgias helps

With Gorgias' Intent and Sentiment Detection features, you can automatically analyze each ticket using powerful natural language processing (NLP) technology. 

From there, you can create Rules to atomically assign a priority level to each ticket.

Here’s an example of a Rule that automatically tags tickets with “Urgent Order Edit” whenever a customer requests changes to an order made in the last two days, so you can apply the change before the order ships:

For more prioritization tips within and outside of Gorgias, check out our Director of Support’s guide to automatic ticket prioritization. 

7) Create template responses for your most common questions

Before you can leverage automation to respond to common customer questions, you need to create template responses for each of these questions. 

This starts by identifying your frequently asked questions and then creating a template response for each one. Along with reducing ART by empowering automated responses to common customer questions, these templates can also serve as helpful resources for your live representatives. This lets them respond to questions without recreating the wheel each time. 

How Gorgias helps

Gorgias’ templates are called Macros, and they’re much more powerful than run-of-the-mill templates thanks to variables. Variables are like blanks in the template that automatically populate with personalized customer information pulled from ecommerce platforms (like Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento) and other ecommerce tools (like Klaviyo, AfterShip, and more).

Learn how Gorgias helps brands reduce response times by up to 96%

Reducing your average response time is a crucial part of providing a great customer experience — and it's one of the many advantages we help ecommerce brands achieve. 

Using Gorgias, customers like Timbuk2 cut their average response times by up to 96%! Read the full story here to learn more about how Gorgias helped Timbuk2 lower their ART and generate 35% more revenue.

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Online shopping is at an all-time high. Unfortunately, so is the rate of returned items.

In 2021, online shoppers returned over 20.8% of all merchandise ordered, according to the National Retail Foundation. Added up across all ecommerce businesses, this means $761 billion of merchandise gets sold but doesn’t actually become revenue. 

We’ll cover some of the top reasons for customer returns below but most of the reasons boil down to one thing: a poor customer experience. If customers feel misled, duped, or unsupported, they’ll quickly send back an item and take their business elsewhere.  

In this post, we’ll share 10 actionable strategies (including tools and examples) to help you develop a return-proof customer experience. 

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The top reasons that customers return products

No brand can completely eliminate returns, and that’s because customers return items for a wide variety of reasons — some of them outside of your control. The top reasons that customers choose to return products purchased via online shopping include:

• Item didn't match its product description and/or customer expectations
• Item arrived late and the customer no longer needs it
• "Wardrobing," defined as items returned by serial returners who never have any intention of actually keeping the products that they purchase
• Merchant shipped the wrong product
• Item was damaged or defective

When exploring how to reduce returns, examining these common reasons for online store returns and how they apply to your own business is an important place to start.

Why reducing returns matters for most ecommerce stores

According to data from the National Retail Federation, U.S. consumers returned an estimated total of $761 billion in merchandise in 2021 alone. Thanks in part to supply chain challenges and rising prices, processing the return of a $50 product is now expected to cost ecommerce stores an average of $33 according to Axios.

The cost of having a high return rate goes far beyond lost profits. In addition to losing out on a sale, processing a returned product also means that you have to pay return shipping costs as well as any labor costs associated with your returns process, like assisting customers with returns and restocking returned products. When you consider the fact that ecommerce return rates can climb as high as 30% or higher, these expenses can quickly add up. This makes reducing your number of returns an essential goal for your ecommerce brand.

10 proven ways to minimize returns from your ecommerce customers

1. Encourage product exchanges over product returns
2. Provide in-depth and accurate product descriptions
3. Display multiple high-quality product photos that offer context
4. Leverage reviews of your product that assist other customers (especially as it relates to size and color)
5. Optimize the accuracy and speed of fulfillment
6. Don't skimp on packaging that protects your customer's product
7. Develop a clear, proactive post-purchase experience
8. Identify customers who abuse your return policy
9. Expand the length of your return policy
10. Use gift cards and loyalty points

Offering high-quality products is the first step to reducing your return rate, but great products are just the beginning. Below, read more about the 10 additional ways to boost your customer experience and reduce returns.

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1) Encourage product exchanges over product returns

Encouraging customers to exchange products rather than return them for a refund won't eliminate all of the expenses associated with processing a return. Even with exchanges, you still pay for return shipping and any labor costs associated with your returns process. 

However, exchanging a product rather than refunding it does mean that you get to keep whatever profit margins you earn from the sale, which can sometimes be a big boost to your company's bottom line. Plus, you still have a chance to delight the customer with a product and hopefully build up loyalty from there.

How you go about encouraging exchanges is ultimately up to you. Some online stores only offer store credit for returns, and state in their return policy that they will not provide cash refunds. However, refusing to offer refunds altogether may yield a returns experience that leads to a lot of unhappy customers. Another option is to encourage product exchanges with carefully-crafted messaging or incentives, like an additional store credit.

Example of exchanges over returns

If you look at Jaxxon's FAQ page, you'll see the brand has a standard 14-day returns and exchange policy that allows customers to get a refund or new product for any reason. But Jaxxon uses Loop Returns as a self-service return portal, which has two major benefits:

1. The portal is self-service, meaning customers can return or exchange an item without creating a ticket and waiting for an agent 
2. The portal gently guides users to request an exchange over a refund by giving bonus credit for exchanges and simplifying exchange shopping

Bonus credit is exactly what it sounds like: Customers can have more in-store credit than they would get as a refund in the original form of payment. This strategy is effective: Shopify stores that use Loop issue 15% fewer refunds than brands that don’t. As a result, Jaxxon rescues a sale and keeps the opportunity to delight the customer for greater customer retention.

Learn how the Gorgias + Loop integration unites your helpdesk and returns management software. 

Jaxxon also uses live chat support on their returns portal page, which is yet another line of real-time defense against an avoidable return. If customers are considering a return, they may instead reach out to customer support to resolve whatever issues drove them to the page.

The customer service agent on the other end of the live chat might be able to fix the issue, especially if it came down to user error, and lead the customer to keep the item. Or, the live chat agent gives recommendations for products that won’t have the same issue to steer toward an exchange instead of a return. 

Adding live chat to your returns portal is one of the revenue-generating tactics from our CX-Driven Growth Playbook, which is based on research of over 10,000+ top ecommerce brands. Check out the playbook for 17 more actionable tips to drive revenue by improving your CX.

2) Provide in-depth and accurate product descriptions

One of the biggest reasons why online purchases have a higher return rate than products purchased from brick-and-mortar stores is the fact that customers cannot examine products in person. This makes it much more likely for a customer who purchases a product online to end up returning their purchase due to it not meeting their expectations.

