Shopify Customer Support Best Practices

Customers who shop in your Shopify store expect quick responses to their questions. This helps to foster loyalty and a positive experience.

Long response times on real-time communication channels like chat or email are a surefire recipe for cart abandonment. Make sure your customer support team has the tools they need to respond quickly.

1. Build trust

One of the most important elements to build customer trust is ensuring that each question and issue is handled appropriately. Customers want to be treated as if they are valued, and the best way to do this is through transparent communication and a dedication to solving problems.

This can be done by establishing a clear FAQ page or a help center that is updated regularly with relevant information. This will reduce the amount of time that customer service associates spend searching through different systems to find information, and it will help them provide faster, more accurate responses.

Another way to build customer trust is by demonstrating that you know what your customers care about. This can be achieved by providing personalized support, and by identifying common pain points for your target audience. By doing this, you can offer your customers solutions that will eliminate their frustration and make them more loyal to your brand.

Customers also want to be able to contact your company at any time, and this can be done by offering multiple support channels. This includes email, social media, and even live chat. For example, Shopify offers a 24/7 live chat option on their website which allows customers to connect with a representative instantly.

Lastly, it is essential to have a system in place to measure the effectiveness of your customer support team. This can be accomplished by analyzing the number of requests that are resolved each month, or by measuring the average resolution time. Once this data is collected, you can identify any areas for improvement. With a dedicated team and the right tools, you can implement an effective customer support strategy that will increase your shoppers’ trust and loyalty.

2. Be responsive

One of the key components of great customer service is showing empathy. When someone reaches out to your business, you should be able to change places with them for a moment and understand what they’re going through. This allows you to deliver a personalized experience and solve their issue on a case-by-case basis. For example, Chewy has made a name for itself as an empathetic brand. Countless customers have shared their stories of receiving pet food deliveries after the death of their animals, and how they received a full refund, a recommendation to donate the food, or even condolences from the company.

Being responsive also includes setting clear expectations and then meeting them. This could include letting customers know that phone support is limited to certain hours, or that email responses may be slower than live chat. It’s important to avoid making promises you can’t keep, like ambitious shipping times.

Providing regular, important notifications about their order is another great way for Shopify brands to be responsive. Including a text notification option on the purchase page, and sending emails when their item is processing, preparing to ship, or is out for delivery is helpful for customers. Seea, a sustainable surf and swimwear brand, does this well, by ensuring their customers are aware of the status of their orders from start to finish with these helpful notifications.

Being responsive is important for more than just customer support, it’s critical to the success of any business. By listening to customers and taking their feedback into account, you can make improvements across your entire business and increase your conversion rates. This is known as conversion rate optimization (CRO) and should be a continual process that includes testing new messaging, designs, or other elements to see which performs best.

3. Show empathy

It’s important to remember that the best customer service practices are not just about solving the problem at hand—they’re about genuinely connecting with your customers. Empathy goes a long way in building strong relationships and making people feel like more than just a ticket number or an email address. This can be difficult in written communication, especially with email and chat, but there are ways to add a human touch to these interactions. For example, using emojis and incorporating personal details into conversations can help create an emotional connection.

In addition to showing empathy, eCommerce brands should always strive to provide clear solutions that are as helpful as possible. For instance, if a customer contacts your company with a complaint about their order, it may be useful to offer them a refund or gift card to make up for any inconvenience. This shows that you value their business and are committed to doing whatever you can to make things right.

Additionally, if a customer complains on social media about an experience with your brand, be sure to respond quickly and professionally. This helps to maintain a positive reputation and shows that you care about your customers. Tools like Gorgias make it easy to manage social media support from a single platform so you can be proactive about responding to address issues.

Finally, a well-developed knowledge base is another great tool for offering self-service to customers. Keeping your FAQs, troubleshooting guides, and other documentation up-to-date makes it easier for customers to find the answers they need on their own—which can reduce frustration and save you valuable time. To keep your knowledge base up-to-date, consider using a feature like Gorgias to ensure your FAQs and other documents are accurate and accessible to customers.

4. Offer solutions

A key component of great customer support is offering solutions to customers. This is what will set your Shopify store apart from the competition, and help you build strong relationships with your customers. This can be done through email, chat, phone, or a combination of all these options. Shopify provides a comprehensive suite of tools to assist you with resolving issues quickly and efficiently.

Whether it’s to reassure shoppers of your brand’s reliability, or to offer them peace of mind when making a purchasing decision, providing customers with answers to their questions is a critical step in helping them make the right choice. As a result, it’s essential to have a detailed FAQ page on your website that includes concise answers and responses to a range of common queries.

If your Frequently Asked Questions page isn’t enough to satisfy customers, then Shopify also offers an extensive online help center and live chat option that’s available 24/7. Simply head to the ‘Contact Us’ page, select a topic from the list (like “Starting Your Store”), and fill out what looks like an online form to request assistance.

In addition to these online channels, Shopify also has a telephone helpline and an online community forum where customers can connect with other Shopify users to discuss common problems. Alternatively, customers can tweet @shopify with their questions for a quick response from the platform.

Adding a chatbot to your website is another way to offer instantaneous customer service. These bots can answer basic questions about product pricing and delivery times, and even provide helpful links to your online help center or FAQ page. They can be used on a standalone basis or integrated with an omnichannel help desk like Zendesk, which allows agents to view all ticket details and order data in one streamlined interface to provide personalized service.

5. Be consistent

Shopify sellers need to be consistent across the customer experience and make sure their support channels are easily accessible. In the digital world, shoppers can become frustrated quickly if they don’t have a clear avenue to resolve their issues.

Customers want to feel like they have a personalized interaction when they reach out for help. They don’t enjoy being batted around to different associates or receiving boilerplate replies that seem disingenuous. Keeping up with customer expectations across email, chat, social media, and phone can be challenging, but today’s top support apps have made it easier than ever to offer high-quality service at scale.

A consistent approach is important because a happy customer is more likely to return, which can boost retention and revenue. It’s also important to make sure you have a robust knowledge base and FAQ that are easy for your customers to find. Create an information bank that answers common questions, and be sure to update it frequently with trending topics and new policies.

In a world where mobile phones have become an indispensable part of daily life, customers have come to expect eCommerce brands to provide quick and accurate answers on the go. Offering a simple system for answering common questions and providing links to relevant product pages can help you improve the buying experience and prevent future problems for your customers. Creating an omnichannel experience that incorporates email, live chat, and even phone into a shared inbox makes it easy to meet customers where they are and provide real-time assistance.

Shopify Development Trends: Most Shopify store owners focus on their digital marketing alongside their web development. Keeping up with the cutting-edge Shopify Apps in ensuring a frictionless checkout for their online store, with additional tools to fill the Shopping Cart. Online shopping continues to grow year-over-year as the user experience improves with tailored customer service practices. Behind the scenes, are Shopify partners such as TheGenieLab. We are helping business owners and shopkeepers to drive continuous improvements through digital marketing services. Furthermore, they are providing Web Development in Shopify, BigCommerce, and other eCommerce store architectures. If you need a hand in any aspect of eCommerce, feel free to reach out to us at wish@thegenielab.com