The Top 3 Reasons Your Retail Website is Losing Sales Every Day

As a marketer, nothing bothers me more than poor customer service (or CRM, as we call it.) Small retailers, especially those with ecommerce enabled,  work very hard to garner sales with their marketing efforts. It's a damn shame when a conversion become a chargeback - you've lost a customer for life. However, in the online retail world, it happens all the time. And it's not necessarily because of fraud or customer error. Today, I am in the process of canceling several orders with retailers - $390.00 worth, to be exact - not because I like to charge things back, but because I feel I have no choice in the matter. All of the retailers failed to deliver even decent customer service when contacted, and all of them faced problems with my orders, whether they knew it or not. I am an avid internet shopper and I came into some extra cash this month from a rental deposit. I intended to decorate my new place in one fell swoop. At this level of frustration, I am actually about to head to a regular retail store - which is something I usually reserve for grocery shopping and impulse buys. (When I shop online, I shop big.) Why am I angry enough to call Visa and cause a chargeback? It's elementary - terrible, not just poor, communication. The saddest part of the situation is that these are small retail websites, with both an online and offline presence. I know canceling my order makes an impact on sales.   I found all three through Google Product search and Yahoo Shopping, which led me to assume they had somebody who is marketing and tech-savvy on their team. When I decided to order, however, my opinion changed dramatically. It was as if these companies simply added their products to Google and Yahoo, set up a shopping cart, and then abandoned all they've ever learned about customer service. (As well as their common sense.)  Here are the specific (and real) reasons why: 1. Incomplete contact information. Online retailers - please take note! When you only have one mode of communication, you're in trouble when something goes awry. I placed an order for a bistro table with a glass top and it shipped swiftly, however,the entire tabletop was shattered to bits. Although there is a return policy on the website, once I filled out the online form, I was given a host of 404s and php errors. And there was no direct email address, phone number, or alternative means of contact. Customers - and prospects - like to know there is a person or two out there that can answer questions and help make informed decisions. You get more sales that way - people like to communicate in different ways. And if the only form of communication is broken, you're pretty much screwed as far as customer relations. I won't be reordering from this company no matter what - and shame on me for ordering in the first place. I usually check out the credibility of a website before I place an order. (Ah, but I love shopping sprees!) Now I have to take my complaint to Google checkout. It should have been easier to get in touch with this retailer. (This cost this company 120.00 in sales...) 2. Incomplete product information. Sure, the photos and descriptions are great on your website. You took it straight from your catalog copy and it was all very professionally done by a freelance writer and photographer team. I really liked the chair set so much, I ordered it from a different retailer than the bistro table. I recieved an email two days later - "This item ships directly from the manufacturer in 2-5 weeks, we will notify you when it ships." That's a pretty large span of time and this was not mentioned in the item description. There were plenty of similar items on Google Product Search that I could have ordered without waiting so long. It's as if they purposefully kept the information concealed. Alas, this company DOES have a customer service phone number and email. Wyhen I asked for specifics (actually, a guestimate)  I recieved a standard form email reply. "We are sorry for the inconvenience, we are unable to estimate shipping for your product at this time." (By the way, it's very annoying to say "for your product" rather than take the three seconds to type in "your chair set") If you don't have ANY idea when your vendors will ship a product, maybe you should switch vendors. Again, this was a small company,with real people somewhere, in a retail store across the country from me. I am sure they are more direct with their face-to-face customers. Your online customers deserve the same respect. (This cost this company 180.00 in sales, when I  can get through to a live person - I haven't been able to, yet... Just a machine...) Which brings me to.... 3. Terrible CRM and form replies. Customer relationship management is the key to repeat business. So when the sofa cover, towel set, curtains, and sheet set I ordered from yet another small retailer did not ship, I had to question why. Luckily, I recieved the following email, "Thank you for your recent order.  We would like to take a moment to update your regarding the status of your order.  Currently, we are experiencing stock issues with one or more items on your order.  We are expecting to receive additional stock within a period of one to three weeks to complete your order.  If you may need further assistance please contact customer service to discuss your order."  Again, one to three weeks? I emailed them back asking which items were backordered, and if it was possible to just cancel one or two items so my order could ship. To which I recieved the following reply: "Thank you for your email.  Please be advised that your order has not been shipped at this time.  Once your order is shipped you will receive an email update that will include your ship date and Fed Ex tracking number.  At this time we do not have a ship date for this order. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused you." My questions were completely ignored. They placed the "At this time we do not have a ship date for this order" in bold - as if to emphasize that further inquiries were useless. (If they don't know, they don't know, right? ) The language in the original email used the words, "Discuss your order." However, it seems that was a gross overstatement. Any employee sitting in front of the computer's email inbox could have answered a simple question. This company made a choice to ignore my question in its entirety and simply emphasize what they can't do.  (They lost 120.00 in sales. I have already called to cancel and recieved no apologies - or questioning as to why I canceled.) The moral of this story is: If your company isn't customer-savvy enough to handle online orders, don't do it. Don't get listed in Yahoo Shopping or Google Product search if you have little to no interest in communicating with your customers. Your online reputation can follow you for years with the rating systems that Google, Yahoo, and Epinions have in place. These kinds of faux-pas are inexcusable with the progress that ecommerce has made. There are simple ways to alternate email replies and customize them using inexpensive software, and every business has a telephone number that they answer when speaking with vendors and face-to-face customers. I can't imagine that these small retail websites have a huge influx of orders this time of year - but if they do, they should try to build on that. There's nothing worse than turning away business without an explanation or attempt to rectify the situation. They could even let the customers know the specific issues and apologize for the delays. After all, communication is the key to building a lasting relationship. Anybody with a job, spouse, child, or friend knows that. Why don't the people who handle your customer service know?