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Warning over Xmas customer service
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Increasing online sales this Christmas could result in customer services departments being inundated with complaints from customers, it has been suggested. According to customer relations firm numero, the ten days leading up to Christmas Day will see a five-fold increase in complaints due in part to the greater number of transactions completed over the internet this year. Some £5.6 billion has been predicted to be spent online by UK consumers this month, an increase of 56 per cent from 2006, according to Apacs. But numero director, Mark Chamberlain, said that this growth has not been matched by an increase in contact centre resources. "Customers will email the contact centre to request an update on their order and when no update is forthcoming [due to the high number of shoppers], they will continue to email until a resolution is given – increasing inbound complaints by as much as five-fold," he said. "The distribution channel has risen to the consumer challenge. The next step is for similar experiences in service – and this is where many retailers are falling short of the mark." Customers are also set to leave their shopping to the last minute this year as they have enjoyed better experiences of online shopping this year, according to numero. However, this may only serve to exacerbate the difficulties lined up for contact centres hoping to deal with the expected customer complaints. Azzurri is helping organisations make their contact centres work better with a focus on multimedia blended contact centres.  |