Part
01
of two
Part
01
Innovative Online Support Solutions - Examples
The 5 examples of e-commerce companies implementing innovative online customer support solutions include Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Target and Costco.
Research methodology
E-COMMERCE COMPANIES THAT ARE SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTING INNOVATIVE ONLINE CUSTOMER SUPPORT POSSIBILITIES AND SOLUTIONS.
We commenced the research to establish examples of five e-commerce companies that are successfully implementing innovative online customer support possibilities and solutions that include the use of self-help options or omnichannel solutions and other new technologies such as AI, chatbots etc. by searching for market studies and case studies published by reputable software review databases such as Capterra, G2 Crowd and Trust Radius among others. Fortunately, we came across an article published by Capterra that detailed a list of the best customer support software solutions in 2019. We decided to conduct further research on the customer support software solutions on the list. Our objective was to establish if any of the software application was designed with any innovative features and if so, we also wanted to find out if there was any e-commerce platform that used the software application to provide customer support services to its customers. We checked all the software applications and we were able to determine that they were designed to provide various customer support possibilities such as call centers, live chats etc. However, we failed to identify if any of the software application had been designed with unique innovative technologies as well as any e-commerce platform that was using the software.
We decided to change gears and focused our attention on any relevant information related to how e-commerce companies are successfully implementing innovative online customer support possibilities. We searched for relevant information through e-commerce providers such as Shopify and Acquire. Unfortunately, we were not able to obtain any relevant data regarding how e-commerce companies were successfully implementing innovative online customer support possibilities and solutions from these sources. The only relevant information that we were able to obtain from the e-commerce providers related to the best practices that e-commerce platforms can use to provide excellent customer support services.
We decided to expand our research parameters by focusing our attention on specific e-commerce platforms that are top in the industry in terms of market share and popularity. The idea here was to identify the top e-commerce websites and check the online customer support solutions implemented by these companies. We were able to obtain a list of the top e-commerce platforms published by SimilarWeb. Next, we decided to check the online customer support solutions implemented by the specific companies in order to establish if there was anything unique about the software. This strategy helped us to find some relevant information about the innovative online customer support software that the top e-commerce platforms on the list use as detailed below:
- Amazon uses Amazon Assistant.
Amazon Assistant is a free suite of software applications that help users to compare products and prices while searching and shopping online.
- Walmart uses Omnichannel strategies including chat, phone support, and email support to provide customer support services.
- eBay uses an online social forum called "Ask the Community". We included this e-commerce platform on the list because it is only the top e-commerce platform that we found to be providing customer support solutions through an online social forum.
- Target uses live online chat. We included this e-commerce platform on the list because it is only the top e-commerce platform that we found to be providing customer support solutions via live online chats.
- Costco uses self-service to provide online customer support. We included this e-commerce platform on the list because it is only the top e-commerce platform that we found to be providing customer support solutions through self-help.
We decided to choose the above companies for our list of the examples of five e-commerce companies that are successfully implementing innovative online customer support possibilities and solutions because each company is among the top e-commerce companies and the customer support solutions that each company provides is different from the other.
SUCCESS METRICS FOR THE CUSTOMER SUPPORT POSSIBILITIES AND SOLUTIONS IMPLEMENTED BY TOP E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS
Next, we decided to search for the success metrics that these five e-commerce companies have derived by implementing their specific customer support solutions. We commenced our research by extensively searching for relevant data through the official websites of the companies as well as on the press release section and news section of each individual website. We also scanned through the recent annual reports of each company. Unfortunately, we were not able to obtain any relevant data related to the success metrics of the online customer support solutions that the five e-commerce companies have implemented on their platforms. One of the possible reason why we were not able to find any publicly available data could stem from the fact that these companies do not publicly disclose such information due to competitive reasons.
We decided to extend our research through press releases, news updates and other authoritative articles published by credible media outlets such as Forbes, USAToday, Times etc. regarding any relevant data on the success metrics of the innovative online customer support solutions implemented by the top e-commerce platforms. Unfortunately, we were not able to obtain any relevant data from these sources. The only relevant data that we were able to obtain regarding the five e-commerce platforms related to their specific business operations and other major news updates such as acquisitions and partnerships. One of the probable reasons why we were not able to obtain any authoritative data from these sources could stem from the fact that these e-commerce companies do not publicly disclose such data due to competitive reasons.
As a last resort, we decided to search for relevant data related to the success metrics of the innovative customer support solutions provided by the top e-commerce platforms by extensively scanning through databases that host the profiles of companies as well as databases that provide intelligence reports of companies such as Gartner and Forrester. Unfortunately, the search did not yield any relevant data related to the success metrics of the innovative customer support solutions provided by the top e-commerce platforms. The only relevant that we found on these databases related to the normal business operations and activities of the e-commerce companies.
5 UNIQUE ONLINE CUSTOMER SUPPORT SOLUTIONS IMPLEMENTED BY E-COMMERCE WEBSITES
- Amazon uses Amazon Assistant which is a free suite of innovative customer support software applications that helps shoppers to compare the features and prices of related products while searching for products online. The online customer support solution can be installed in the browser that a shopper uses to search for products on Amazon thus enabling the shopper to shop instantly as well as add items to a personal shopping wishlist.
- Walmart uses Omnichannel strategies that include the integration of live chat, phone support, and email support solutions. Online shoppers are able to seek customer support and care services through either of the channels available online on the company e-commerce platform.
- eBay provides customers with the benefits of seeking customer support services through an online social forum called "Ask the Community". The forum enables shoppers to obtain customer services from respected members of the community as well as from moderators who work for the e-commerce customer support team.
- Target uses an online live chat to provide its shoppers with instantaneous customer care services and support.
- Costco uses a self-service portal that allows customers to easily obtain support by perusing through the "self-help" content published on the customer support page of the e-commerce platforms.