Christmas is just around the corner, and one of the key things we’re doing here is preparing for the seasonal influx of orders. Scaling up or down as demand changes is something that we’re proud of our ability to do, and the months coming shows that to the extreme.

As well as Christmas, it’s Black Friday into Cyber Monday, Halloween, Guy Fawkes Night and more. The holidays don’t stop for anyone, especially not 3PL companies.

What you can do to prepare:

DELIVERY AND RETURNS

First of all, it’s important to ensure that your delivery and return policies are always as clear as possible, but it is extremely crucial over the Christmas season. No matter how good your product is, returns are just a part of any business, so it’s imperative that your policy is both readable and easy to understand.

32% of all customers would stop doing business with a brand they loved after one bad experience.

We’ve spoken before about the importance of having a clear refund policy, and as e-commerce becomes more intelligent, having a quick and responsive returns management system is very important. Our involvement in the return’s management is that we actually receive the return and carry out a series of tasks; quality check, photograph, quarantine and report.

We don’t go as far as supplying the management of the return in terms of software and dialogue. Although, we can arrange for items to be uplifted upon customer say so.

CLEAR SLA’S

Customers want to know when they’re going to get a response, and using SLAs (Service Level Agreements) is a great way to show this. You could have an SLA for the first human response, one for return resolution and so on. These hold your company accountable, but you can also use them flexibly.

For example, fulfilment may take longer over the festive period, so you can increase your SLAs by a few days. Creating a live page on your site to show estimated weekly or daily SLAs could be something beneficial to have in your social channels or live chat.

KINDS OF SUPPORT CHANNELS

Customer support services over social media are becoming increasingly vital. In fact, if you have social media channels set up, it’s what your customers will expect and use them for.

Make sure you have an alert set up to capture any customer queries or concerns if they are not ‘tagging’ you into their updates and deal with any feedback, good or bad, publicly. It is recommended a social media policy is put into place so that there are clear guidelines available for any member of staff dealing with an online complaint.

Live chat facilities are growing in popularity by the day. Companies like Intercom, Crisp and more are able to utilise AI to power basic queries and reserve human resources for difficult queries.

Phone lines are good to have, but companies are moving to digital-first channels.

CHRISTMAS FAQ

If you’re not able to make yourself completely available, a Christmas FAQ is an incredibly valuable tool for consumers and has the potential to drastically reduce calls or emails, as shoppers will not need to contact you because the FAQ has answered their query.

Questions you could include:

• What are your opening hours during the holidays?
• Are you offering Christmas Discount Codes?
• What are the Christmas shipping policies?
• What are your return/exchange/cancellation policies?
• When is the latest I can get a Christmas gift delivered?

If you have social media accounts, sharing this information in a timely manner will also help.

Most noteworthy, offer customer support services that stand out from the rest

Take the time and effort to address unhappy customers. A study from McKinsey states that 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer is treated. It’s not only worth keeping their business for the future, but also dodging any negative and damaging feedback.

Customer support services are one of the most important factors of your ecommerce business. By investing in your customers, you’ll increase long-term loyalty. Succeed, and you’ll discover that customer service is the Christmas gift that keeps on giving.

Here at Bray Solutions, we can help you run a smooth service by taking control of your shipping and returns process. To find out more, call us on 01780 784875 or email us at info@braysolutions.com