Article

5 Must Have Elements for Customer Service in eCommerce

Written by Paul Dylan

Topic: Internet MarketingPublished November 18, 2010
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In eCommerce, your website is everything to the user, both in design and information. In order for a customer to feel comftrable shopping on your website, there should be certain elements in place in order for that user to feel a sense of trustworthiness and credibility with your website. When shopping online, consumers want to know that if they need to get in touch with your company, whether it’s contacting you for a simple question regarding something such as a color or a question about shipping time or prices, they want to be able to get an answer quickly. It is important to also give a sense of human touch to a website so they know there are people behind the business and not just a fly-by-night website selling products.

1)Phone Number on Every Page: You must have a phone number on every page of your website. If a customer has a quick question and wants to call, the phone number is available in an instant. This is a great element to have on each page so the customer doesn’t have to leave the page they are on.

2)Live Chat: Your website must have a live chat option as customers want to ask very quick questions and with much of the internet shopping done at work, may not have access to call for a quick question or concern.

3)Frequently Asked Questions: You should have a link to FAQ on your website because chances are that a question that a customer may have, another customer has already asked it in the past. Create a FAQ page on your website and make sure you link to it from every page. This will allow for questions to be answered by your website to the consumer.

4)Policy Links: Have your policy links on every page as well. These include links such as return policy, exchange policy, shipping and more.

5)Trust Seals: Customers like seeing that you have certain certifications to back up the credibility and security of your website. This includes seals from companies such as TrustE , HackerSafe and others alike who provide these seals for a fee. You should also always have an SSL certificate which is standard and provides a sense of security for transactions online. The BBB is also a very good seal for your website to carry.

Other elements you should have on your website are testimonials from customers. While consumers understanding and know you may be posting bias testimonials, it’s very important they see that which can assist in their decision to shop. eBay works on a feedback rating for many consumers to decide whether to shop from a buyer or not so keep that in mind in terms of how testimonials can enhance the consumers mentality towards shopping on your ecommerce store.

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About the Author

Paul Dylan is in the marketing department of F3, an ecommerce software company. Paul also writes for the F3 ecommerce blog which discusses all things ecommerce and internet marketing.