For retail businesses, offering the best support is the heart and soul of every shopping experience, determining how clients feel about a brand long after they leave the store or click “checkout.”
What this means is that retail customer service should not be limited to responding to queries or resolving complaints; instead, it should be about creating experiences that can turn one-time shoppers into loyal advocates.
In the retail industry, where consumers have unlimited brands to choose from, it is exceptional customer care that differentiates one business from the other.
A simple “hello”, the right product suggestions or even a problem solved makes all the difference in winning customers and enhancing their loyalty towards your retail business.
This article gives the best retail customer service strategies to help grow your business and keep your customers happy.
What is retail customer service?
Retail customer service refers to the assistance that businesses provide to customers throughout their journey.
Retail customer service can either be done in-store or through online platforms. In-store retailers may include grocery stores, supermarkets, electronics shops etc. Online retail businesses can include drop shipping, subscriptions, white labeling, private labeling and manufacturing.
The primary objective of retail customer service is to make sure that all customers are happy with their purchases and would want to come back again for additional purchases.
Some of the ways of providing good retail customer service may include:
- Taking care of issues such as complaints, returns, and exchanges.
- Assisting customers in identifying goods and services that suit their requirements.
- Suggesting or recommending goods or services that will make the clients’ shopping experience memorable.
- Providing information pertaining to product availability, pricing, features, and store policies.
11 Best ways to improve customer service in retail industry
For businesses in the retail industry to increase their sales, retain clients and attract new customers, they need to improve their support offerings. Here are useful tips to ensure the success of your retail business.
Empower your support team
Provide your support team with access to customer data and conversation history, enabling them handle customer problems faster.
Automation of routine tasks gives support agents ample time to handle other client issues that need their undivided attention.
Regularly train your employees on the products, company policies, SLA, how to deal with different clients, and the entire on-boarding process.
Support team training can be done through mentorship on how to improve their skills, on-the-job training, holding workshops or even through online videos for future reference.
Personalize customer experience
Customers like to be treated as individuals and not numbers. Personalizing customer experience involves tailoring client interactions and services to the individual preferences and needs of each consumer.
According to Semrush, 60% of clients say that receiving a personalized shopping experience will make them be repeat clients.
This means that retail businesses should actively seek strategies to make the service more personalized so as to retain more clients and attract new ones.
Ways to customize your service may include:
- Calling clients by name
- Offering personalized recommendations
- Warmly greeting clients or welcoming customers with a smile
- Following up to know if the service provided met the client’s preferences
Retailers can also use data analysis to gather insights from customer behaviors or purchasing history to enable them customize shopping experiences.
Have a positive attitude
A smile a day saves the day. When retailers express a friendly but professional approach in every customer interaction, it will always lighten the mood and make clients free to speak their mind.
Ways in which retailers can express a positive attitude include:
- Owning up to mistakes
- Being sorry for any inconvenience
- Using positive language while addressing customers in case of any delays or if products are out of stock, reassuring them that all will be well
- Being timely and responsive
- Practicing empathetic listening
A positive attitude will make retailer employees handle client complaints calmly and constructively while focusing on solutions, which leaves consumers with a good impression of the brand. Being positive can ease stressful situations, promote a friendly environment, and improve customer service.
Provide self-service options
According to Higherlogic, 79% of clients expect businesses to offer self-service tools to assist them find solutions to their issues without reaching out for support.
Customers feel good when they solve their problems independently. Retailers can empower clients with various resources to solve their issues alone, such as:
- Making FAQs readily available to help answer common inquiries on apps or websites.
- Implementing knowledge base software containing user manuals, troubleshooting tips, how to videos.
- Inputting self-checkout systems to allow clients to complete their purchases without having to wait in line.
- Having order tracking tools to let clients check the status of their orders independently.
- Implementing customer self-service portal that includes self- help resources, transaction history, and the ability to create and manage support requests.
- Organize community forums to serve as a platform where clients can easily share their ideas, experiences and find solutions to resolve common issues.
