Expert: How customer service is impacting Prime Day performance

Kristina: Prime Day has been a big deal for Amazon for several years now, but last year it felt flat. What is your take on last year’s performance?
 
Tim de Paris, CTO, Decibel: If a tech-savvy retail behemoth like Amazon can have a website crash on one of its most critical days of the year, it’s proof that perfecting the digital experience is an element that all brands need to be paying closer attention to. No matter how effective a campaign is, and clearly Prime Day has been a success in the past, it’s going to come to a screeching halt if customers can’t get what they need while navigating a website.
 
Kristina: How will 2018’s Prime Day impact this year?
 
Tim: Customers who shopped on Prime Day in 2018 will remember that their experience was interrupted by the website’s crash, but that won’t stop them from making deal-driven purchases this year. Though, they will be looking for an impeccable experience this year. While Amazon will likely have the technical support in place to avoid the same fate in 2019, the ecommerce giant should consider going above and beyond to wow its customers. Otherwise, Amazon will risk losing its customers to those offering deals and a good experience, especially as other retailers – like Target and eBay – join the party and offer deal-driven ‘holidays.’
 
Kristina: From a customer service perspective, what can merchants learn from 2018’s performance?
 
Tim: An obvious takeaway is to ensure your website’s technical support can handle an influx of traffic on the day(s) you’re offering the best deals of the year. But, even more importantly, merchants should be prepared to understand and monitor for problems their online customers do face, and provide a resolution as quickly as possible, which Amazon failed to do. The error page associated with the crash only popped up for some customers, at varying times. Yet, the same image of the dog and the same message appeared for each of those shoppers. Amazon should have instead offered a solution to the problem customers were facing, instead of a generic message. Other retailers who are embarking on Prime Day-esque campaigns – like Target and eBay – should be technically prepared for the uptick in traffic their website will have on those days. All online retailers should be prepared to provide a flawless digital experience and, in case of any errors that occur, be equipped with a personalized digital experience strategy that helps each customer overcome the challenge on the website and achieve their individual goals.
 
Kristina: How can merchants begin creating a stronger CS approach?
 
Tim: To provide better customer service and a flawless digital experience, ecommerce brands must first understand their shoppers. Understanding the experience customers go through means looking at metrics that go beyond traditional insights to show what happens to customers between the clicks, and identify problems that occurred to alleviate them. Beyond developing an initial understanding, brands should benchmark their experience and improve it over time to ensure they are always improving their site to better the shopping experience and helping customers achieve their goals while on the site. 
 
Amazon’s Prime Day 2019 is set for July 15 and 16.