The quality of your Shopify customer support can make or break the success of your online business. In fact, recent data released by Shopify showed that 58% of consumers said excellent past customer service influenced their purchase decisions.

But, how exactly do you provide amazing customer service on this platform? Sure, there are a few good approaches that are considered common knowledge—like being friendly and going the extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction. But, what Shopify-specific best practices should you follow?

This is where we come in. Here at eDesk, we process more than 50 million eCommerce messages every month. In doing so, we’ve gained some valuable insights and data on how to delight shoppers across every marketplace and eCommerce platform—including Shopify. Keep reading to discover our top 10 ways to provide exceptional Shopify customer support.

What is Shopify?

Shopify defines itself as a “complete commerce platform that lets you start, grow, and manage a business.”

This platform gives sellers (also called “merchants” on Shopify) the ability to build and customize an online store and sell in multiple places—such as web, mobile, in person, across social media and online marketplaces, etc. Put simply, your Shopify site is your online storefront.

Shopify’s core product includes everything you need to get your store up and running. You can choose from a vast array of templates to find the exact right look and feel for your store. Plus, you get tools to help you sell in multiple places, integrated payment processing, a seamless checkout setup, SEO and marketing tools to promote your store, plus Shopify APIs and development tools if you want to further tweak your store’s capabilities.

Benefits of Selling on Shopify

Wondering if you should sell on Shopify? Let’s look at just a few of the advantages this platform offers to online sellers.

According to Fundera, Shopify is the third-largest eCommerce platform in the United States. It has processed over one billion orders, accounts for over $319 billion in global economic activity, and has more than 2.1 million active daily users. Moreover, Shopify offers sellers more than 25.8 million third-party apps.

This all means that Shopify presents a tremendous opportunity to grow your brand and sell to millions of customers—all while utilizing any tools you need to run your business seamlessly.

Note: Speaking of Shopify customer support AND tools that help your business run seamlessly, have you tried eDesk? The eDesk Shopify integration enables sellers to consolidate all of their customer messaging into one smart inbox. Plus, AI-powered features such as message classification, sentiment analysis, templates, and auto-responders help you knock customer service out of the park, all while saving loads of time and effort.

Why is Shopify customer support important?

Curious about whether Shopify customer support is really all that important? Again, let’s look at some real-world statistics to answer that question.

Recent studies show that a whopping 90% of customers report using customer service as a deciding factor when determining whether to do business with a brand. An even more substantial number of consumers, 93%, say they’re likely to shop again with a brand following a positive customer support experience. Data even shows that businesses can grow their revenue by 4–8% above their market by prioritizing better customer service.

And the numbers don’t just show that good customer service can help your brand. They also reflect the cost of poor customer support. For instance, 64% of shoppers say they’ll switch brands over a single negative customer service interaction. And New Voice Media estimates that poor customer support costs businesses a massive $75 billion annually.

10 Ways to Deliver Great Shopify Customer Support

Once you realize the value of providing excellent customer service, it’s time to figure out how to do it. Read on to explore our top 10 ways to deliver the best Shopify customer support.

1. Make it easy for customers to reach you

Providing exceptional Shopify customer support requires clear communication channels. If you want to improve the customer experience and keep shoppers happy, make it as easy as possible for customers to reach you.

This means including a contact page and/or form(s) on your Shopify store that are easy to find and navigate. It also means making sure any contact links, emails, customer service phone numbers, and live chat options are correct and in full working order.

Speaking of emails, live chat, etc., it’s also a good idea to offer multiple support options. Providing multiple support options shows customers that you are flexible and willing to accommodate their needs. This includes not just offering phone and email support, but also live chat, social media assistance, and even video tutorials. By giving customers a variety of ways to get help, you are showing them that you value their time and understand what they require.

Want to make this part a breeze? With eDesk, you can manage all your customer messaging from one AI-powered dashboard. From email to smart inbox.

2. Have an FAQ page

An effective Shopify customer support strategy should include having an FAQ page. By publishing a well-written FAQ page on your Shopify store, you can improve customer satisfaction, answer customer questions before they even ask them, and cut down on the number of inquiries your team receives.

In fact, 35% of consumers say they find it “very important” for brands to offer self-help options.The page should be easy to navigate and organized into categories for easier access. Additionally, the content of the FAQ page should be updated regularly with new information.

Thanks to the massive assortment of templates that Shopify has available, finding one with your ideal FAQ page setup should be no problem. The platform also offers tips and examples on how to build the best FAQ page for your needs here.

Want to do a better job of keeping up with which products result in the most questions or returns? eDesk offers powerful analytics and insights to help you track product performance, items you receive the most questions about, and more.While you’re at it, you may also want to add a customers prefer knowledge bases over any other self-service channel.

