You can — and should — prepare for these mishaps with a library of apology email templates. A timely apology email builds trust, prevents churn, improves your retention rate, protects your bottom line, and keeps your company name in good standing.

According to KPMG, 46% of customers who are truly loyal to a brand will remain so even after a negative experience. They’re also far more likely to recommend a brand to friends and family or write a positive review online. 

An effective apology email is your best bet to regain and reinforce customer loyalty after an error or delay. And loyal customers are closely linked to revenue. According to data from more than 10,000 Gorgias merchants, repeat customers generate 300% more revenue than first-time customers.

Continue reading to learn the key components that every effective and sincere apology email should have, as well as some dos and don’ts, to keep customers on your side.

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How to write customer service apology emails (the dos and don’ts)

Apologies can repair the situation or make it worse. If you bungle the apology, you risk losing a customer forever. But a well-executed apology can strengthen your relationship with a customer, as Brianna Christiano, Gorgias's Director of Support, explains.

 “In my experience, proactively sending an apology email and admitting that maybe you made a mistake as a company, or you didn't provide the best experience, really builds trust with customers,” says Christiano. “You'd be surprised how many customers will forgive you for that mistake.”

This list will prepare you for creating your own customer service apology emails to make sure you correct the situation without making it worse.

Do: Create a library of brand-appropriate apology email templates

When a mistake happens, you don’t want to be left scrambling. Being prepared ahead of time with email templates will allow you to send out on-brand apology emails and correct the mistake as quickly as possible. 

It’s also critical that everyone on your customer support team has access to those templates. Make this part of your customer service training and onboarding to ensure that every customer is receiving the same level of care when an apology needs to happen.

With Macros, Gorgias customers can build a library of customer service responses, including apologies, to send as emails to customers. You can respond directly to tickets in your helpdesk using these Macros and ensure consistent messaging (and the right customer service words), no matter who responds. 

Macros are templates that you build for common ticket responses, such as shipping inquiries or apologies, that can be further customized with individual customer information.

Macros integrate with ecommerce platforms (like Shopify or BigCommerce) so you can insert personalized information for each customer. Here’s an example of how Macros use variables to pull customer data directly from BigCommerce (in this case) and automatically personalize the message:  

Don’t: Wait to apologize

Speed is of the essence when it’s time to send a customer apology email. You should send an apology as soon as you see something has gone wrong, rather than waiting for a customer complaint to come in.

Frustrating or negative customer experiences decrease loyalty. According to The Effortless Experience, 96% of high-effort experiences — such as having to contact the company — make the customer feel disloyal afterward. Frustrated customers can easily turn into angry customers. 

“Instead, you're reducing the escalation upfront by being proactive,” says Christiano. “When the company sends an email about an issue the customer didn’t notice, customers appreciate that the company has gone above and beyond.”

Gorgias analyzes incoming tickets for sentiment to detect angry and escalated customers so you can address them before they take their anger out on social media and cause further damage.

You can then apply rules (or automation) to filter tickets based on sentiment and prioritize your customer responses.

Do: Personalize the apology to each customer based on past interactions

A personal apology is always a more sincere apology. When you create your templates for customer apology emails, leave spots to insert personalized information about the affected customer, from the customer’s name to more detailed order information.

You can get even more detailed than that, though. Using Gorgias’ Customer Sidebar feature, your customer success or support team can see information in the sidebar such as:

• Past orders
• Reviews
• Loyalty status and points
• Previous conversations

For example, you could thank a customer for a past review (“Thanks so much for your kind words about our matcha powder!”), or reference a past order (“How did you like the matcha powder you ordered last month?”).

Or, go above and beyond ("Again, so sorry for this issue. I noticed you're a frequent shopper here and I want to thank you for your business and patience as we sort this out — here's a discount code for 15% off your next order: SORRY15!").

If you see a customer has left a negative comment in the past, mention it and tell them how that feedback has helped your brand to correct the issue and provide better service.

Taking the time to personalize customer interactions, including apology emails, directly impacts your revenue. According to a study by Twilio, 98% of companies say personalization increases customer loyalty. Additionally, customers around the world spend an average of 46% more when engagement is personalized. 

