Retail Call Center Challenges and Ways to Solve Them

Updated: 23.09.2024

With the rise of online services and the growing popularity of social media, the retail industry has undergone significant changes. New channels for reaching customers and the adoption of e-commerce elements have introduced new challenges that companies must address.

Retail customer service departments have been particularly impacted by these changes. In-house retail call centers must quickly adapt or risk becoming a burden on the company. Adding to the challenge, around 88% of consumers report that their buying decisions are influenced by their customer service experience, whether positive or negative​.

If you want your retail contact center to be an effective part of your business, it’s essential to understand the obstacles it faces. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most common issues these departments encounter and explore solutions to overcome them.

Challenges and Pitfalls Retail Call Centers Face

Retail call center challenges often depend on factors such as product type, store size, pricing policies, and target audience. Below are some common issues faced by most companies.

1. Consistent service through multiple channels

As companies adopt new ways to support customers, maintaining a consistent experience across all channels becomes increasingly difficult. For example, if different teams handle online chat and landline calls, strict oversight is necessary to ensure both provide consistent information and service.

Achieving consistency requires significant time and thorough testing. While it may not seem critical at first, modern customers are more demanding and detail-oriented. Without proper attention, inconsistencies can lead to poor customer experiences and potential loss of interest in the brand.

Are you looking for ways to effectively manage multiple customer channels and ensure consistency across platforms? Check out our detailed guide!

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2. Finding and hiring professional agents

With the growing demand for e-commerce call centers, identifying quality agents has become a challenge. Every new hire requires extensive training in company-specific processes, and hiring someone without industry experience can be time-consuming and less profitable.

This issue is prevalent in industries with competitive job markets. A reliable solution is to invest in a strong HR team that understands the industry and can identify talented, dedicated candidates. Ensuring that new hires are aligned with the specific needs of your company is critical.

3. Analysis of big data arrays

A retail call center's role extends beyond delivering excellent customer service; it also involves gathering valuable data on sales trends, common inquiries, and customer suggestions.

As customer service expands, so does the volume of data collected. While more data allows for better insights, it also complicates the analysis process. Hiring data specialists or allocating resources for data management can help avoid diverting focus from core business functions.

4. Seasonal nature of the job

Customer activity in retail often fluctuates throughout the year, driven by product seasonality and consumer preferences. These fluctuations result in a need for additional staff during peak periods.

Hiring and training part-time employees quickly is resource-intensive, and these workers may lack long-term loyalty or deep investment in the company’s success. This can impact overall service quality during critical times.

5. Troubles getting to mobile users

As the number of mobile users has already reached 3.7 billion and continues to grow, contact center services for retail need to shift their attention toward them. What makes this task difficult are the technical challenges and the number of calls that go unanswered.

In order to make the transition easier, the best choice would be to implement smartphone-specific types of communication. Using instant messaging software, callback scheduling, and direct click-to-call provision will help you to reach these tech-savvy users.

Benefits of Outsourcing Contact Center Services for Retail

While outsourcing is not a miracle solution to all your problems, it will definitely help you with a lot of them. Most challenges on the list above can be conquered by picking the right outsourcing service. Let’s review how it can be achieved and what are the benefits of contact service outsourcing.

1. Focus on a single task

Outsourcing companies focus entirely on the tasks you assign them. The specialists you hire are dedicated to providing your customers with the best possible experience by:

• Utilizing the latest tactics and technologies for optimal efficiency.
• Ensuring consistency across all communication channels.

Hiring an outsourcing company is like adding a new department to your business, but without the time, resources, and complexity of building one in-house. Creating an internal team requires more time, specific expertise, and a robust control system, often with fewer advantages compared to outsourcing.

2. Industry expertise

Partnering with a reputable outsourcing agency means you're working with professionals who have extensive industry experience. This ensures that every agent assigned to your project knows exactly what they're doing and delivers high-quality service.

This experience is particularly beneficial during peak seasons. Established outsourcing companies often have a pool of part-time or seasonal employees, so you don't have to worry about spending extra resources on training temporary staff that may not stay long-term.

At Simply Contact, we bring over 11 years of experience working with various industries, ensuring that our solutions are adaptable and efficient for a wide range of business needs.

Curious to see how we’ve helped businesses? Check out our case studies.

Case studies

3. Direct summaries and reports

Outsourcing companies typically track detailed metrics on every call. This wealth of data provides valuable insights into product popularity, common customer concerns, and areas where your operations might need improvement.

Many companies also use advanced tools to analyze the data they collect. By leveraging this analysis, you can receive regular reports on both your call center’s performance and customer activity, allowing you to make informed decisions based on comprehensive and actionable data.

4. Guaranteed brand loyalty

When you make a deal with an outsourcing company, one of the things you buy is their loyalty. Even if the same company works for two rival businesses, they would be obligated to represent both of them fairly and loyally. While this seems like a contradiction, there is nothing wrong with it. The outsourcing company has no real stakes in the competition, they just strive to provide the best service to each of their customers.

5. Resource efficiency

Outsourcing call center companies (especially offshore ones) are much more cost-efficient than an in-house team. They already have all the tools they need and they provide them along with their human resources at modest rates. They can also ensure 24/7 support much easier thanks to different time zones.

An outsourced team is also much easier to scale. With the growth of your business, you won’t have to hire and train new employees – just sign a new contract and engage with more clients right away.

Conclusion

Customer support is a critical yet challenging aspect of every retail business. As technologies evolve and online engagement increases, customer support must adapt to meet these trends. While this introduces new challenges, it also leads to higher customer satisfaction and improved user experiences.

Outsourcing these challenges can be a smart, efficient solution. While some providers may offer subpar services, thorough research can help you find the right partner who will meet your needs and deliver excellent results at a competitive price.

Ready to explore how outsourcing can enhance your customer support? Contact us today, and let’s discuss how Simply Contact can help transform your business with tailored solutions.