What makes the customer check that top box instead of any of the ones below it? You have been working on your order fulfillment process, refining it to meet your predetermined productivity and efficiency levels. However, experts recommend that you also synchronize your fulfillment services based on your customers’ expectations and treat your retail operations as an extension of your customer service team.

How do ecommerce retailers do that? In our previous blog we spoke about how customers are not concerned about how many channels you operate from – all they want is a seamless shopping experience from research and browsing, through the fulfillment process to post-purchase customer service. As you forge ahead with your ecommerce strategy for 2012, keep these three tips in mind to make sure that you’re exceeding your customers’ expectations.

Data is king: The more you know your customer and his habits, interests, likes, and dislikes, the more you can meet his expectations. As you gather analytics from the different channels you operate from, put them together into a cohesive and comprehensive report that your merchandising and marketing teams can use to fine-tune their campaigns and customer touch points. Focus on data provided to your contact center team as they take customer calls and complaints, or from your fulfillment services team as they pick and pack your customer orders.

Forget customer service silos: Having the data by itself is useless if your customer service team isn’t trained to use it to solve customer problems and issues. If your customers shop via smart phones, does your team have access to the same technology to see what the customer sees? Are they trained where certain products are located on your website and what search terms will bring them up? If there are any pricing discrepancies, can they take care of it right away and explain why? If your employees have never read your blog, interacted with your social media profiles, or even seen your website, they can’t provide the best customer service possible – period.

Don’t spread yourself thin: Make this one a constant reminder! As a business, every channel you operate should enhance your brand identity, not dilute it. It is the management team’s responsibility to analyze each channel of operations and make sure each channel’s marketing efforts, customer service teams, products, and operations communicate the company’s brand values consistently.

Synchronizing your order fulfillment and customer service processes with what you know your customer wants is obviously easier said than done. If you need help in creating a seamless shopping experience for your customers, talk to Fifth Gear. We have been building brands, fulfilling orders, and servicing customers for over three decade!

Tags: customer contact center, customer experience, Ecommerce, ecommerce customer service, marketing, multichannel retail, order fulfillment, pick and pack, retail industry trends