In an era dominated by social media and smartphones, it is easy to write email off as yesterday’s channel when it comes to customer service. However, this is far from the truth – rather than declining, email usage is actually increasing. How can brands deliver what customers want on the channel?
The rise of the smartphone has transformed how people interact with each other, brands and the world around them. Rather than being tied to a PC or landline phone, smartphones empower users by putting a computer in their pocket. Last Christmas Amazon reported that 70% of its customers shopped through a mobile device, for example.
We hear a lot about the impact of millennials on customer service, and how they are driving change in customer service. We asked guest author and millennial Chloe Hacquard for her perspective.Millennials expect five things as standard from customer service:1. Being on social media and responding as fast as possibleIf there is an issue, the company concerned is already in a bad position. And, if at...
For increasing numbers of people mobile is their preferred means of connecting to, and communicating with, the outside world. Time spent on mobile devices grew by 117% year on year between 2014 and 2015 and nearly half of all ecommerce transactions now take place on mobile devices. This shift to a mobile first world has a big impact on the customer experience and...
According to new academic research people check their smartphones 85 times a day and use them for a daily average of 5 hours. The study, from Nottingham Trent University, also found that much of the time most users don’t even realize they are doing it, with consumers spending twice as much time on their phones as they think.For many, their phone is the first thing they...
In a fast-moving and ultra-competitive market such as retail, companies are continually looking to differentiate themselves from rivals. To achieve this they are increasingly embarking on digital transformation programs, moving to a multichannel approach that is more efficient and flexible, while delivering a better customer experience...
Cross-channel sales, also known as web-influenced sales, are purchases that are touched by a digital channel but are not completed online. According to US data from Forrester, cross-channel sales are becoming increasingly important and are worth four times more in total than online sales alone. In fact, the analyst estimates that cross-channel sales will reach $1.8 trillion by 2018.A big par...
The explosive growth of smartphones and tablets has had an enormous impact on customer service and the customer experience. Mobile devices allow consumers to find information or interact with companies wherever they are. They make it simple to get in touch across multiple channels (from email and social media to voice and text), driving increased contact volumes. Always-on mobile consumers expect ...
Attempting to predict the future provides some fascinating insights and can help planning, whatever industry you are in. This is especially true when it comes to customer service, as it often feels that we’re in the midst of constant change. Thinking further ahead gives the chance to add perspective and to make more gradual, planned steps on the road to the future.So I read with interest a r...
More and more of us are using mobile devices to interact with companies online. The combination of the ease of use of tablets and the fact that we always have our smartphones to hand, mean that for many it is fast becoming the default way of accessing the internet. Backing this up, consultancy IDATE predicts that by the middle of next year more people will get online through smartphones and tablet...