Black Friday is nigh, and customers are waiting in the wings, ready to seize the opportunity to secure precious discounts as costs-of-living rise.
September’s retail results perhaps indicate this, as sales volumes fell by 1.4 percent, according to the Office of National Statistics.
The organization noted that these results proved “a bitter pill to swallow for the industry.”
Yet, Black Friday offers the chance to bounce back, inspiring consumers to get creative and find the best deals.
Indeed, according to a research study conducted by Future Media, Black Friday spending is expected to reach $158 billion in 2022.
Of course, retailers will be only too happy to oblige and grab a big slice of this deferred spend.
Easier said than done, of course. Yet, preparation is critical. As the saying goes: "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail."
Those that have planned will have noticed a shift in customer behavior. As Kurt Dahlstrand, Director Technical Sales & Services at Hammer, said:
Covid shifted shoppers to websites and shopping apps, placing huge demands on their systems. The pandemic is less worrisome today, as retailers expect consumers to return to stores again. But the multi-channel shopping environment remains an essential part of the shopper's experience.
Yet, this statement begs the question: how can companies best optimize the multi-channel shopping experience and “win” Black Friday?
Freaking Out When It Peaks
The expected surge in online holiday shopping could easily strain or even overload the e-commerce and contact center infrastructure, with crashed shopping apps and wraths of calls.
Dahlstrand believes that minimizing this strain will be crucial, stating:
The economic downturn means consumers will be laser-focused on online discounts. Expect unexpected surges in call volumes; a potential nightmare scenario for unprepared contact center managers whose platform hasn’t been stress tested in advance.
Constrained capacity leads to lost sales, negative press, and social media complaints. At that point, it's almost impossible to win back disappointed customers.
Thankfully, customers are likely to be a little more forgiving than usual. In a UK poll of 300 consumers, Zendesk found that 58 percent of consumers are willing to accept long waits.
However, there is a caveat: only eight percent will accept poor customer service.
Unfortunately, the pandemic exposed contact centers’ vulnerability to managing unexpected peaks in demand, often across several channels simultaneously. Such demand overloaded agents and severely undermined the service experience.
Moreover, chatbots may also come under severe strain, which can cause failures that force customers to pick up the phone and inundate the contact center platform. This increases the pressure on voice agents further.