Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic the global ecommerce sector has experienced mind-blowing growth. By some estimates the pandemic sparked a 78% increase in global online sales as physical stores had to shut down amid state-mandated lockdowns and customers opting to stay home and shop online. Ecommerce has now reached an all-time high, and the growth which the sector has seen isn’t expected to slow down any time.
Because of its hyper-competitiveness and the ever-evolutionary nature of technology, ecommerce is an increasingly challenging market to operate. An explosion of online sellers and established brands entering the saturated field has meant that price pressures are higher than ever and that there is minimal room for mistakes. A constant need to improve existing operations permeates the field.
This is where outsourcing providers in Albania, India and the Philippines have stepped in to help ecommerce companies grow. Through outsourced ecommerce customer service and live chat services, BPO providers the world over are helping sustain the explosive growth of ecommerce companies worldwide in an effective and economical fashion.
Why Outsource Ecommerce Functions?
The extremely competitive and global nature of running an ecommerce business means your business needs to be available at all times to its customers in order to maintain its edge. Outsourced staff can operate at lower operating costs while offering similar services for your company at a fraction of the cost. BPO providers can help you save up to 70% on customer service, live chat and social media maintenance while still providing stellar services to customers and improving your brand’s reputation.
Here we’ll list out a few key ways outsourcing providers are helping ecommerce companies with customer care and customer service.
Contact Center Services
As much as consumers are shifting towards doing everything online, every major ecommerce company needs to maintain customer service through traditional phone support. Some companies are also finding it useful to deploy call centers to help augment existing digital marketing initiatives. A dedicated call center to manage inbound and outbound calls can help ecommerce firms stay focused on their core competencies while providing customer support and marketing at scale.
Live Chat & Customer Support
Consumers are accustomed to receiving service and responses quicker than ever in the digital age. They want to know the answers to their questions yesterday and expect that top brands will provide them with on-demand responses to their questions and inquiries. From order tracking to FAQs to troubleshooting ad-hoc issues, customers have come to expect live chat services from ecommerce companies.
Outsourcing ecommerce live chat with a BPO provider can help your firm provide customers with the attention and care they need. Working with an outsourcing provider in Albania such as Sara Call Center provides your firm with access to a talented pool of staff who can answer customer inquiries 24/7 in multiple languages, helping your firm enjoy a professional image and customer loyalty.
Social Media
Users are used to interacting with brands on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. These intermediaries are now the bread and butter of every major ecommerce firm’s marketing strategy, with almost every online retailer utilizing social media to try to attract customers and address their concerns.
Managing the deluge of customer service requests and brand maintenance issues on social media pages can be challenging, which is why many firms are turning to BPO vendors for social media maintenance. Using outsourced customer service representatives to redirect customers who might otherwise tarnish your company’s image on its social handles can be a cost-effective and efficient way to maintain your organization’s reputation online and to help keep customers engaged with your brand.
Email Inquiries, Complaints and More
Email is still king when it comes to resolving more complicated technical issues, customer complaints and handling order tracking. Despite the world’s lockstep march towards real-time assistance and minimal wait times for customer support, customer email support has retained its unique edge over other non-voice process channels. E-mail is also the preferred medium of B2B communication as it provides a convenient channel facilitating exact, accurate communication as opposed to live chat.
Employing an outsourced team to manage high email volumes empowers your firm to meet your customer needs at affordable rates. Utilizing a partner domiciled in a country where access to a large pool of college-educated, English-speaking professionals can help your ecommerce firm keep up with customer demands and address customer needs as they arise.
The Benefits of Outsourcing Ecommerce Functions
The costs associated with hiring, screening and training in-house staff to manage all aspects of an ecommerce business can accumulate very quickly. Especially as many ecommerce sites start out slim and agile, focusing on improving product and service quality over offering customer support functions, it’s important for companies to find the right partners to manage non-core business functions.
Most ecommerce firms get in the game to change how products and services are generated and delivered rather than to deal with tertiary obligations such as customer service and live chat. Outsourcing these time-consuming and labor-intensive aspects of running an e-commerce business can help your company keep its focus on what it does best and find new revenue streams for its core business. Such a setup can be especially beneficial for small companies and entrepreneurs who are employing a core number of in-house engineers and product specialists that lack the upfront ability to invest in customer service representative teams.
Find out more – Sara Call Center is here to help!
Sara Call Center has been helping firms the world over since our founding in 2012 to set up outsourcing teams and access high-talent staff in Albania. Our remote customer service representatives are highly-skilled and can help take your ecommerce business to the next level – get in touch, today!