Customer Service Automations That Will Accelerate Your Ecommerce in Q4

Implementing customer service automation before Black Friday – why is it worth it?

While your e-commerce customer service system is likely to work flawlessly on a day-to-day basis, the situation could change in the fourth quarter of the year. The period of Black Friday and Christmas sales is a time when the number of marketing campaigns increases, and their effectiveness directly translates into a greater number of orders and, consequently, also returns. Many companies are additionally preparing for this period, by increasing the number of employees in their customer service teams. As the Business Zone article states:

“During Black Friday and the holiday season, 1/3 of companies will opt for additional employment.” Source: Mateusz Żydek, Randstad (cited for Business Zone, 2024).

The increased traffic on the website on Black Friday is not only a challenge for the customer contact team. Problems can also arise on the IT infrastructure side – from server stability, to integration of payment and storage systems, to data security. We wrote how to prepare the IT infrastructure for increased load in more detail in the article: https://www.sagiton.pl/en/blog/black-friday-prepare-your-e-commerce-for-peak

You probably know that there are already ready-made integrations or platforms on the market for automating returns and complaints management, such as Celigo. Although they often prove to be a quick solution to problems, they also have their limitations. Firstly, such systems usually operate on a subscription basis, so their prices can change dynamically (especially during periods of increased traffic and resource consumption). This is why it is difficult to predict them in the company's annual budget. Secondly, applications or customer support systems created for more than one company may not take into account the specific processes of your enterprise. In addition, they are rarely extensive enough to even offer built-in integrations with chatbots or modules for classifying customer queries with AI. Therefore, in many situations, a better choice is to implement a dedicated e-commerce automation which fully meets the needs of the business. Below are some implementable customer service automation for e-commerce.

Automatic handling of returns

A poorly designed returns process is one of the biggest sources of customer frustration in e-commerce. Often, a small error in the integration of the systems is enough for the order to get stuck in the procedure or for the refund to be delayed. Especially in Q4, when the number of orders and returns increases significantly, even a small stumble can lead to organizational chaos. This is why streamlining processes and automating returns as much as possible is so important – the fewer actions that are performed manually, the less chance of human error and thus the greater the fluidity of the entire return process.

Delay of refunds for customers

If in your e-commerce cashback still requires manual approval, there is nothing to wait for. Integration of payments with the order management system allows you to implement rules, thanks to which funds return to the customer's account automatically, immediately after acceptance in the return management system. In addition, the implementation of automatic email or SMS notifications can strengthen the sense of security and build customer confidence in the store.

Errors and delays in fiscal documents

You've probably already noticed that manually issuing corrective invoices or receipts is time-consuming and prone to mistakes. Automating returns can eliminate this problem. A properly prepared system is able to independently generate the appropriate document based on the return data, taking into account the value and quantity of products. To reduce the time of handling the return, it is also possible to implement an automatic system that sends such a document to the client, and then archives it in the accounting system. And all this without the participation of your employees.

Forms and communication issues increasing return handling time

Complicated return procedures not only discourage customers from buying again in your e-commerce, but also create an additional burden for the customer service team. A user who does not know how to initiate a refund will contact support more often. An intuitive online form, combined with couriers and the store system, allows the customer to quickly request a return, automatically generate a label and track the status of the shipment in real time. In the background, the return management system can immediately confirm the request and inform the customer of the next steps.

What else can return automation help you with?

These automations are typical customer service enhancements that are already used by almost all entrepreneurs in the e-commerce sector. However, we see the real value of the implemented integrations when they translate into business development, and not just the maintenance of current processes. One such improvement may be analysis of applications and reasons for returns with the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Thanks to the use of AI, we can automatically analyze customer requests and then extract from them information about what products are most often returned and for what reasons – from factory defects to inaccurate product descriptions. Such reports can help you make better strategic decisions, negotiate terms with suppliers or refine product descriptions, which in the long run allows you to reduce the number of returns and complaints in e-commerce.

Automating Complaints Management

Complaints are one of the most sensitive moments in the relationship with the customer. A poorly planned complaint process can discourage even loyal buyers, because the waiting time, lack of transparency and the need to repeatedly contact the service quickly lead to frustration. Therefore, the automation of complaint processes becomes today not only a convenience, but even a necessity. A well-implemented complaint handling system allows you to centralize all communication, organize reports and track their status in real time. Thanks to this, handling complaints becomes simpler, and the whole thing translates into more effective customer service during periods of increased sales, such as Black Friday.

Unclear complaint process and lack of feedback

Do your customers always know at what stage their complaint process is? If not, implement automatic notifications for customers so that they are always informed of the current status of their complaint. The automation of complaints is not only about the appropriate status of the case. The problem can start earlier - customers often do not know how to properly file a complaint at all, which causes chaos and increases the time it takes for them to process it. If you automate the complaint process, for example, by implementing properly configured forms, the system itself will guide the customers step by step, allowing them to choose a product, determine the reason for the request and attach a proof of purchase.

Requests sent through multiple communication channels

Without the right tools, complaints handling requests can reach you via email, hotline, forms or social media, so employees waste time merging all the information into one. A properly implemented automated complaint system allows you to collect all requests in one place and organize them according to priorities, thanks to which the complaint handling process becomes transparent for both employees and your customers.