The best way to combat this is to make your product descriptions as in-depth and accurate as possible. When customers know exactly what to expect from the product they are purchasing, the odds of them being dissatisfied when it arrives are much lower.

This is especially true for apparel: size charts, size guides, and any other information to help the customer avoid buying the wrong size. Likewise, any sort of furniture must include clear dimensions, and any sort of technology must include detailed specifications.

Example of in-depth product descriptions

Marine Layer is one example of an online store that has in-depth product descriptions to minimize returns. To help customers choose the right clothing and accessories, Marine Layer offers details information in their product descriptions such as the exact dimensions of the item, the size of the model who is wearing it in the product images, and helpful size charts.

The brand uses tabs to include more information without making the page too long. Here’s the description for a pair of pants:

3) Display multiple high-quality product photos that offer context

Keeping with the theme of letting customers know exactly what they are getting, there is no element of your product description more important than your product images. 

Along with using high-quality product images that display your products in the most appealing way possible, it is also a good idea to use product images that provide context about the product. For example, you may wish to display photos of your product in action to show its intended use. Or, you can show your product next to household items to give customers a better idea of the size and dimensions. Even better, you can include product videos to show the product in action. 

By displaying multiple high-quality photos that offer context, you can ensure that there are no unwelcome surprises when your customer uses your product for the first time.

Example of contextual product photography

Native Union’s online store sells tech accessories such as charging cables and phone cases. They make use of multiple photos on each product description, including photos that display how the product is meant to be used. For example, the charging pad shown above clearly shows compatibility with iPhones, AirPods, and Apple Watches. 

4) Leverage reviews of your product that assist other customers (especially as it relates to size and color)

Customer reviews are one of the most powerful sales tools that ecommerce stores have, since they provide customers with social proof and an unbiased source of information to guide their purchase decision. 

Along with helping online retailers boost their conversion rates, customer reviews can also be leveraged to reduce return rates. Displaying reviews that provide greater details and context regarding a product — such as how an article of clothing fits certain body types or how the color of a product in-person compares to its photos — can go a long way toward helping your customers make informed purchases that they are much less likely to return.

Example of helpful product reviews

Steve Madden is one company that makes excellent use of product reviews. Each product page features searchable, filterable product reviews to set customer expectations. Steve Madden is an apparel brand, so they let you sort reviews by sizing, whether they contain images and videos, the age of the reviewer, the pros of the product (like “cute,” “comfortable,” or “value,”) and whether the reviewer recommends the product.

They also have a section where shoppers can ask questions that people who previously purchased the product can answer (e.g., “Can you exercise in these shoes?”) as well as an overall sizing scale, which shows whether reviewers tend to think the product is true to size:

5) Optimize the accuracy and speed of fulfillment

One common reason why a customer may choose to return a product is that the product showed up late and they no longer need it. To keep your customers as satisfied as possible post-purchase, optimize the accuracy and speed of fulfillment to make sure that every customer receives the exact products they purchase within the promised timeframe.

Tips to improve your shipping accuracy and speed

There's no better example of an ecommerce platform that has optimized its fulfillment process than Amazon. Offering two-day shipping on the vast majority of its products is just one way that Amazon can prioritize customer satisfaction and limit returns.

However, most brands can’t match Amazon’s speed of delivery, at least in-house — that appealing offer is only possible for massive-scale, high-GMV companies. One strategy to reduce shipping-related returns is to provide accurate shipping estimates for all customer orders: clear expectations are better than nothing at all. 

Another strategy is to work with a fulfillment partner like the Shopify Fulfillment Network or ShipBob to achieve Amazon-like shipping. Both of these fulfillment partners help DTC brand offer expedient shipping that can both drive sales and reduce returns. 

Use Gorgias? Learn how Gorgias integrates with ShipBob to unify your shipping, returns, and customer experience management.

6) Don't skimp on packaging that protects your customer's product

Receiving a damaged product is another common reason why online shoppers make returns. While good quality control can ensure that a damaged product doesn't leave your warehouse, there's only so much you can do to prevent a product from becoming damaged en route to the customer. What you can do is protect your product as much as possible by using high-quality packaging. For some products, this might not be much of a concern. However, if your products are fragile or prone to damage, put some extra padding or structural protection into the packaging to protect them in transit. Reducing the risk of damage during transit can go a long way toward lowering your return rate.

Example of protective product packaging

Apple’s packaging is renowned for its minimalist, yet immediately recognizable design. While it looks simple from the outside, Apple’s product packaging features multiple layers of sturdy cardboard and styrofoam padding to thoroughly protect Apple devices en route to the customer.

7) Develop a clear, proactive post-purchase experience

An amazing pre-purchase experience is essential for optimizing your store's conversion rate. But the buck doesn’t stop when a customer completes the purchase. A clear post-purchase experience can drive repeat business and proactively minimize your return rate.

There are several ways to offer a positive post-purchase experience for your ecommerce customers. You use self-service automation flows that let customers know about the status of their order, create and share help center articles that explain how to use the product, schedule a call to walk customers through the ins and outs of their new product or offer discounts — just to name a few.

Example of a great post-purchase experience

Warby Parker lets any customer try on a pair of glasses before confirming the purchase. In the post-checkout email, they include tips for the home try-on kit. 

While this is a little different than most use cases, since it’s a try-on shipment instead of a purchase, the step-by-step tips provide a strong example of the type of guidance that can set customer expectations, reduce avoidable issues when the customer receives the product, and directions for where to find support if an issue does arise.

8) Identify customers who abuse your return policy

The majority who return products have a legitimate reason for doing so. However, there are those known as “serial returners” who abuse ecommerce return policies. These dishonest customers purchase products with no intention of keeping them, essentially renting products for free at the expense of the store they purchased them from. If you can identify customers who are abusing your return policy in this manner, the best thing you can do is ban them from making further purchases from your store.

Resource for reducing return policy abuse

Most companies choose not to publicize their policies for dealing with serial returners. However, here is an excellent resource from Shopify on how online store owners can address this common problem.

Do you have a return policy on your site? If not — or if you want to revisit yours — visit our free return and refund policy template generator for help.

9) Expand the length of your return policy

It may sound counterintuitive, but giving customers a longer window to return products can actually reduce the return rate for your ecommerce site. If you only give customers a short period of time to decide whether they want to keep or return a product, they often feel rushed to make a decision. Giving your customers more time to become comfortable with your product before they are forced to decide whether they want to keep or return it increases the likelihood that they will choose to keep it.

