While the online channel may have quite a ways to go before catching up with offline channels, Jeremy Nedelka of 1to1 poses a question that may have some retailers looking at how they conduct business. 

By most accounts, online sales this holiday season were strong compared to in-store.  However, the percentage of online sales compared to overall retail sales is still relatively small.  Today, the reality is that many view the online channel as the primary source of research, but still transact offline.  But if Nedelka's hypothesis is correct, it could be just a matter of time before those roles are reversed.  Here's the scoop.

It may be a stretch, but it's an interesting thought. 

Do you prefer canned or fresh vegetables?  If you're like most people, you're likely less fond of canned vegetables.  And, chances are, you are even less of a fan of canned responses when it comes to customer service.

Mila D'Antonio at 1to1 shares an amusing anecdote about a "creepy" in-store experience where canned responses had her questioning the sincerity of her customer service reps, and the logic behind the retailer's decision making.

There's a lesson to be learned here when it comes to online chat aswell.  While canned responses can be a tremendous way to improve agent efficiency (and lower time to resolution) by providing agents with predetermined responses to common questions, they must be used wisely!  If the context of when and where you use them is wrong, you risk "creeping" out your customers or, even worse, losing them.

In many cases, relying too heavily on canned responses could defeat the purpose of offering customers live assistance to begin with. 

This week, the Méribel Ad Festival announced the winners of its 6th annual advertising awards, and we're proud to say that an eStara-powered campaign (Sporting's Gamebox campaign) was among the winners for best cyber/viral marketing campaign. 

Here's a summary of the event and of the campaign from Alvaro Alves. 

Congratulations to Sporting and to the folks at DraftFCB who put together the creative for this campaign, which took Portugal by storm with more than 200,000 calls in two days and fans showing up the stadium in droves.

How important is customer service?  In-store shoppers find that specialized service can make all the difference between stores gaining a customer and losing one.

According to this story from the Arizona Republic:

• One in four shoppers said they walked out of a store because of poor customer service, according to a poll conducted last weekend by America's Research Group, a consumer-behavior research firm.

• More than half - 58 percent - of shoppers polled told the same group in November that they planned to avoid stores they perceive as understaffed.

Now, the challenge for online retailers is compounded by the fact that customers don't even have to exert any energy to leave their stores...they just need to click a button.  So what are you doing to assure online customers your store is able to accommodate their service needs?

If you're afraid you may not be delivering the customer service experience your customers demand, now might be a good time to review these customer experience resolutions for 2008.

The internet has irreversibly affected the way businesses interact with consumers and redefined how marketers target and reach out to customers. However, just like the days before ecommerce and e-marketing, the brands that are most successful in capturing share of mind and share of wallet are those that stick to the age-old mantra "the customer comes first." 

The cornerstone to success, whether it be online or offline, is facilitating the branding or purchasing experience by helping customers find what they are looking for on their own but still offering personalized service and support when needed. Doing the former has become second nature to most companies, but the latter is often overlooked in this day and age where self-service tools are viewed as a substitute for human interaction.

Below are two examples of companies that have taken different approaches in how they communicate with online customers. One company recognized the importance of human interaction between buyers and sellers but failed to execute its plan successfully, while another company viewed human interaction as nothing more than a cost and failed to recognize that it could also present a significant opportunity for boosting the bottom line.

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