Ecommerce User Experience Vol. 06: Customer Service

This report offers techniques for presenting straightforward customer service information so that customers can help themselves. When customers can quickly find information, it’s better, and less expensive, than when they must contact the company for assistance. Shoppers expect to find relevant information at the right time and place. Don’t let the location of shipping and return information deter people from completing transactions during checkout.

This 182-page report contains 50 design recommendations based on our usability research. Discussions and 144 screenshot illustrations supplement the findings.

Topics

• Finding customer service information
  • Naming and placement of customer service link
  • Linking between customer service pages
  • Organization of customer service information
  • Promoting customer service information
• Customer service policy
  • Policies that customers understand
  • Dealing with long pages
  • Details customers want
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
  • Layout and organization
  • Searchable databases
• Returns
  • Return policy strategies
• Contacting the company
  • How to feature contact information
  • Contact forms
  • Store locators
• Live help and Chatbots
  • Promoting and implementing live chat
  • Live chat strategies
• Shopping assistance
  • Product guides
  • Contextual help

Research Method

The information in this report is based on two separate rounds of ecommerce studies, including:

• One-on-one usability testing
• Diary-based longitudinal study
• Eyetracking

Representative users tested 255 ecommerce websites. The studies took place in the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and China (Hong Kong).