Example

New mattresses tend to take a little getting used to. To prevent customers from returning mattresses before they have the chance to break them in and become used to them, Mattress Firm allows customers to return their mattresses up to 120 days after the date of purchase.

10) Use gift cards and loyalty points

At the end of the day, returns will always happen. One strategy is to mitigate losses from returns by doubling down on a customer loyalty effort like gift cards and loyalty points. 

In addition to driving long-term loyalty and repeat purchasers, loyalty points and gift cards can also be offered in place of a cash refund for returned products. This enables you to offset some of the expenses you incur when a product is returned, because it encourages customers to exchange their product rather than return it for a refund.

Example of gift cards and loyalty points

There are plenty of examples of companies that leverage gift cards and loyalty programs in a variety of different ways. The North Face's loyalty program, however, stands out because customers can earn points for many reasons — not just making a purchase — and the brand’s rewards are custom-tailored to each individual customer.

Easily manage ecommerce returns from one central customer support hub

Product returns can be a massive expense for ecommerce stores due to the high rate at which ecommerce products are returned and the high cost of processing online purchase returns. By following the 10 tips outlined above, you should be well on your way to reducing this frustrating expense.

As you read, improving your customer experience helps you lower your return rate and process returns more efficiently. Gorgias’ customer service platform helps you do just that. With Gorgias, you can limit product returns and boost customer satisfaction by offering fast, omnichannel, and self-service customer support. 

Learn more about how Gorgias can integrate with returns management software and help you reduce your ecommerce store’s return rates with outstanding customer service — contact us today.

In the quest for ever-increasing efficiency, it’s easy to lose sight of a core business reality: Your customers are humans, and they still like to be treated as such.

Customer service departments certainly should leverage automation technology and work toward greater efficiency — but not in a way that frustrates customers. Instead, businesses should use automation to enhance a personalized customer service approach.

In this guide, learn personalized customer service is a top trend in customer service. Then we’ll give you nine ways to start providing more personalized customer service that you can implement right away.

What is personalized customer service?

Personalized customer service is the strategy of using individual customer information to tailor customer interactions. This information can include the customer’s name, purchase history, past support tickets, and anything else that your business might already know.

5 concrete examples of personalized customer service

Personalized customer service can be delivered throughout the whole customer journey, from the pre-sales stage to post-purchase. Here are five fantastic examples of personalized customer service:

1. Using a customer's purchase history to send them relevant product recommendations
2. Customizing communications to include customer information such as name and most recent orders
3. Sending birthday discounts on a customer's birthday
4. Notifying customers about back-in-stock items based on their browsing history
5. Sending a personalized check-in or follow-up message after a purchase, return, or exchange

9 steps to provide personalized customer service at scale

Providing excellent personalized customer service can seem overwhelming for many businesses, especially during periods of rapid growth. It’s true that developing a comprehensive personalization strategy takes resources and effort, but there are all sorts of simple ways to start transitioning to a more personalized approach:

1. Proactively reach out before a customer even needs support
2. Mention specifics in customer messages
3. Use customer data to inform the support you provide
4. Unify conversations in one platform
5. Employ an omnichannel approach
6. Use social media to your advantage
7. Create low-effort experiences
8. Ask for feedback
9. Prioritize requests in order of importance or urgency

1) Offer proactive support

Proactive customer service anticipates when customers might need assistance, and offers help before they reach out. For example, some brands use proactive support as part of their marketing strategy. They might use an automated live chat pop-up to share product recommendations, offer to answer questions or help new customers make a purchase, or share that a live chat support option is available, should they need it. 

Proactive support has many forms, like providing self-service resources like an FAQ page to answer repetitive questions or help with common pain points. It also might be an email that says “Can I help you with anything?” Offering help before people need it feels infinitely more personal than forcing the user to comb the website and find the right contact information.

‎Proactive support helped Gorgias customer Loop Earplugs increase their revenue by 43% with pre-sales flows. “When customers get a quick and honest answer, they often end up buying more than one product in a short span of time,” says Customer Service Manager Milan Vanmarcke.  

The first step towards implementing a proactive strategy of your own is to take a look at past customer conversations and look for common threads. Once you identify your most frequently asked questions, create an FAQ page with them. Be sure to link to any policies you have as well, like shipping, returns, exchanges, and where folks can reach out to get more help if needed. 

📚Recommended reading: Our complete guide on proactive customer service.

2) Mention specifics in customer messages

There’s a reason that car salespeople learn prospective customers’ first names within the first few seconds of an encounter. It’s a science-backed approach that builds trust and familiarity. 

Using specifics like a customer’s name or last order number goes a long way toward making the customer feel trust for your brand. It also shows that you’re listening, that you care, and that you have accurate information in front of you. Though this type of approach can be more time consuming, using templates with dynamic variables can help. Plus, it’ll lessen the need to go back and forth with customers to get that information in the first place. 

Next steps 

Consider signing up for a centralized helpdesk. Some helpdesks allow you to use templates with dynamic fields that pull in customer data like tracking information or the date their recent order shipped. On Gorgias, these templates are called Macros, and you can use them throughout your communication channels, on chat, or via email.  

3) Use customer data to inform support

As you work to further customize your approach, refine the way you use the customer data you already have from your other ecommerce tools to inform the kind of care you provide. 

Analyzing data from your CRM (customer relationship management system) can help you identify trends and common issues. This data can help you find common questions that are better handled via a FAQ or knowledge base, or that can be generated through automated chatbots or emails, saving your CS teams and your customers time.

Take a look at the demographic information you have about your audience to learn more about what might be most important to them. Use metrics like CSAT to understand how your support is performing, or retention numbers to see how many customers make second and third purchases, especially after requesting support.  

How Gorgias can help 

With a helpdesk like Gorgias, you can use the Customer Sidebar to pull customer data from different app integrations. Pull loyalty information from LoyaltyLion, get insight into reviews from Yotpo, or get marketing data from Klaviyo. 

‎This type of information can aid in your personalization efforts by providing further insights into how customers are feeling and what kind of support they’re looking for. For example, you might find some negative reviews and be able to send those customers a follow-up email to see how you can help. 

4) Unify your conversations in one platform

Personalization at scale requires the use of tools that keep your customer data safe, centralized, and accessible so that agents can answer questions with a consistently high level of care. 

