Webshop accessibility? Here's what you need to know about reachability

Why does a customer buy from you and why not from your competitor?

There are a number of very large online retailers. With these, it is often difficult for an average webshop to compete. They have a wide range of products, work with sophisticated websites and can often offer low prices. Yet the majority of webshops in the Netherlands are small. We are not online marketing experts; we are customer contact experts. Something that is becoming increasingly relevant in a competitive online environment. We are convinced that a webshop or online retailer can distinguish itself from its competition by being there for its customer. Your webshop customer service is therefore very important. You achieve this by being available when your (potential) customer wants it and by being available on the channels your (potential) customer likes to use. Zappos is an excellent example of this. Zappos is an online department store that grew from a small webshop to one that was bought by Amazon for $390 million in a (relatively) short time. Why? Zappos' motto is "powered by service". Their strength is their customer service. As the CEO of zappos himself puts it:

"Commit to Customer Service. Make it a Part of Your Mission, it's not (just) a department. Freely translated, it reads: "commit yourself to customer service. Make it a part of your mission. It's not (just) a department". This attitude ensured that Zappos built such a loyal customer base that they were one of the few companies that felt virtually nothing from the crisis. This did not go unnoticed by Amazon either.

The benefits of outsourcing your customer service

Outsourcing customer contact to an external contact centre brings with it some advantages. Some advantages at a glance:

• We specialise in customer contact, contact with customers is what we do and what we are good at!
• We are fully equipped to handle customer contacts effectively, efficiently and professionally
• We are very flexible. 5 today and 500 contacts tomorrow? No problem!
• Multilingualism, omnichannel, and wide opening hours? No problem!
• Already full-service customer service from 1.50 per call!
• You are worry-free with the best customer service

Webshop accessibility threat or opportunity?

Since 2014, it has been mandatory for every webshop to have a phone number available on their website. Telephony has the reputation of being an expensive channel for customer contact. Many companies and therefore webshops tend to hide their telephone number as much as possible. This makes your webshop customer service difficult to find and you receive fewer incoming customer contacts. They prefer to send customers to a self-service environment (frequently asked questions) or to a contact form. From an internal approach, this makes sense. Self-service costs nothing and e-mails can be answered at your convenience. From the customer's point of view, it makes no sense at all. In practice, we see that people just like to call, just that personal contact. After all, they buy something from a company they often don't know, that doesn't have a physical shop and where you just have to assume it will turn out all right. So good accessibility and promoting that accessibility is an opportunity, not a threat. An opportunity to give your customer confidence, to answer questions, a means to retain existing customers and to win over potential customers by saying: "Any doubts or questions, give us a call!".

Multi-channel webshop accessibility

Did you know that last year half of US adults used chat to get in touch with organisations from which they took something? For years, the death of the telephone medium has been predicted. The reality is that with an increase in the number of channels through which contact can be made, the number of contacts is only increasing. Customers call over an e-mail, chat over a conversation or e-mail over a letter. More channels = more contact = more opportunities. Every contact is an opportunity to give your customer a certain experience and generate extra sales.

Tips regarding the accessibility of your webshop (large, medium or small)

• Of course first of all: make sure you can be reached at the times when your products or services are being purchased. For webshops, this is often between 08:00 and 21:00
• Promote your reachability on the website. A simple trick that will make (potential) customers trust you and increase your sales.
• Don't work with (only) a mobile number, it comes across as very clunky.
• Put yourself completely in your customer's shoes; what would you like if you were a visitor to your own webshop?
• Multi-channel reachability ís the future, but be aware that this also includes different expectations. If you offer chat but don't respond in time, for instance, it does more harm than good. Make sure you can handle it or get help.