Don’t: Send your email to unaffected customers

Being proactive with your apology letters is important, but you can also go too far. Sending these emails to customers who haven’t actually been affected by the issue will just create more headaches for your customer support reps.

“Before you send a mass email to 50,000 customers, make sure that most of those people were impacted. Because if you don't, you're going to create more confusion,” says Christiano. 

If, for example, you’re having supply issues, don’t send a mass email to every single customer. Those whose orders are actually unaffected will now think there’s a problem with their orders even if there’s not. That’s going to mean more incoming and unnecessary tickets for you to deal with. 

Do: Maintain a tone that reflects your brand but also the severity of the mistake

Every company has a different brand identity and style of communication. For some, it may be on-brand to send communications with emojis and playful wording. Others may prefer something more simple and elegant. In any case, you may need to adjust that voice for customer apology letters.

This starts right from the subject line. If a customer’s order is delayed, whether due to shipping issues or stock shortages, that’s a serious issue. Sending a subject line with cutesy wording like “oops” and frowning emojis may communicate that you’re not taking the delay seriously.

“If it's a small inconvenience, I think you can keep it lighter. It really just depends on the severity of the problem,” says Christiano. 

Here’s an example of a small mistake that justifies a light-hearted tone:

And here’s an example of a graver issue, handled with more detail and a serious tone:

In the body of the email, use straightforward language that clearly acknowledges the problem rather than dancing around the issue and directly communicate how you’ve corrected the mistake. 

Again, this is where creating personalized email apologies comes in. Christiano says you should look at factors like:

• The price point of an order
• The customer’s order history
• The customer’s VIP or loyalty status
• The tone of past reviews and conversations

Adjust the templates below to fit with your brand’s unique voice, but don’t forget that the wrong tone can make an apology email less effective.

Don’t: Leave the customer empty handed

A sincere apology to your customers should directly acknowledge the issue, take full responsibility, tell them what steps are being done to correct it, and give them a reason to come back and shop again.

Consider ending apology letters with some sort of offer — a voucher code for free shipping, a discount coupon code, store credit, or other perks. This demonstrates that you understand the customer has dealt with an inconvenience and you want to make it up to them beyond sending your “sincerest apologies.”

Christiano says it’s a good rule of thumb that if an issue is serious enough that you need to send an apology email, it’s worth considering including some sort of offer. For the most serious issues, you may even want to offer a full refund to retain that customer.

Here’s a great example of a mass email apology that extends the discount for goodwill (and more sales):

Don’t think of offering a coupon code as a further loss. It’s better to take a small hit on the next purchase than to not get the next order at all. Plus, an angry customer may leave negative reviews on your site or social media, driving away other potential customers and impacting your customer satisfaction (CSAT) score. 

10 apology email templates for every type of mishap

Below you’ll find useful email templates for every type of apology you may have to send as a brand. These apology email examples have spaces for you to insert personalized information for each customer, such as the customer’s name and shopping history. Use these as a starting point to craft your own letter templates.

1) Service or website outage or downtime (mass email)

This template is for when you’ve had site-wide technical issues or glitch that has impacted your entire customer base. Mass emails are less customized than individual emails, but should still contain all the key parts of a good apology.

Hi {{Customer first name}},

We’re currently experiencing a service outage for {{Website / Product / Service}}. We’re actively working on resolving the issue, which we believe is due to {{Reason for outage}}. We apologize for the inconvenience and assure you we’ll have everything up and running as quickly as possible.

Stay tuned at {{Website / Social media page}} for the latest updates.

Thanks, 

{{Current agent first name}}

2) Late shipment or delivery (individual)

This is for when a customer’s order will be sent out late. This is when you should consider how to tailor your apology letter to the unique customer and their history with your brand.

Hi {{Customer First Name}},

We regret to inform you that your order {{order number}} has been delayed.

We apologize for any inconvenience, and we appreciate your understanding. The reason for the delay is {{reason for the delay}}.

You can track the status of your order using this tracking link {{Link to tracking portal}}.

If you’d like to return or exchange your order, you can do so here {{Link to return/exchange portal}}.

Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience. Please let us know if you have any questions or can provide further assistance. 