Unifying all your customer touchpoints in one helpdesk platform lets reps see all past interactions and information, so they avoid asking customers to repeat themselves. They’ll be able to see information like past order history, returns, past support conversations and resolutions, and how long someone has been a customer. 

‎That’s been a key differentiator for Gorgias customer Absolute Collagen. "We hear all the time in a Facebook group or on the phone how much customers trust us because they know we'll get back to them and resolve the issue quickly,” says founder Maxine Laceby. “It's a real point of difference for us that our customer service team can do that. And the reason they can do that is that all of our channels are in one place."

How Gorgias can help

Gorgias is an all-in-one platform for ecommerce merchants looking to improve their customer service and helpdesk functions, from chatbot-like menus to customer self-service. It’s the perfect place for DTC ecommerce brands to start scaling their personalization efforts and drive more revenue.

5) Employ an omnichannel approach

Customers want to interact with your brand in different ways, and an omnichannel approach to customer support takes customers’ preferences into account. By offering support across all channels, like social media, email, phone, live chat, and SMS, you can better meet customers where they are and give support on their terms. 

To do this effectively, you’ll need to ensure that all of your channels connect (a helpdesk like Gorgias will do this for you). And, that you have a support strategy for each channel. 

‎Unifying platforms into one place helped the team at Lillie's Q, a shop that sells authentic Southern barbecue sauces and rubs, offer a true omnichannel experience to its customers. Before using Gorgias as its centralized helpdesk, messages on different platforms were getting passed manually to customer support, a tedious task with a big room for error. 

"We received comments and questions from Instagram and Facebook, organic and paid. Our digital content manager was passing a lot of these questions and comments on to our customer service team before we were with Gorgias," says Nicole Mann, the Marketing Director at Lillie’s Q. 

📚Recommended reading: Check out our guide to omnichannel customer service. 

6) Use social media to your advantage

Support requests come into social media channels for many reasons. For example, angry customers might send a direct message or comment on a post because it feels more immediate, especially if a brand is active. Or, they could respond to a post asking for more information about a featured product they’d like to purchase. 

Whatever the reason, people spend 147 minutes on social media per day, which means that by offering support there, you’re able to engage with people directly within the apps where they already spend time. This also allows you to engage with people in positive ways by sharing relevant content with them, posting packing videos of their orders to make them feel special, or reposting a picture of them using your products in real life. 

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7) Create low-effort experiences 

According to The Effortless Experience, only 4% of customers who had a high-effort customer support experience will return to make another purchase from that brand. 

When a customer decides to contact support, they’re already likely a little bit frustrated to have to put in any effort at all. But actions like having to go back and forth with a support agent to give simple information like order numbers, shipping address, or email can increase the time it takes to get a resolution.

This effort increases with the amount of time it takes for the agents to respond each time, and whether support even responds at all the first time a shopper reaches out. These high-effort experiences ignore the customers’ needs, which drives disloyalty and can make a big impact on revenue long term. 

Self-serve resources or automated responses can get people an immediate response, which means a lot less effort for them, and takes the burden off of your team.

‎"We realize the impact of building relationships and trust with our customers,” says Caela Castillo, the Director of Customer Experience at jewelry shop Jaxxon. “Quick Response Flows help us do that by allowing us to provide a customer experience that meets expectations and drives lifetime value (LTV) up per customer." 

Other options include using a centralized system that shows a customer’s information all in one place, eliminating the need for timely back and forth. 

8) Ask for feedback

Customer feedback is valuable data collection for your customer service team. It can help you provide more personalized support based on the information you get. 

All you have to do is make it easy for your customers to provide feedback, and take action on the notes you do receive, especially if they cite negative experiences.

A quick way to ask for feedback is to send an email survey that takes less than 2 minutes to fill out. A simple star rating on the experience and comment box should be enough to give you some valuable insight into where you can improve. 

📚Recommended reading: Our Director of Support’s guide to collecting customer feedback from your helpdesk. 

9) Prioritize customer service requests

Prioritize customer service requests to provide faster, more bespoke service to VIP customers. With customer acquisition becoming more costly and time consuming, keeping existing, loyal customers around can produce more revenue for your business overall. 

These customers, especially those with a high lifetime value, should get your most real-time support. Other high-priority conversations include very angry customers and time-sensitive requests. 

A helpdesk can help you assign value to tickets, and bring the most urgent ones in front of agents so that they can treat them with high priority. 

‎The four benefits of personalized customer service

98% of companies say that personalization increases customer loyalty and 83% of customers agree, according to a 2022 study by Twilio. Continue reading to understand why personalization is such a key aspect of delighting your customers, making it an undeniable best practice for customer support. A more personalized approach to customer support can help you:

• Meet customer expectations
• Drive more sales
• Raise customer satisfaction
• Get more consistent business and loyal customers

Meet customer expectations

Regardless of whether a customer’s chatting with human customer service agents or some automation tool like an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, nearly 70% of them want to receive personalized communications. Personalization starts with simple steps like including the customer’s first name in email correspondence. Because that’s how people communicate with each other — by name.

Fun fact: While people want personalized communication, they would rather have prompt, helpful customer service. 90% of customers expect a near-instant response to questions, according to a HubSpot survey. 

The takeaway? Only use personalization if you can do some promptly.

📚 Recommended reading: Our tips to improve customer service response times and resolution times. 

Drive more sales

Personalization matters for another crucial reason: It makes potential customers more likely to place an order. As many as 80% of respondents to an Epsilon/GBH survey indicated they were more likely to make a purchase after a personalized message than a non-personalized one.

For example, imagine a customer asks a video game distributor’s customer support team which game they should get for their child for Christmas. Without personalization, you’d either have to ask follow-up questions or provide a generic recommendation. With customer data, however, you might be able to:

• Greet the customer by name
• See the customer’s previous orders to know whether their child has a Playstation, Nintendo, or X-Box
• See the customer’s location and tell them the last day they can place an order to receive it by Christmas
• See the customer’s 5-star review of the last game they purchased to offer a more tailored recommendation

This is just a short list of potential ways to personalize a message, but it’s clear that personalization offers the best customer experience and gives the customer a much shorter path to a confident purchase.

Joseph Piazza, Senior Customer Experience Manager at messenger bike bag brand Timbuk2 says it best: “Increased customer support should go hand in hand with revenue growth. We want to turn customer experience into a profit center.”

Learn how Timbuk2 raised overall revenue by 35% with Gorgias.

Raise customer satisfaction

Personalized customer service greets your customers quickly and personally. It also reduces the time to problem resolution because your customer service agents have better information at the point of first contact. 