Delays in the processing of cases

Manually passing reports between departments often leads to mistakes and lengthens the procedure. If an employee currently has more tasks on his mind, this can even lead to a complete omission of one of the complaints. Such human error can expose your e-commerce to serious image losses. Automation of complaint processes allows you to immediately assign a case to the appropriate department, generate confirmations for customers and track the status in the online panel. This is a real improvement in the handling of complaints and a way to serve customers more effectively.

Response automation and AI chatbots – respond to your customers faster than ever

Are you worried that in the fourth quarter of the year, your customers will again have to wait longer for answers from the consultant? Lost package, product confused when shipping, or maybe a problem with the form on the website? Enable your e-commerce to respond quickly to customer inquiries and automatically send notifications with process automation.

Automatic customer notification – email and SMS notifications

If your customers are still asking for simple things – when the package will be sent, what is the status of the complaint, or whether the form was submitted correctly (e.g. in the event of an error on your e-commerce website) – it is a sign that it is time to implement automatic notifications for customers. Automatically informing the customer by email or SMS solves these types of repetitive questions and eliminates the need to involve a consultant from the customer service team in the process every time. Depending on the established rules, the status system can send personalized messages, automatically replacing, for example, the name of the recipient or the shipment number. This automatic sending of notifications relieves the burden of service, reduces the number of requests and allows the team to focus on issues that require individual attention.

Chatbot using artificial intelligence (AI)

However, if your customers have more extensive questions – such as return details, product availability or login issues – it's worth implementing AI-based chatbots. Such a chatbot becomes the first line of customer service, answering both simple questions and more complex issues if it has access to a knowledge base and customer data. Thanks to this, consultants are not required to handle the simplest cases, and customers receive the information they need faster. If you are looking for a company that will help you choose the best chatbot for your online store and implement it in your business – contact us, as Sagiton Automation we not only automate processes in e-commerce, but also implement dedicated software, including chatbots. It is also possible to use voicebots, which automatically receive calls and transmit the most important information by voice.

AI customer query classification – analyze sentiment and prioritize tickets

What if automatic notifications and AI chatbots aren't enough? This situation can of course happen when customers have very specific problems or unusual queries. Then the customer service department can be really busy - especially during the discounts in the fourth quarter of the year. However, it is not always necessary to increase the team, because e-commerce automation can help you prioritize tickets. How does it even work? For example, in the complaint process, the classification of customer queries with AI can automatically analyze the sentiment from messages or transcripts of telephone conversations and on this basis prioritize queries accordingly. In the first place the system will be tickets from the most upset customers – their faster processing increases the chance of positive feedback for your store. Ticket automation can also work according to other rules, not only on the basis of sentiment analysis — for example, first handling complaints about products from a higher price range or prioritizing regular customers who make purchases more often. This is possible thanks to the integration of customer data from e-commerce systems with the complaint process. Improve customer service efficiency, without increasing team size.

The problem of every e-commerce: how to combine customer data from different systems?

Your e-commerce is almost “exploding” from integration, and you still have the impression that half of the things are done manually? Transferring customer data between systems, handling returns in one system, and corrections of receipts in another – this is the daily routine of many online stores. Meanwhile, the integration of e-commerce systems and the automation of order fulfillment can “tie” all processes into one smoothly functioning ecosystem. Customer data integration allows you to limit support to even a single tool. Thanks to the use of the API of e-commerce systems, it is possible to create dashboards for management in no/low-code tools (e.g. Airtable). Such solutions are relatively cheap to implement (compared to traditional programming) and greatly facilitate control over the entire process. A centralized approach to e-commerce operations eliminates chaos, reduces manual click errors, and allows your team to focus on what matters most – improving customer service and growing your sales instead of wasting time switching between systems.

Case study: see the importance of systems integration in e-commerce

Our customer's problem — lack of stock synchronization

A company that carries out both retail sales in a physical store and online contacted us. Their e-commerce has struggled with many manual processes on a daily basis. The biggest challenge was the lack of proper integration between Baselinker and the ERP system – each order from the online channel required manual creation of a receipt, which was time-consuming and exposed the process to employee errors. Another challenge was the unsynchronized stock levels – the lack of connection between offline and online sales led to errors in product availability statuses and at the same time prevented a full view of the results in both channels.

Our proposed solution

The company decided to use the Dotykačka system as a central solution for stationary sales, followed by its integration with Baselinker and ERP system. Such a configuration made it possible not only to synchronize offline and online data, but also to automate the processing of orders, including the creation of receipts.

We proposed to implement a mechanism for synchronizing the product catalog based on EAN identifiers. As a result, it would be possible to unify the product base of nearly 3,000 indexes and ensure consistency of stock levels that previously generated errors. This automation of order processing allowed for the ongoing updating of stock data and product availability in both customer sales channels.

Dashboards implemented in Airtable gave the company a preview of the entire process – from placing an order, completing it, shipping, to a possible return. Thanks to this, the transparency of customer service was improved – employees always knew at what stage the order was. All sales data was linked together in Airtable, so it was possible to create dedicated dashboards to assess sales performance and key company KPIs that were previously missing.

Customer service automation in e-commerce – speed up processes and get your time back

E-commerce automations support stores every day, but their proper implementation will make them cope even with the biggest increase in traffic, which is Black Friday. This is especially important when standard systems are not keeping up and your processes need additional improvements to run quickly and flawlessly. Don't wait for a wave of orders in Q4 – automate your e-commerce now. And if you want to keep abreast of the topics of integration and optimization of processes in online stores, subscribe to our newsletter.