The advent of electronic commerce has radically changed the way business transactions are conducted. One primary aspect affected by such a change is communication, particularly interaction between customer and seller, as well as customer relations in general. This includes handling customer complaints and inquiries about the Internet shopping process. Needless to say, customer support service is a very crucial factor in ensuring the success of Internet shopping malls, primarily the aspect of dealing with questions or complaints from customers.
This study purports to outline the existing customer support service systems of domestic and American Internet shopping malls in pursuit of the most efficient strategy to serve customers.
The study revealed that most domestic Internet shopping malls have customer service systems incorporating bulletin boards, email system, and phone and fax services. In comparison, American shopping malls rarely use bulletin boards, but they have services like real time chatting and web call centers that are apparently more appropriate with the real-time and interactive nature of Internet shopping. They likewise offer very good, informative websites and user-friendly FAQs.
The findings of this research are summarized as follows:
1) Take advantage of the customers’ knowledge and allow them to solve problems through the website and through user-friendly FAQs.
2) It is difficult to shut down a bulletin board quickly, but they need to be converted to emails so that the customers` complaints would not be easily accessible in the long term.
3) Emails should have auto response systems with rapid answering mechanism to quickly assure the customers and relieve their anxiety.
4) Call Centers need to provide accurate responses and solve the problems related to busy lines or long stand-by time.
5) Real-time customer support service systems utilizing chatting or web call center services are necessary to take advantage of the interactive nature of the Internet shopping business.