Absolute Collagen saw firsthand how fast, personalized service can raise customer satisfaction (CSAT) to near-perfect levels (4.9/5), thanks to mitigating non-personalized “pre-determined, pre-scripted” responses:

Lead to consistent business and loyal customers

When businesses improve their customer service efforts through personalization, they typically see an increase in brand loyalty. HubSpot found that 93% of customers were more likely to return as repeat customers at businesses they categorized as having an excellent customer service experience.

Customer retention doesn’t just lead to more repeat business. A loyal customer base also leaves reviews, refers new customers through word of mouth, and places larger orders than new customers. That’s why repeat customers generate 300% more revenue than first-time shoppers.

📈 Want to gauge the impact of your customer support? Read our take on the importance of customer service and check out our guide to customer service ROI.

The challenges of offering personalized service

Most businesses would agree that personalizing interactions is wise. But we all know from numerous personal encounters with airlines, warranty call centers, and maybe even healthcare providers that personalized customer service is far from universal. Many businesses have yet to find a way to successfully bring that personal touch, tailoring their efforts to the individual customer — especially at scale.

Local and small businesses tend to have an easier time offering personalized customer service because they have fewer customers. Think of a local coffee shop or boutique retail outlet that sees regular, repeat traffic: Staff at stores like these tend to learn their customers’ names and preferences and can offer a level of service that big-box stores can’t match.

Digital-first businesses and large ecommerce brands can’t develop these in-person relationships so they need an alternative approach to offer personalized experiences. Specifically, they need tech solutions that collect and use customer data. This means storing customer data in customer relationship management (CRM) software, surfacing that data throughout the customer journey, and implementing it in smart ways.

Deliver world-class personalized customer service faster than ever with Gorgias

If you’re ready to offer personalized customer service, the right tools will help you get there. Gorgias empowers ecommerce businesses to deliver world-class personalized customer service and helpdesk services faster than ever, thanks to deep integrations with Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce — plus dozens of other ecommerce tools — to put customer data front-and-center.

Book your demo to learn more about how Gorgias can transform your customer support into a revenue-generating machine.

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Ecommerce product categorization is an excellent way to streamline the online shopping process and optimize customer experience. But if your ecommerce company offers more than just niche products, then separating those products into different categories can be time-consuming — and your team's time is better spent on tasks that tie directly to revenue generation.

To help you organize your product listings to make it easy for customers to find the types of products they are looking for, let's take a look at everything you need to know about ecommerce product categorization.

What is ecommerce product categorization (taxonomy)?

Product categorization, also called product taxonomy, aims to create an organized and searchable shopping experience by breaking products down into intuitive categories and subcategories. 

Why is product categorization important in ecommerce?

Product categorization isn't usually a concern for ecommerce stores that offer just a handful of products. But stores with large-scale catalogs of different products need a way of organizing them so that it's easy for customers to find what they need. Product categorization can also be strategic: Your product taxonomy can promote certain product types (e.g. “Accessories”), occasions (e.g. “Father’s Day”) boost average order value (e.g. “Best Sellers”), and more.

Today, the process of ecommerce product categorization is often done using machine learning and natural language processing (NLP). When fed with the right training data, these algorithms allow ecommerce platforms to categorize products based on their descriptions and customer behavior — without having to organize their catalog manually. We won’t go too in-depth into these advanced tools in this post, but will recommend additional tools and reading if this is the kind of information you’re looking for.

Overall, proper product classification and categorization create a better user experience — which, as we know, is mission-critical for any brand. Customers can easily find similar products, search for products using common keywords, and enjoy a more organized and streamlined shopping experience. Some of the top benefits of ecommerce product categorization include:

Organized ecommerce sites with clean organizations sell more

Create a path of least resistance for your customers. Better organized ecommerce sites make it as easy as possible for them to find what they’re looking for. When you can eliminate obstacles that might otherwise keep them from buying, you have a better chance at generating more sales.

Plus, effective product categorization can act as a kind of upselling or cross-selling strategy. If customers are looking for adorable earrings, for example, they’re more likely to buy two or three pairs if they see an entire category page full of great options. 

Product organization and categorization enable better search functionality

If you have a search function on your store (and you should), then organizing and categorizing your store's products improves its functionality and accuracy. 

Along with optimizing your website's search functionality, proper product categorization can help optimize your website for search engines like Google and boost its SEO. While the number of product searches that originate from search engines instead of marketplaces is shrinking as marketplaces like Amazon and eBay have come to dominate the ecommerce space, it still accounts for 19% of all product searches.

Product categorization helps with monitoring data

Breaking your products down into categories enables you to monitor which category pages get the most visits and which ones have the highest conversion rate instead of doing this for product pages alone. This provides additional data that you can use to generate more insights into customer behavior. If your ecommerce store uses Shopify, you can pull these metrics out of your Live View analytics:

Product organization creates a streamlined shopping experience for your customers

Imagine walking into a department store to find products scattered randomly with no organization: dishware next to gardening supplies, cosmetics on the same shelf as cat food, sports equipment on the same aisle as canned goods. Organizing these products into categories helps users find what they’re looking for quickly or discover new products based on their interests or the occasion. For example, tech accessory brand has categories based around collections (on top of more standard categories), which could catch a browser’s eye and draw them onto a product page:

A step-by-step guide for ecommerce product categorization

If you want to organize and categorize your store's products in a way that will create an optimized shopping experience for your customers, here are the steps that you should follow:

1) Collect essential product data

Product data includes any information that can be used to organize your products: brand, material, size, color, and any other important product attributes. If you don’t have updated product information from which to source this data, you can request it from your suppliers. 

Once you have gathered all available product data, a Product Information Management (PIM) system like Jasper PIM (available as a Shopify app) lets you organize and analyize product datasets automatically and provides a centralized environment for managing product data over time.

However, before you dive too deep into your data, take a step back and brainstorm some taxonomy structures that might work for your shoppers.

2) Create potential categories for your products

Creating a baseline for product categorization is pretty straightforward. Before diving into a teched-out process, put yourself in the shoes of the shopper and brainstorm ways But if you have a wide range of products for sale, it can get a little tricky. Here are a few tips for creating great product categories: 

• Look at established ecommerce sites for inspiration
• Avoid being so specific that you end up with an excessive number of product categories
• Navigate your online store yourself to get a feel for the experience that your product hierarchy create
• Create clear and easy-to-understand titles for your product categories — remember, clear is better than clever

3) Use keyword research for product category/page optimization

Putting carefully chosen keywords in your product descriptions and category pages can improve your store's product search functionality. It can also improve your site's SEO, bringing in more traffic from search engines. 

