Doing business on the Internet has lots of benefits – both for the merchant and for the consumer. But despite its advantages, ecommerce still faces a few challenges, one of which involves customer service.

Without the benefit of face-to-face contact, feedback forms and email are the most common methods of providing customer support and many consumers find this impersonal and unfriendly. In 2009, a market research firm conducted a poll on the factors responsible for a significant drop in online sales during the first half of that year. The results revealed that “lack of human assistance” was one of the major factors attributed to sales decrease during that period.

It goes without saying that good customer service plays an important role in engaging customers. By “good customer service,” I mean customer support from a real person. According to the poll, shoppers who weren’t able to get assistance from a real person said it affected their decision to not make a purchase. That data may be almost two years old, yet it’s still relevant today. Online stores are trying to overcome the problems by improving their websites’ usability – from applying uncomplicated navigation to simplifying the checkout procedures. The goal is make it easier for customers to complete their purchase without requiring additional assistance. But still, a well-planned customer service strategy can make all the difference of increasing sales or losing them to a competitor.

Without implementing effective customer service, your visitors are sure to turn their attention to other stores that can offer the type of customer service  they want. Customers whose issues remain unresolved today are more likely to spread word about their negative experience through blogs and on social networks, which can quickly blow up and tarnish your brand. You don’t need a survey to tell you how bad that could be for your business.

There’s no getting around customer service.  So what’s the best solution? This may sound counter intuitive to reducing customer support calls – a practice many ecommerce businesses mistakenly adopt – try to give customers more ways to contact you or your team.

Aside from the standard email, you can provide a live chat solution on your site. Since your online store is open 24 hours (7 days a week), people are expecting round the clock, real-time assistance. Live chat is one of the best ways to do that. The other one is through telephone support. Both can be outsourced to different time zones to cover times outside normal business hours. Training and the use of call flow scripts are both recommended.

Although your customers purchase online, many still feel like picking up the phone and calling for assistance or inquiries whenever the need arises. And by providing contact information outside the Web, you’ll inspire customer confidence.

Gift cards may have been considered an impersonal gift at one time, but it is now one of the most requested gift by all ages and backgrounds. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that retailers have trained customers to use them; it’s hard to refute the convenience afforded by gift cards to both giver and recipient. Plus, the advent of online gift codes have experience a boost in sales from last minute shoppers. A gift card program can help brand your store, so think of ways to use it as both an incentive for new customers and reward for existing loyal patrons.

How It Works

Many shopping cart solutions available today can generate gift cards or certificates (codes). A sender can order a “virtual” gift card to be sent directly to a recipient through encrypted email. Unlike a physical gift card, a virtual gift card has a unique code (numbers and/or letters) instead of a barcode or magnetic strip for tracking purposes. Online gift cards can be any amount a sender chooses, or in denominations, depending on the solution you use.

When the recipient of a gift card chooses to make a purchase and pay with the gift card, he will enter the unique virtual gift card code into the designated field during checkout. Gift cards typically don’t have an expiration date and any remaining credit can be used at a later date.

Benefits of Gift Cards

For the customer, it’s all about convenience. For the merchant, the benefits are reflected in the bottom line. Research shows that most customers spend an additional 40-50% of the gift card’s value. That means a customer redeeming a $200 gift card, is likely to spend up to $300 in total purchases. If she fails to use up the card’s full value, the remaining balance automatically becomes extra earnings. In addition, gift cards allow your customers to help you promote your store by giving gift cards to those new to your brand.

How to Maximize Gift Cards

Take advantage of online gift cards by giving your customers a reason to buy them. Try offering incentives for each purchasing, like adding a bonus credit of $5 for every $50 gift card bought. You can get more out of your gift card program by combining it with other programs, such as customer rewards or employee performance recognition programs. To add personality to the cards, provide an option that allows senders to add special notes to their orders.

Be sure that the gift cards appear as cross-sell items on your shopping cart page and include it in your marketing communications (customer emails, newsletters). More importantly, ensure that they are given sufficient visibility on your homepage, in front of customers who are in a hurry to complete their shopping list. Try offering gift cards to salvage an abandoned cart, if you know the visitor was shopping for a gift.

EFS Checklist – Gift Cards and Gift Certificates (PDF)

Experts agree that mobile commerce is the wave of the ecommerce future. How is this possible? Currently, there are 4-5 billion mobile phone users around the world – the source of 8-10% of daily web traffic. Smartphones, with their multiple functionalities, are now outselling computers. Tapping this market successfully could boost sales and it’s not just for established ecommerce retailers, small online businesses with limited resources can participate as well.

Challenges

Mobile commerce, or mcommerce, is not without its challenges, considering it is still in its infancy here in the US (mobile commerce adoption took off first in Europe and in Asia). For some people, the smaller screen of mobile devices hinders their experience, and accessing existing webpages on mobile browsers can be slow and, at times, downright impossible. What keeps most consumers away from mobile commerce is the issue is security, especially if they have to type in a credit card number or other sensitive data to complete a transaction.

Solutions

Mobile technology is constantly developing. Many companies have started to develop software solutions to address key issues, including security and payment processing (for instance, Paypal is now offering express checkout to ensure a less complicated payment process for mobile transactions).  Soon, launching and maintaining other mobile commerce apps will become much simpler and cost-effective.

Thinking of optimizing your existing site for mobile devices? Don’t. This may result in a cluttered site on a small screen. Building a separate site geared to mobile users is the best option. One of the worst experience is when the mcommerce version of retailer takes you from their haphazardly slapped together mcommerce store to their ecommerce store. This happened to me over the Christmas holiday shopping and needless to say it was really poor user experience. Try looking into out providers, such as Mobify, that specialize in creating mobile-friendly websites, another is Unbound Commerce has worked with Yahoo Store Owners.

Advantages

Businesses that have already gone mobile are now enjoying its financial benefits as mobile commerce gives consumers yet another channel for making purchases. Mcommerce appeals to the youth market, which is especially keen on being untethered to a computer and more likely to purchase online. Furthermore, it offers a number of extra benefits for merchants and customers alike. One example is the convenience of a faster transaction. If the item is downloadable, such as music, a video or other media, a customer can receive his order almost instantly, while the seller receives the payment straight away.

Aside from the obvious convenience to customers, many exciting features like location-based marketing, advertising and promotional technologies are giving merchants a variety of ways to make money via mobile commerce. In short, mobile commerce opens the opportunity to purchase and sell any time and anywhere. If you are not considering getting into mobile commerce, chances are, your competitors already have. Don’t get left behind!