Leverage technology to improve customer service
Technology is a common factor in today’s retail customer service. There are many ways retailers can use technology to improve their customer service which includes:
- Using a help desk ticketing system to manage and track support requests in an organized manner.
- Using live chat to engage with clients in real-time.
- Setting up of contact management to store customer information and arrange contact and contact groups, which makes it easier for support agents to monitor client interaction to provide better retail customer service.
- Using AI assist tools to generate answers to common inquiries 24/7, enabling consumers to receive instant support without needing an agent.
These approaches help gather and process useful client information, which makes it easier to customize the service and improve the response time to customers’ queries.
Offer omnichannel support
Let’s say a client has an issue with a software application and urgently needs help. The customer then tries to reach you through your website, live chat, email, and social media hoping you’ll receive and respond to at least one of the requests.
Here is where omnichannel support comes in handy as it enables clients to always contact your company through any preferred communication channel without having to repeat themselves.
Having omnichannel support enables the retail support staff to deliver quick responses to client inquiries. This is because they have access to customers’ previous conversation history from all channels within one unified inbox.
Practice active listening and good communication
It sure feels nice to have someone listen to you, right? The same feeling applies to clients in retail business, where they would want support agents to carefully listen to them without interrupting.
After listening to the clients, the agents could summarize their statements or ask questions to encourage further responses. This will assure the clients that the support agents have understood their issues or concerns and are aiming to address them.
Use simple and direct language to talk to customers to ensure the message is clear. Promptly respond to client issues to demonstrate that you value the customer’s time.
Retail businesses can also offer multilingual support to accommodate all clients from various parts of the world who speak different languages.
Track KPIs
In retail business, you would want to know whether your clients are satisfied or not, what products they prefer, and how your team performs.
With the right customer service KPIs, you can identify pain points or recurring issues, allowing your retail customer care team to address the root causes of client issues.
Metrics such as NPS and CSAT can help evaluate customer contentment with the service you offer. Consider regularly reviewing KPIs assist in setting goals for improvement in services and also ascertains that progress is being made.
Be proactive in your retail customer support
Customer service should not only be offered during the purchasing process but also during on boarding and post-purchase. Retail staff should be able to anticipate clients’ needs, questions, or potential issues before they arise, rather than waiting for them to seek help or voice concerns.
Retailers should deliver a proactive customer service by:
- Testing products firsthand to ensure any issues a client may face is dealt with before the product is put on the market.
- Being honest and transparent.
- Informing the clients in advance of any schedule maintenance in your service.
- Contacting clients for feedback to better understand their expectations and gauge if your service is meeting their needs.
- Informing consumers of any delays in delivery of products.
Offer loyalty programs
How can you appreciate your customers for their loyalty to your retail brand through thick and thin? Consider giving the loyal customers different incentives such as exclusive offers, discounts, or a point redemption system. Such gestures can encourage clients to return for more purchases.
Moreover, customer loyalty programs provide relevant data to enable retailers profile loyal clients and customize services to meet their needs.
Request customers for feedback
Reviews can at times be positive or negative, but it is always wise for support representatives to quickly respond to all of them to establish good relations with their clients.
Retailers can collect customer feedback through surveys, feedback forms, in-app feedback, conducting customer interviews and email requests.
Retail companies should encourage clients to leave feedback after every interaction to gauge how satisfied they are with the services offered.
This practice shows that the organization values customer opinions and is always committed to addressing their concerns. Client feedback can help retail businesses to know where they can improve and keep increasing their quality of service.
Importance of customer service in retail industry
The success of any business majorly depends on how well they manage their retail customer service. Below are some of the main advantages of good retail customer service:
Enhances customer trust and loyalty
When a customer receives special attention and is well-appreciated, they tend to develop an emotional connection with the retail business. This makes them trust the company
Helps to improve reputation
Consumers are always ready to share their positive experiences with others either verbally or through online reviews.
Retail businesses that offer high-quality customer service and have a good reputation will always retain their clients and attract new ones, thus creating a strong foundation for the prosperity of a business.