You can find the best keywords for your store using keyword research tools like SEMRush, Google Keyword Planner, and Ahrefs. These tools let you see the search volume for common keywords and provide keyword suggestions based on your input. 

4) Categorize your products based on user behavior

Based on our analysis of data from 10,000 ecommerce merchants, sorting your product categories based on user behavior (like past purchases) using tools like Crossing Minds and Wiser can increase revenue by up to 10%. 

Here are a few examples:

Merchology, a corporate apparel brand, uses customer data to create “Gifts” and “Ideas” categories for products that are commonly purchased for specific reasons. They sort by user behavior by categorizing products into “Top 10s” for many occasions:

Similarly, Adika has a category called “Best Sellers” to promote its products with the highest conversion rates: 

5) Scale and iterate your product categorization efforts

Categorizing your products based on user behavior is an excellent strategy, but user behavior sometimes changes over time. Therefore, don't be afraid to adjust and rearrange your product categories over time based on what your metrics tell you.

On top of your standard categories, you can also include “facets,” which operate more like tags that categories. Facets are details about a product that may not be in the product title or significant enough to be its own category. For example, the cut of or material of a dress:

Facets act like keywords to give your shoppers another way to browse your store and find the exact kind of item they want. As your store grows (and your products change), keeping up with facets — especially because it’s difficult to anticipate all the ways customers might go about searching for products. 

Check out AWS’s post on how natural language processing can scale your brand’s text classification beyond what’s humanly possible.

As you scale your categorization efforts, it’s also important to be careful not to overcomplicate your store’s navigation. New products may require new categories, but it may also become necessary to combine and condense some categories to avoid overwhelming your shoppers.

Product Information Management (PIM) systems, which we mentioned earlier, will also likely offer automation and other features to manage product data and keep your store up to date. For example, you can use your PIM as a single source of truth for listings across your ecommerce platform (Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, etc.) and marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. That way, you can iterate on product descriptions and categories in one place, rather than changing them in the backend of each platform. 

Ecommerce product categorization best practices

As you go about organizing and categorizing your ecommerce products, here are a few best practices to keep in mind:

Adjust your product categorization based on geolocations

You don't want to show products to customers who can't purchase them. If you don't ship certain products to certain states or countries, then you will need to categorize your products based on geo locations using a product like Advanced Store Localization or Geo Targetly. 

Shakti is one Gorgias customer that uses Advanced Store Localization to adjust their product categories based on the customer's location. Because Shakti doesn't ship all of its products to all countries, they use the tool to hide certain products from viewers in those countries.

Avoid using "other" as a category

Instead of creating an “other” category (which will only confuse your shoppers) simply put products into the category where they fit most naturally. Use keywords to ensure that customers can easily find them — even if it isn’t all that clear which category they should search.  

Keep products limited to one category at a time — except special categories

Having products appear in multiple categories often makes for a confusing product catalog that is difficult to navigate. Instead, keep products limited to a single category at a time. While this can sometimes be a little tricky for products that could fit in multiple categories, assign the one that fits best and use keywords within the product description to make up the difference.

The only exception to this is special categories, like Best Sellers, Valentine’s Days, Last Chance, etc. These categories aren’t based on product or customer types, so overlap won’t be confusing. 

Product categories should all be unique from one another

Keep your product categories as simple as possible to avoid overlap and confusion. For example, having an "athletic apparel" category and a "sports apparel" category is redundant and unnecessary — choose one or the other. There's no benefit to having a larger number of categories, so don't feel the need to force them if they don't already cluster naturally.

Keep branding tone in mind while creating product categories and descriptions

But branding doesn’t just apply to color schemes and company logos: It’s your messaging, too, so keep it in mind when developing your product categories and product descriptions. 

Categories and descriptions need to communicate key product information above all else, so be sure that you aren't sacrificing clarity for the sake of branding. Include the basics (color, dimensions, materials, size, and any other relevant descriptive information) and use simple, jargon-free language. ASOS product descriptions do this particularly well, balancing their conversational writing style with clear, useful keywords.

Consider adding a product quiz to help customers find the right product

Ninety-three percent of marketers agree that interactive content like product quizzes are effective at helping educate customers. Product quizzes designed to identify a customer's tastes or needs can be great tools for further helping customers find what they're looking for. 

Dr. Squatch is one example of an ecommerce company that uses these quizzes effectively. If you want to create your own branded product quizzes, consider using a tool like the Product Recommendation Quiz app.

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Building a category tree for your ecommerce store

Large catalogs of ecommerce products are typically separated into different categories and subcategories to build a hierarchical category tree. For a pair of women's sneakers, the level-categories might look like: Clothing & Apparel > Women's Footwear > Women's Sneakers.

After separating products into different categories and subcategories, you can further break them down with product attributes and facets. 

Going back to our last example, the pair of women's sneakers might be assigned product attributes like size and color. You can then assign values to those attributes (7, 8, or 9 for the attribute "size," and red, white, and black for the attribute "color").

Jaxxon’s online store, which sells mens jewelry, is one example of a great category tree. There you will find numerous product categories, subcategories for each, and attributes that allow customers to filter their search further. For example, Rings breaks down further into Best-Selling Rings, Tungsten Rings, Iced Out Rings, and Wedding Bands:

Take care of your ecommerce shoppers with Gorgias

With the right tools and strategy, you can create a categorization system optimized for customer happiness and revenue generation.

With Gorgias' industry-leading customer insight tools, you can fine-tune your ecommerce store to give your shoppers exactly what they want. On top of product categorization, you can provide self-service resources like FAQ pages, Help Centers, and automated Quick Response Flows so customers have more answers, faster. 

Providing instant, self-service answers to customers is how customers like Loop Earplugs lift revenue by up to 43%:

“We’ve seen 43% increase in revenue from customer support since we launched pre-sales flows. Quick response flows give us the ability to build trust with our customers and that’s priceless. When customers get a quick and honest answer, they often end up buying more than one product in a short span of time. Seeing customers live the life we’re aiming to create for them in Loop Earplugs is extremely rewarding for us.”

- Milan Vanmarcke, Customer Service Manager at Loop Earplugs

Get started with Gorgias to get on track to an organized ecommerce store that converts more shoppers into buyers.