 

3. Create effective product listings for your Shopify store

While we’re on the topic of answering customers’ questions before they ask them, it’s also important to create effective product listings for your Shopify store.

Your product listings need to include clear images(and maybe even videos) of your items. You should also write product copy that explains the features and benefits of your offerings, as well as any of your brand’s terms and conditions.For example, let customers know if you offer free shipping, how long the return window is, and any options available for a particular item (such as what sizes a piece of apparel comes in).

And of course, when it comes to creating product pages that convert, your page’s design is paramount. Customers should be able to easily browse items, select the options that work for them, put them in their cart, and check out. Check out this Shopify guide to product page optimization to learn more about crafting amazing product listings.

4. Establish Shopify customer support service-level agreements (SLAs) and respond quickly

If you have a Shopify store, it is crucial to establish and adhere to service-level agreements (SLAs). A service-level agreement (SLA) is an established set of guidelines that outlines the expectations of both the customer and the company when it comes to customer service.

Put simply: SLAs dictate your assurance to customers that you will respond to queries within a certain window of time. If you sell on certain marketplaces, you are typically bound by strict SLA rules—as many marketplaces require sellers to respond to customer inquiries within 48 hours or less.

However, since Shopify enables merchants to build their own store, sellers are entirely responsible for setting their own SLAs. According to Shopify’s terms of service, “You are responsible for your Shopify Store, the goods, or services you sell, and your relationship with your customers, not us.”

That means Shopify sellers need to set and stick to their own SLAs to inform customer expectations and keep shoppers happy. A good general rule is to respond to customer queries within 24 hours. This keeps customers from having to wait long for a response, and lets them know their satisfaction is your priority.

If you want to smash SLAs and respond more quickly to customer inquiries, there’s no better customer support tool than eDesk. Our AI-powered help desk enables Shopify merchants to deliver lightning-fast, exceptional customer service with features such as hands-free auto-responders, message prioritization, at-a-glance message summaries, and more. Plus, the ability to see tracking information and order details right alongside your eDesk ticket means you’ll have all the info you need to answer customer queries easily and accurately, without having to switch screens or view multiple tabs.

 

5. Use AI and automation

Automation can help streamline the process of providing Shopify customer support. Automated solutions such as chatbots and automated emails can help ensure that customers can always get answers quickly without having to wait for a response from a support representative. Additionally, automation can be used to capture customer feedback and even provide personalized responses.

And as we’ve already mentioned, this is an area where eDesk really is helpful. Our entire customer support help desk is built around the most advanced and intuitive AI today.For example, have you ever wished you could know a customer’s mood before you interacted with them? Now you can, thanks to our sentiment analysis capabilities.

We also offer AI-powered message classification and summaries, so you can easily see what inquiries are about and prepare yourself ahead of time for customer conversations.

Then there’s an eDesk user favorite: time-saving templates and auto-responders. Our customizable templates enable you to answer commonly asked questions with the quick click of a button. We’ll even suggest the right template for you based on the query. And our research has uncovered that sellers can use our HandsFree AI auto-responders to handle 46% of all customer service interactions, all while improving response times by 4X. Imagine how much time you could save by using AI to respond to 46% of your queries!

 

6. Train and develop your Shopify customer support team

Having a well-trained and knowledgeable team of support representatives is essential for providing exceptional Shopify customer service. Your team should be trained on the basics of customer service, such as how to handle difficult customers and how to address customer issues properly. Additionally, regular professional development sessions should be held so that your team can stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies in customer service.

And, of course, a big part of shoring up your Shopify customer support team is making sure everyone knows who is responsible for what. By using eDesk’s customer support software for Shopify, you can easily ensure that customer queries get routed to the right agent. For example, if a certain customer service representative is responsible for all questions about returns, then you can set up a message rule that routes all queries with the word “return” in them to that agent.

You can even use eDesk insights to keep up with team performance, individual agent performance, areas for improvement, and more.

 

7. Measure and analyze customer feedback

When you’re providing great Shopify customer support, you should also be measuring and analyzing customer feedback. This starts with setting up your Shopify store to.

You also need to pay attention to those reviews. Are lots of customer complaints about the same thing? Then you know what you need to improve. Are tons of customers leaving glowing reviews about your customer service? Great! Look into what you’re doing right and keep doing it.

Measuring and analyzing customer feedback is an important step for providing excellent Shopify customer support. If you want to collect feedback more easily, check out our. Our automatically generated feedback requests use approved outreach methods to make sure your review requests are compliant with your eCommerce marketplace or platform best practices. Plus, if negative sentiments are detected by our AI-powered feedback feature, it will block the sending of a review request or allow your agents to do so. And, if negative feedback is received, it will immediately be routed to the appropriate agent so your team can reach out and resolve the issue.

