Part 2 - How UCaaS in retail provides a key opportunity for managed service providers

Introduction

For MSPs, the retail industry can be lucrative when offering unified communication solutions. This is because businesses in the sector face unique challenges, are often geographically dispersed, and deal with customers at multiple points in their shopping journey. By providing a quality platform, MSPs can help retailers to overcome these issues and improve productivity.

Centralised contact centres 

Retailers are bound to experience a high volume of customer inquiries, especially during peak seasons, regarding both in-store and online purchases. Establishing a centralised contact centre means businesses can handle these enquiries more efficiently with features such as Interactive Voice Response (IVR), skill-based or otherwise defined call routing, and multi-channel support. This ensures customers are routed to the best suited agent, which will reduce wait times and improve service quality. In order to maximise efficiency and customer satisfaction, it is important to utilise tools within a contact centre model, which will in most cases include call queues, reporting, and wallboard functionalities.

Well-structured call queues play a key role in managing the flow of inbound inquiries to a business, as they ensure customers are placed in an organised virtual line, which minimises the risk of dropped calls or agents becoming overloaded with queries. Call queue tools provide customers with regular updates about the progress of their call, as well as estimated wait times, helping to maintain quality customer experiences particularly during busy periods.

Next, reporting tools can provide contact centres with key insights into metrics such as call volumes, response times, resolution rates and customer feedback. It is key for businesses and managers to track these performance indicators in order to identify any patterns, assess quality of service, and therefore make any necessary adjustments. It can also be used to monitor agent performance, to identify areas where training may be needed.

Alongside reporting, wallboards can be used to visualise data for staff and management, providing a live view of operational metrics. These could include the above, or be data on queue lengths, handling times, and agent availability. Teams can therefore then make quick adjustments to meet service expectations, and respond more promptly to demand. Wallboards can also help to identify bottlenecks and the potential reasons causing them, or on the flipside praise agents performing well and provide recognition. They promote a proactive approach to managing call centres, and allow agents to stay engaged, encouraged and informed.

By integrating key tools for contact centres, businesses can deliver a more seamless experience for customers and employees. Businesses must be able to adapt their operations to the demands of the retail sector, where traffic may fluctuate during certain times.

Improved customer experience

UCaaS improves customer experience by providing real-time access to data such as customer call history, inventory, order statuses, and customer information such as address. Often, this is made possible by leveraging integrations with essential tools such as ERPs (Enterprise Resource Planning)  and CRMs (Customer Relationship Management). This allows employees to deliver faster and more accurate responses to customers, in-store and online, without the customer having to be passed to different agents or members of staff to get the answers they are looking for, creating a more streamlined and responsive experience for customers.

Customer expectations for speed and convenience continue to rise. In fact, 66% of global consumers expect companies to understand their unique needs and preferences. UCaaS is a way to provide this service and provide customer satisfaction and loyalty. Together, integrating ERP and CRM within UCaaS allows retailers to seamlessly connect front-end customer data with back-end operational processes, leading to faster, more accurate service and a better overall customer experience, by adapting and becoming much more flexible to ever evolving trends and customer expectations.

Enhanced workforce productivity 

UCaaS solutions enhance workforce productivity within the retail sector by enabling smooth and seamless communication across multiple locations, through a variety of devices. With advanced features such as video chat, collaboration tools, rich integrations, and mobile and web applications, employees can stay connected and informed through whichever avenue is most suited to their situation.

Additionally, UCaaS solutions support a range of devices, including DECT phones for employees who require mobility, which could be retail floor staff or warehouse workers. Desk phones can also be utilised, for more stationary roles such as customer service management and head office operations. The flexibility of devices ensures that dispersed teams with varying needs can collaborate efficiently with tools that will suit their work style, for optimised productivity and accelerating time-to-market for products and services.

Final Thoughts