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Handling returns isn’t the most enjoyable aspect of running an online store. However, every ecommerce business needs to create a clear, thoughtful return policy and keep customer satisfaction and customer loyalty levels high. 

Want to create a returns process that’s ideal for both your ecommerce website and customers? Below, we’ll explore ecommerce returns data and factors to consider as you build or re-examine your policy, and then go over 10 best practices for handling customer returns. 

Table of Contents

• Not Every Return Program Is Right for Your Business
• Building Your Ecommerce Return Program: Factors to Consider
• 10 Best Practices for Your Ecommerce Returns and Refunds
• Ecommerce Return Software Worth Considering
• Take Ecommerce Customer Support to the Next Level With Gorgias

Not Every Return Program Is Right for Your Business

Although every ecommerce website deals with returns, return policies look very different from one site to another. Some businesses choose to offer a full refund on online returns, while others offer store credit in exchange for returned products. Some businesses provide free return shipping on product returns, while others pass shipping costs to customers. 

Ultimately, a good return program fulfills the goals of your company without being too costly to operate or too difficult for your customers to find, understand, or use. 

Enterprises and large businesses are more likely to offer free, no-questions-asked returns as a means of brand-building and promoting a better customer experience at scale. It may also be more profitable and productive than operating a stricter or more complex program. Customer service teams save significant time, which is key with a larger customer base and inventory volume. 

Smaller businesses, by contrast, may benefit from a less generous program. According to data from CNBC, the average return represents 30% of the purchase price. For businesses operating on tight margins, this cost may be too much to swallow. Instead, many smaller businesses choose to offer stricter return policies, such as charging for shipping or only offering store credit. 

Of course, there are downsides to stricter return policies. Namely, many customers expect hassle-free returns, and 79% of consumers want free return shipping. If you choose to implement a stricter ecommerce return policy for your online store, maintaining customer satisfaction and a high customer retention rate may be more of a challenge. 

In the end, there's no one-size-fits-all return program. You’ll need to crunch the numbers and take into account how much each aspect of your policy could impact your bottom line. We’ll examine some of these costs in the next section. 

Once this is done, enter the details into our return or refund policy template generator and edit your new policy as needed. 

Building Your Ecommerce Return Program: Factors to Consider

Let's take a closer look at the most important factors to consider when it comes time to create or update your store's return policy.

The High Cost of Ecommerce Returns

According to The National Retail Federation (NRF), ecommerce returns are a “major driver of the overall growth of [retail] returns.” Online returns more than doubled from 2019 to 2020, with consumers returning nearly $102 billion in merchandise bought online. 

Although the COVID-19 pandemic and rise of online shopping can explain some of the increase, ecommerce returns have been rising for years. There are four main categories of return-related expenses that combine to make up the high cost of ecommerce returns:

• Cost of refunding customers: The first and most obvious expense associated with offering a full refund on returns is the loss of profit your business incurs. This means that any additional expenses you incur, such as return shipping and restocking returned products, will lead to a net loss for your company. 
• Cost of additional shipping: If you choose to cover the shipping costs on returned products, the cost of printing a return label and paying for shipping will add up as well. If it’s an exchange rather than a return, you’ll have to pay for shipping on the replacement product(s) as well. 
• Cost of sorting and reshelving returned items: These expenses can be substantial depending on the types of products you're selling and the exact logistics of your ecommerce operation. Some businesses offset these expenses by charging a restocking fee on returned items, typically 15-20% of the item’s price. 
• Cost of not meeting customer expectations: While the financial element of handling returns is important, you should also consider the impact of your return policy on your brand image and customer satisfaction. A poor returns experience can easily lead to a lost customer and negative reviews. The long-term costs of dissatisfied customers may be more damaging to your company than the costs of offering a more generous return policy.

If you’re looking for fresh ideas to reduce the cost of returns and exchanges, read our blog to learn how gift cards and loyalty points could be key.  

Ecommerce Return Rate Benchmarks

According to data from Invesp, 30% of all products ordered online are returned, compared to only 8.89% of products that are purchased from a physical store. Here’s a snapshot of retail return rates by industry (online and in-store) from an NRF and Appriss Retail analysis of 40,000 stores: 

As you can see, the data varies widely by industry, among other factors. A good general benchmark for ecommerce returns is 20-30%. The important takeaway here is that if your return rates are much higher than these averages, there may be issues you need to address. 

Top Reasons That Customers Return Products

Here are the leading reasons why customers say they return products according to Invesp:

• 23% of returns are due to customers receiving the wrong item
• 22% of returns are due to the customer receiving a product that doesn’t match the product description or image 
• 20% of returns are due to customers receiving a damaged product
• 35% of returns are due to unspecified reasons

There’s also the fact that 58% of consumers intentionally buy more items than they plan to keep. Customers are increasingly using return programs as an easy way to test out or try on ecommerce products, which leads to more returns overall. 

Looking at these statistics, it’s evident that it's possible for ecommerce stores to drastically lower the number of returns with the right adjustments. By ensuring that you're shipping quality, undamaged products, providing detailed descriptions and images that perfectly match the product, and shipping the right product to the right customer, you could potentially reduce or eliminate up to 65% of all online returns.

10 Best Practices for Your Ecommerce Returns and Refunds

1. Understand the Federal and State laws governing returns
2. Make your return policy easy for customers to find
3. Reduce returns by providing important details on every product page
4. Build a return policy that's easy to understand
5. Create trust by focusing your return policy on customer acquisition
6. Reduce the cost of refunds by building an exchange-based return policy
7. Offer free shipping wherever possible
8. Track the cost of your returns and adjust accordingly
9. Make your return program part of your marketing strategy
10. Allow customers to make returns by mail or in person

1. Understand the Federal and State Laws Governing Returns

Certain aspects of your store's return policy aren’t up to you to decide. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), if a customer receives a defective product, you’re required by law to issue a refund. 

There are also a variety of state laws governing how returns and refunds must be handled. The major requirement is that you have to post your return policy in a clear, conspicuous place, but some laws go further. 

In Minnesota, for example, stores are required to display their return policy in a boldface font set at a minimum size of 14 points. If these standards aren’t met, the store is required to offer cash refunds for acceptable returned items, regardless of their policy. 

Research your state’s or country’s laws or work with a lawyer while designing your ecommerce return policy to avoid legal issues. 

2. Make Your Return Policy Easy for the Customer to Find

According to data from Invesp, 67% of shoppers check a store's return page before making a purchase decision. Whatever your ecommerce return policy happens to be, you need to make it easy for customers to access, whether they’re on a mobile device or desktop. 

