Customer Service
How can outstanding customer support help manage seasonal demand spikes?
E-commerce businesses face seasonal demand spikes and dips, especially around the new year, Christmas, industry-specific events, or any significant holidays, depending on the geographical location. During these times, businesses also run promotional offers that further spike the customer influx.
While the events are highly profitable, they can overwhelm the customer service team. Businesses must adapt to seasonal customer support needs, demand and supply changes, and global market changes.
This article discusses the cause and impact of seasonal demand spikes, ways to forecast them, and leveraging customer support automation to manage them effectively.
Cause and impact of seasonal demand spike
The demand for your products and services changes with seasons and events. For example, the clothes people buy change with the seasons. Demand spikes can also be seen due to cultural and historical reasons.
In the US, the overall holiday spending in 2023 was $964.4 billion. If your business is prepared with customer support automation and scalability, these demand spikes are perfect to maximise sales. By managing customer support, supply chain, and inventory, you can negate any adverse impact of demand spikes and make the most of the peak shopping season.
Without a well-equipped customer support outsourcing to manage seasonal demand, you stand to face lost opportunities, tarnished brand image, poor customer reviews, delayed response to customer disputes, a high rate of refund requests, etc.
Managing seasonal demand changes
E-commerce businesses need accurate forecasting mechanisms to meet seasonal demand. A customer service outsourcing partner can collect data over the years to analyse and predict seasonal surges.
Set seasonal goals
Set up goals for the entire year and have a blueprint of the seasonal patterns with the percentage of demand spike. With this information, a customer service outsourcing partner can provide adequately scaled services. Once the seasonal spike is over, analyse the actual sales volume against the goals and projections and recalibrate.
Study historical data
Use data analytics to gain insights from historical data. Identify the seasons with high and low demand. Segregate these numbers further as per the products to know which ones see the highest spike. Some of the metrics include forecast vs. order accuracy, inventory turnover, forecast accuracy, and order fill rate.
Rank products
By segregating demand patterns according to the portfolio of products and services, you can adapt to seasonal demand and support needs. For example, the demand for skin care products such as sunscreen lotions may increase during high winter and summer seasons.
Put the plan into action
With historical data at hand, you can enlist the help of customer service outsourcing solutions and scale your capacities to match the fluctuations.
Customer support automation to manage seasonal demand
Customer support is the key to handling the customer experience throughout the sales cycle. With the right technology and resource planning, your team will be ready to face the surge in orders and customer queries.
Customer support automation plays a critical role in managing seasonal spikes efficiently. Automation tools, such as AI-driven chatbots and automated email responses, can handle routine tasks, freeing up human agents to focus on more complex issues. This not only improves the efficiency of customer support operations but also ensures that customers receive quick and accurate responses to their queries.
By leveraging automation, businesses can:
- Reduce the time customers spend waiting for assistance and provide them with the information they need when they need it
- Manage the volume of inquiries during peak periods, ensuring that no customer is left unattended due to overwhelming demand
Combining technology and a human touch
While customer support outsourcing and automation for seasonal demand are powerful tools, the human touch remains indispensable in customer service. Businesses that can seamlessly blend technology with human support are better equipped to handle seasonal spikes while maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction.
This blended approach also allows for a more personalised customer experience, which is increasingly important in today’s market. As customers seek more tailored interactions, businesses that can provide this level of service during peak times are more likely to retain their customer base and even enhance customer loyalty. Customer support outsourcing can help with –
- Resource planning: Consider outsourcing to dedicated support teams with specialised tools to handle high volumes. Once you collect and analyse historical data, a customer support outsourcing partner can manage a higher workload without long-term commitments.
- Leveraging technology: Deploy robust technologies such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), automated email campaigns, and chatbots to offer omnichannel support.
- Elevating customer experience: Historical data analysis and technology allow BPM customer support providers to offer a personalised customer experience and adapt to seasonal spikes in support needs. By meeting the specific needs of a customer and providing 24/7 across time zones, your support team builds loyalty and displays commitment to meeting customer requirements.
How can Infosys BPM help?
The Infosys BPM support services include talent acquisition for customer contact centres, competency-based training and development, and performance and workforce management with continuous improvement using the Progress Progression Model (PPM).
Read more about customer support scalability and automation at Infosys BPM.