When it comes to analyzing that feedback (as well as various other pieces of data about your business), we’ve got you covered there too. eDesk insights are a powerful set of built-in reports that enable you to analyze, understand, and share key metrics about your customer support, feedback, products, sales, and more. You can dig into which products receive the most returns, questions, best or worst reviews, etc.; support agent performance; team performance by marketplace or platform, and so much more. Help your business scale and grow by collecting and analyzing the right insights at the right time with eDesk.

8. Reward customer loyalty

If you want your brand to be known for offering positive customer experiences, then you need to reward loyal customers. After all, loyal customers are willing to spend 67% more than new customers on your products and services. Furthermore, data shows that improving customer retention rates by a mere 5% can increase profits by 25–95%.

There are an endless number of ways any retail business or eCommerce brand can reward customer loyalty. You can send a “discount on your next order” code in order confirmation emails. Offer customers who subscribe to your email list special promotions or discounts. Send birthday offers. The list goes on and on. But the point is: thank customers for shopping with you and offer them perks for making repeat purchases.

9. Keep up with Shopify rules, terms, conditions, and offerings

If you’re trying to offer the best possible Shopify customer support, then you need to keep up to date on the platform’s rules, terms, and conditions for merchants.

For example, we’ve already mentioned that Shopify makes it clear that sellers are responsible for their own customer service. Knowing things like this helps you to understand your responsibilities as a seller, as well as what support services are available to you.

We’ve also already touched on the fact that Shopify offers more than 25.8 million third-party apps. Keeping up with any apps that align with your industry, business type, or needs can help you start, run, and grow your business more effectively.

10. Utilize apps and integrations

On that same note, again, you need to utilize any apps, integrations, or tools that can help you run your business more smoothly. From development tools to site optimization, there are a countless array of third-party integrations that enable sellers to get the most out of their Shopify setup.

Most importantly, you need to use a customer service software that helps you knock customer support out of the park. With eDesk, you can centralize the messaging from Shopify and all your other selling channels into one smart inbox. You can use templates, auto-responders, message summaries, sentiment analysis, in-depth insights, and more AI-powered tools to save a ridiculous amount of time and effort, while absolutely delighting your shoppers.

More Ways eDesk Makes Shopify Customer Support Easier

We’ve already mentioned a centralized smart inbox and a host of AI-powered features, but here are a few more details on the ways eDesk makes Shopify customer support easier…

Process Shopify returns directly inside the eDesk ticket

Shopify merchants who use eDesk can process Shopify returns and cancellations from directly within the eDesk ticket. No more having to switch screens or sign into multiple accounts. This info is also passed through to Shopify automatically. You can even select to restock items, so they can be added back to your webstore available stock automatically.

Manage all sales channels seamlessly

Many sellers operate on more than one marketplace and/or website. With eDesk’s 250+ integrations with various marketplaces, platforms, and tools (including Mirakl, and more), you can connect the customer messaging from all your marketplaces, platforms, and communication channels into one smart inbox. Plus, each channel can be clearly marked with customizable labels.

Get at-a-glance message summaries

Thanks to eDesk AI, you can see an at-a-glance summary of a customer’s query before even reading the whole message. This lets you know what the customer needs more quickly and easily.

Know customer moods before you talk to them

eDesk AI also analyzes messages and provides a sentiment analysis. This means you’ll know what kind of mood a customer is in before you even read the message or respond.

Save tons of time with Hands-free auto-responders

Upon researching well over 60 million eCommerce messages, we have discovered that up to 46% of customer queries can be handled adequately by our AI-driven Hands-free auto-responders. Use eDesk AI to dramatically reduce the time and effort your team spends on customer support, all while improving response rates by 4X!

Go global with two-way message translations

International sellers can take care of customers around the globe with ease thanks to eDesk’s AI-powered two-way message translations. These translations are even smart and nuanced enough to glean the context of messages, rather than just translating word for word.

Never be out of step

All incoming and outgoing messages show on both eDesk and in Shopify automatically, so you never have to worry about missing a thing.

See orders, tracking, and tickets in a single view

Tracking numbers are surfaced directly on eDesk tickets, so you don’t have to search for them. You can also automatically insert them into message templates to personalize your Shopify customer service.

How to Provide Exceptional Shopify Customer Support: Final Thoughts

Building a Shopify store gives you an incredible opportunity to expand your customer base, develop your branding image, and increase sales. However, to truly stand out from the crowd, you need to provide exceptional customer service.

Follow our tips and best practices above to give yourself a massive advantage over your competition. And if you really want to take your eCommerce business to the next level without breaking a sweat or the bank, use eDesk to level up every aspect of your Shopify customer support.