Online Customer ServiceFahri Karakaya, Ph. D.Professor of Marketing

Director, S. E. Mass. eCommerce Network

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

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F. Karakaya

SOURCE: Schaupp L. Christian and Belanger France, 2005, “A Conjoint Analysis of Online Consumer Satisfaction”, Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, Vol. 6, No. 2

Previous ResearchThere is relationship between service quality

and firm profitability.Perceived high levels of service quality

increases customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention.

Satisfied customers are less sensitive to price increases.

Components of online service quality include:--Customized service--Descriptive information --Ease of contact--Delivery / Shipping / trackingF. Karakaya

F. Karakaya

Source: Zee-Sun Yun, Linda K. Good. (2007). Developing customer loyalty from e-tail store image attributes. Managing Service Quality, 17(1), 1-22.

Types of Online Customer ServiceFAQ’s – customers may find answers!

Updating the information is importante-mailOnline messenger – video, voice or just text

chatWhich method is most effective?

--Depends on individual customer preferences!

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F. Karakaya

Cognitive Lock-InInternet has reduced customer switching costs!In general, customer remain loyal to web sites

they have used before. WHY?COGNITIVE LOCK-IN (Johnson, Bellman, and

Lohse (2003), Journal of Marketing.People learn how to use a web site and trust the

web site they have used before.There is cost of switching from one web site to

another!This cost is mainly the time involved in learning

about the new web site and the trust!

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Cognitive Lock-InExpedia.com vs. Travelocity.comOnline banking – set up of payments and

your preferences!Information stored on the web site you

have used influences you to use the same web site again! – Web site loyalty!

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Designing Web sites with customers in mindUsability and customer experience –Download speed! Online shoppers are not

the most patient people!High speed Internet is here, but many

people still use dialup Internet access. In most cases, if a page is not loaded in 5-

10 seconds, customers move on to a competitor’s site.

Pictures need to be optimized to minimize download speed

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Designing Web sites with customers in mindWeb site navigation - pages need to be clean

and simple - not busy and easy to move from one page to another

Search (FIND) function in web sites is important for people who are busy!

Update your web site regularly - Use a content management system to add new products, change prices, upload pictures, and provide other information.

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Designing Web sites with customers in mindPayment system - need a merchant banking

account and make sure it is secure -

more importantly, customers need to feel their transactions are safe - Most customers now know what is a secure site (Http vs. Https and security lock sign)

Allow customers to check out without

registering with your web site

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Designing Web sites with customers in mindAllow customers to get answers to their questions through FQA,

Provide detailed product information, E-mail to customer service option, Chat with customer service

representatives option, and 1-800 telephone numbers (specify

the number - do not use letters instead of numbers)

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Designing Web sites with customers in mindHave phone numbers and contact

details on every page or have a special page for contact information on sidebar.

Order Fulfillment & follow-through -

--confirmation e-mails, --an automated shipping/tracking system, --prompt delivery, and --e-mail satisfaction surveys build customer loyalty and trust

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Designing Web sites with customers in mindTracking visitors:

--How many hits per day?

--How many repeat visitors?--Busiest time and days? --where they come from?--pages visited? --how much time they spend on each page? --how many people actually leave their shopping carts without purchasing?

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Designing Web sites with customers in mindTest your web site's usability! How long does it take for a page to load? Can the users navigate easily back and forth from

one page to another? Can the users easily find a previous page they

were looking at?

Use different speeds, different computers, and different web browsers, and different operation systems (PC vs. Apple - Internet explorer vs. Firefox vs. Safari, Windows vs. Vista vs. Mac OSX)

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Visit customer venting sites and read what unsatisfied customers say about you.

Victims of Expedia.com

http://www.victimsofexpedia.com/

Travelwatchdog.comhttp://www.travelwatchdog.com/http://mashable.com/2008/03/09/vent-your-anger/

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F. Karakaya

Designing Web sites with customers in mindHere are some web links about good web sites and online

customer service

The Forbes link consists of top websites in different categories like top 12 websites for holiday shoppers.

http://www.forbes.com/bow/

Time.com - 25 Sites We Can't Live Withouthttp://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1222769,00.html

The link below from BestBuy provides different options to customers, for knowing the opinions (of other customers) before buying the product, and after-sales customer service (online customer service).

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcmcat87800050001&type=category

A web site providing information on 12 Internet Customer Retention Tactics

http://www.wdfm.com/marketing-tips/customer-retention-tactics.php

Best Practices – Online Customer Service http://www.globalbusinessinsights.com/rbi/content/rbtc0032t.pdf

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