Assists in increasing sales
When clients feel valued and receive personalized support, they tend to make additional purchases and tell more people about the store.
It is easier for a company that provides excellent services to upsell or cross-sell their products as the clients believe that they will have a good experience as they did before or even better.
Elevates customer satisfaction
When a retail business quickly responds to client inquiries, solve their issues, or even warmly greet them with a smile, they tend to have a positive impression of it.
Competitive advantage
Customers often gravitate towards retail companies that prioritize their needs and strive to offer the best experiences.
This means they will stand out from other competitors who do not invest in that, enabling them to reach a wider market range.
Examples of retail customer service
Here are just but a few examples of brands known for offering exceptional retail customer service, that meets the needs of consumers, leaving them delighted.
Apple
Apple can be regarded as a company that has an efficient customer support system as a result of its well-trained personnel both within retail outlets and social media platforms.
The Genius Bar offers personalized technical support for the products to make sure customers are given hands-on support with their devices. Apple emphasizes on creating an engaging in-store experience with clients to increase their satisfaction.
Trader Joe’s
One of the things that distinguishes Trader Joe’s from other grocery stores is the positive attitude of the staff and the unique shopping experience they offer.
Staff members are encouraged to engage with customers in a friendly manner and go out of their way to make personal recommendations of goods to them.
The interior design cover is constructed in a way that encourages exploration of the shop, hence making shopping fun and not purely transactional.
Amazon
Amazon is renowned for its customer-centric approach. It strives to ensure that all the customers feel that they matter through its personalized recommendations as well as convenience in shopping.
Amazon’s retail customer service entails features such as easy returns, 24/7 customer support, and proactive communication regarding order status. Additionally, their Prime membership program provides benefits like free shipping and exclusive deals.
Virgin Trains East Coast
Virgin Trains East Coast invests in making a journey with them enjoyable: it will provide a pleasant travel experience that makes their passengers feel special.
This includes offering complimentary refreshments during travel, ensuring cleanliness on board, and having readily available personnel to help the travelers with any need or concern.
Level up your retail customer service today!
Good retail customer service involves resolving problems and creating moments that make your customers keep coming back. Happy clients often give positive reviews of your organization to others, thus leading to client retention and bringing in new customers.
By providing outstanding services and finding new ways of improving your services, you can stand out in a competitive marketplace, build trust in your clients, and create consistency in your business.
Contact us to set up a 30-minute live demo and learn how BoldDesk can help your business offer the best support in the retail market. You can as well start a 15-day free trial to experience our retail customer service software and explore the features firsthand. For more information, contact the BoldDesk support team.
We hope you found this informative. We would love to hear any feedback or other suggestions you may have in the comment section below.
Related articles
- 24/7 Customer Service: A Complete Guide
- Best Customer Service Tips for Better Support in 2024
- 12 Way to Deliver Good Customer Service
FAQs
What skills are required in retail customer service?
The following are customer service skills required to make any retail business successful.
- Problem solving skills – Retail staff should be able to easily and accurately solve customer issues and inquiries.
- Product knowledge – Retail agents need to clearly understand the products and services that are provided by their organization to offer clients personalized recommendations.
- Attention to detail – Being able to pay attention to minor details is essential in retail customer service as it enables service representatives to remember past interactions and customer preferences.
- Empathy – It is a vital skill in retail customer service as it allows agents to relate to consumers’ emotions and expectations.
How is retail customer service evolving?
In the past, purchases in retail stores could only be made in person. With the changing world of digitalization, customer service can now be executed at the comfort of one’s home.
Retailers can automate their customer care services to enable them to send follow-up emails to gauge the client experience. AI can also be used to answer simple client issues.
What challenges does retail customer service face?
Every business faces obstacles in one way or another and retail customer service is not an exception. The challenges faced include:
- Handling difficult client complaints.
- Delivering consistency across all communication channels.
- Balancing speed with high-quality customer service, more so during peak times.
- Integrating technology like AI or CRM can be expensive and requires expertise.