Creating a dedicated return policy page on your website — and providing a link to this page on every product page — ensures your return policy is highly visible. You can also add it to your FAQ page and your chatbot scripts. Briefly informing customers of your return policy at checkout is another effective option to consider. 

3. Reduce Returns by Providing Important Details on Every Product Page

Product pages are the heart of any online store, and it’s essential that they provide customers with a complete and accurate description to reduce returns. As we noted earlier, nearly one-quarter of returns are due to products not meeting customers’ expectations or lacking key information in the first place. 

Make sure your description includes size, dimensions, color, weight, care instructions, and any other relevant info. Beyond written text, you can show customers exactly what they’ll get with tools like interactive 360-degree images or videos. You can also provide your products next to other common items to give an idea of size and scale. 

4. Build a Return Policy That's Easy to Understand

In addition to making your return policy easy for customers to find, it's also important to design a return policy that’s easy to skim and understand quickly. No customer wants to hunt through 20 pages of fine print to see whether there are return shipping fees. 

Even if you decide to publish a lengthier, more complex policy somewhere on your website for legal purposes, you should still provide customers with a condensed version of your return policy. Think about the key bullet points like return shipping instructions, deadlines, and criteria they have to meet to qualify.  

Making sure that customers fully understand your return policy before they make a purchase helps avoid confusion — and angry customer emails — later on.

Use our free Return Policy Template Generator to get started. We’ve used our experience working with thousands of online stores and partnering with leading ecommerce platforms to build a simple, reliable template.     

5. Build Trust by Focusing Your Return Policy on Customer Acquisition

When over two-thirds of shoppers pause to check out a store's return policy before buying, your policy may be their first accurate impression of your brand. So, a strict or unforgiving return policy could end up hurting your customer acquisition goals. It could scare away first-time customers that don't yet trust your business enough to purchase without knowing they’ll be able to easily return products if they’re dissatisfied. 

By contrast, a transparent and thoughtful return policy can go a long way toward fostering trust with your customers and ultimately boost the number of new customers that your store acquires. Think about your buyer personas and acquisition goals to develop the right program. This can also inform your brand’s tone of voice throughout the policy. 

6. Reduce the Cost of Refunds by Building an Exchange-Based Return Policy

A straightforward way to reduce the return and refund expenses is to offer an exchange-based return policy or promote alternative refund options like store credit via gift cards or loyalty points. 

Although exchanges may come with reshelving fees, they keep the customer’s dollars circulating in your ecommerce store. Gift cards, for example, offer an opportunity to increase your customer’s average order value (AOV). 

Imagine a customer with a $25 gift card. They want to use the full value of their card in one transaction, so they buy something slightly more expensive, like a $26.50 sweater. With that, you’ve raised AOV by 6% on a simple credit-based return, and you can scale this up across your business for hundreds or thousands more per year.

7. Offer Free Shipping Whenever Possible

We mentioned earlier that 79% of consumers value free return shipping when making a purchasing decision. Nearly half of online retailers currently offer this no-cost option. While it can be painful to absorb these costs, offering free return shipping is important if you want to meet customer expectations and keep up with the competition. If you're looking for ways to reduce your return expenses, requiring that customers cover return shipping should likely be a last resort. Another option is to set a threshold for free shipping, such as a $40 pre-tax order value. 

8. Always Track the Costs of Your Returns and Adjust Accordingly

Tracking the costs of your returns can also allow you to make informed decisions around your return process, from hiring more customer service team members to trying different shipping carriers. This figure should be estimated before your policy is implemented and re-evaluated on a regular basis afterward when you have real data to crunch. 

By carefully tracking the cost of your returns, you can determine whether you need to make adjustments. For example, if you determine that your return policy is eating up too much of your store's profits, you may test a shorter return window or store credit options. Or you may determine that a reverse logistics process could streamline work and lower costs as well. 

9. Make Your Return Program a Part of Your Marketing Strategy

Customers love a convenient, hassle-free returns process, and if that’s something you offer, you can use it to promote your brand and earn a reputational boost. 

Consider Amazon’s return policy. Customers shopping on Amazon know that they have the option to return products — no questions asked — for a full refund. The peace of mind that comes with this guarantee is a big part of why Amazon has been able to build such a high degree of trust with its customers. It should come as no surprise then that Amazon actively promotes the benefits of its return policy to attract potential customers.

If your business boasts a generous, transparent, or stress-free return program, let your customers know about it. This could be an incredibly effective email or social media message during shopping-heavy periods like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. 

10. Make Returns Possible by Both Shipping and In-Store Returns (If You Have a Brick-and-Mortar Location)

If you have an online store as well as a brick-and-mortar store, you'll want to make it possible for customers to return products by either shipping them to you or bringing them to your physical location. 

The reasons why this is beneficial are twofold. For one, offering customers more return options will only help improve your customer satisfaction rates. Convenience is top of mind for online shoppers. Second, returns processed in-store are less costly than returns that are processed online since you don't have to pay for return shipping.

Ecommerce Return Software Worth Considering

The right ecommerce return software can go a long way toward making your return process more efficient and affordable. Here are some of the top-rated tools:

• ReturnLogic: ReturnLogic works to simplify the returns process and improve your inventory management through automation, like automatically processing requests and sending status updates. ReturnLogic also provides you with detailed analytics you can use to streamline your business. 
• Loop: Loop is an “exchange-first” solution designed for Shopify stores. It provides customers with an on-demand returns portal for managing their exchange-based returns or traditional refunds. 
• Returnly: Returnly provides customers with a portal where they can return and exchange products independently without needing to contact your customer support team. Returnly also claims to be the only returns software solution that allows customers to receive the right product before returning the wrong one.
• LateShipment.com: LateShipment.com is an all-in-one platform for managing customers’ post-purchase needs, including order updates, shipping, returns, and exchanges. It allows you to track return shipments across carriers and offers valuable insights into your shipping costs.

For more recommendations, check out our list of the top returns management software.

Take Ecommerce Customer Support to the Next Level With Gorgias

If you’re ready to build an efficient and effective returns process for your online store — that’s also backed by the latest returns software — Gorgias can help. 

Our platform streamlines your returns process, integrating return software solutions like Loop, Returnly, and ReturnLogic and empowering you to offer top-quality customer service from a single, convenient hub. We also provide detailed developer documentation to build your own Gorgias integrations.

To learn more about how Gorgias can help you create a returns process that leverages the power of automation and in-depth analytics, book a demo today.