New research demonstrates wide variations between online buying behaviour across the globe. The survey, from Pitney Bowes, asked 10,000 consumers from 10 countries about their online shopping habits and preferences and uncovered some interesting differences.Overall 93% of consumers had shopped online, 49% in the last 30 days, showing the mass market appeal of ecommerce around the world. In the UK,...
In an era where new channels such as social media and mobile are receiving huge attention, email customer service can sometimes feel a little last century. After all as a channel that has been around for a while, companies must surely have implemented a strategy to successfully cope with email – and nowadays people are all migrating to other channels aren’t they?Unfortunately for anyon...
With the Olympic Games nearly upon us, there’s going to be a significant impact on customer service teams, not just in London, but across the UK.Essentially the Olympics will affect customer service in three major areas:Games venues themselves The world (and media) will be watching closely for any issues with the games themselves – whether that is overlong queues to get into venues or ...
When it comes to crisis situations social media is now the front line for customer service. Issues spread quickly on Twitter and Facebook (and company message boards) and are visible to the entire world, drawing in other people who might not even be affected by the original problem. So the risk of damage to a brand’s reputation amongst potential customers and the general public is extremely ...
Successful retailers understand that knowing your customer is a key part of delivering a tailored experience. In the offline world that can be quite straightforward – you can see the people coming into your shop, ask them questions about their needs and provide the right answers and products.Online it is more difficult – while you can look at the customer journey, it can be hard to bui...
Delivering the best service is often about understanding what makes your customers tick – recognising them, knowing their likes/dislikes, what channels they prefer to be contacted by, and even on a basic level whether they prefer to be addressed formally or informally.In theory the huge amount of personal information now freely available online provides companies with the chance to deliver t...
In an era where organisations are looking to reduce expenditures wherever they can, it is vital that they don’t make cuts that actually lead to increased costs – or cause valuable customers to take their business elsewhere.This is particularly true when it comes to customer service – after all it is easy to believe that cutting corners in the contact centre won’t affect how...
christmas 2007 (Photo credit: paparutzi) It seems strange to be talking about Christmas in mid-summer, but plans for the festive season are well under way at most retailers. Decisions about key products are being currently made and programmes of store refurbishments are happening now as companies seek to be ready for their busiest time of the year. Current poor economic conditions really do ...
The problems that have beset customers of NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank over the last few days couldn’t really have come at a worse time for the banking industry. An alleged technology upgrade at RBS that went wrong meant that many of its 17 million customers couldn’t access their accounts through online banking or ATMs and stopped many payments from processing.Many people and politicia...
Travel is an industry that has been revolutionised by the internet. Traditional providers such as high street travel agents have had to radically change their business models in order to compete with websites such as Expedia and direct sales from both airlines and accommodation providers such as hotels.At the same time the web has opened up a new channel for customer service, with travellers able ...