E-shops are not self-explanatory

Customer service is crucial on the Internet  
Queries are part and parcel of online shopping. More than half of Internet shoppers in Germany have something to ask the retailer before, during or after the sale. And it doesn’t happen only once: for every ten purchases on the Internet, consumers have more than five queries. This means online shopping is inconceivable without proper customer support. Cutting corners quickly leads to immense costs and, in extreme cases, to the loss of customers. These are the findings of a survey entitled “Communication costs in sales and after sales through e-shops”, which was performed by novomind AG in collaboration with mail-order industry magazine Der Versandhausberater. 
  
E-mail and telephone are the costly options in customer service  
The cost of providing customer service, however, can be reduced. Three quarters of those asked prefer to send their queries to customer services by electronic mail, but e-mail turns out to be a costly method of communication. One customer query sent by e-mail costs the shop operator around four euros. And if Internet shoppers reach for the phone to ask their questions, then that can cost as much as six euros per query. However, the web customer does not change media and asks questions directly over the Internet – using automated chat or dynamic FAQs, for instance – then communication costs sink to ten cents. The more an online shop can answer a standard question online, the less communication costs it will face. At 5,000 queries per month, the potential saving amounts to 15,000 euros. 
  
After sales comes before customer service  
Further savings are possible if the e-commerce company knows at which stage of the buying process questions arise for customers. If so, they can make their customer services available precisely when the most queries come up, and adapt procedures in order to reduce the number of queries. More than 60 per cent of shoppers’ queries arise after clicking on the Buy button. Often it’s about the exact delivery time and date, or the customer would like to provide a different delivery address. Furthermore, 22 per cent of those asked make contact with the retailer straight after receiving the goods. This often involves returns and replacements. More than one in ten of those asked could not fully understand or perform the payment procedure, and asked for help. 
  
Background information
The survey entitled "Communication costs in sales and after sales through e-shops" presents the findings of an online survey performed by novomind AG in collaboration with mail-order industry magazine Der Versandhausberater. It analysed the types of cases in which customers pose questions to online retailers, along with the communication costs incurred for the e-shops. The survey data was gathered between 2 and 7 April 2008, from 428 online shoppers. 
  
novomind AG: innovative software for professional customer communication and Internet systems  
The novomind Services division specialises in modern software solutions for electronic telecommerce (e-commerce). Consulting, implementation and operational support in the fields of e-shopping, PIM and marketplace integration together lead to tailor-made e-commerce solutions for novomind customers - manufacturer-independent, individual and successful.
Integratability, scalability and availability of systems are as much a prime focus, therefore, as pragmatic project management and fast software-development cycles.
novomind’s technological partners include: Intershop, IBM, Oracle and hybris.
The novomind clientele includes: Der Club Bertelsmann, buecher.de, Otto-Group, Mexx, Ernsting’s family, Media-Saturn, s.Oliver and Weltbild.
The Products division portfolio features, among other things, the novomind Self Service Suite™. This software package contains all the necessary communication modules a customer service centre needs, based on a central knowledge database. 

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