Best,

{{Current agent first name}}

3) Late shipment or delivery (mass email)

This is for when you have a company-wide issue with delivery times, such as stock shortages or even shipping issues beyond your control, and need to send a mass apology email.

Hi {{Customer First Name}},

We’re reaching out to let you know that we’re currently experiencing shipment delays, largely due to {{Cause (e.g. supply chain issues, holiday rush, broken workflows, etc.}}. There will most likely be delays of {{range of business days}} on recent orders.

We understand this is a serious issue and are doing everything in our power to fulfill your orders as quickly as possible. For more information on shipping delays, you can check out {{link to FAQ page}}. If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out to our team by responding to this email.

Best,

{{Current agent first name}}

4) Package never arrived

This is a customer whose order has been lost This will likely be sent in response to an incoming ticket from an upset customer.

Hi {{Customer First Name}},

Thank you for reaching out! I’m so sorry to hear that you were unable to locate the missing package. Rest assured we will remedy this situation for you. 

I have two options to offer: we can ship a replacement to you or issue a full refund for the order instead. If you prefer a replacement order, we kindly ask that you confirm the shipping address of where you would like the replacement order sent. We look forward to receiving your reply.

{{Current agent first name}}

5) Item arrived damaged

This is for when a customer receives a defective product. You’ll need to provide instructions on what the customer should do next, in addition to an apology. 

Hi {{Customer First Name}}, 

Thanks for reaching out about your recent order {{Number of last order}}. I’m sorry to hear about your experience. As we try our best to provide exceptional service, some factors like shipping and handling are out of our control and issues like this can happen.  

Please send us a photo of the broken/damaged item(s) you received and we’ll do our best to resolve this as soon as possible. 

{{Current agent first name}} 

6) Incorrect item delivered

If the incorrect item, or incorrect quantity of an item, is delivered you’ll need to apologize but also tell the customer what they should do with any incorrect items.

Hi {{Customer First Name}},
‍
Thank you for letting us know we sent you the wrong product. We apologize for the inconvenience. We are sending you the correct product, the {{correct product name}} and it will be shipped by {{estimated shipping date}}. 

We sent it using expedited shipping, so you should receive it {{estimated delivery date}}. Please return {{old product}} in the original shipping box and packaging using the attached shipping label and instructions. Please contact us with any additional questions. 

{{Current agent first name}}

7) Previous communication mistake

If you sent a piece of email marketing with an incorrect or missing discount code, for example, you should follow up with an apology and correction. And, if it’s not too complicated, explain what caused the miscommunication in the first place, and the steps you’ve taken to prevent it from happening again. 

Hi {{Customer First Name}},

On {{day of the communication mistake}}, we experienced a hiccup with {{cause of the error}}. This resulted in you receiving a confusing email — sorry about that!

We addressed the issue and hope to avoid this happening in the future. As a way to apologize for any confusion caused by the last email, we {{Insert policy: temporary discount, free shipping, personalized code, added a credit, etc..}}. 

Thank you for understanding. Please respond to this email with any questions!

Best,

{{Current agent first name}} 

8) Reply to a bad customer review

When a customer is upset, a professional apology can go a long way to correcting the issue and retaining their business.

{{Customer First Name}},

Thanks so much for your feedback on {{Customer survey, review site, etc.}}.

I wanted to check in and get a little more information from you about your experience. This will help our team improve future experiences for you and other shoppers. If you’re open to it, you can just reply to this email and share your thoughts.

Thanks for your time, 

{{Current agent first name}}

9) Poor service experience

As we’ve discussed, poor customer experience can decrease loyalty. Correcting the issue and apologizing can help get that loyalty back.

Hi {{Customer first name}},

Thank you for reaching out and letting us know about your experience with us. This is not up to our standard and I've passed this along to our team to ensure this doesn't happen again. 

In addition, I've {{Insert policy: refund, added a credit, send a replacement, etc.}} to make this right. 

We truly value you as a customer and apologize for the inconvenience this caused.

Please let me know if I can help with anything else.

{{Current agent first name}}

10) Escalated customer

If a customer is already escalated, you need to have an apology email that reflects how the customer feels. Unhappy customers can cause lots of damage beyond lost business, including damage to your reputation through social posting and reviews.

Hi {{Customer first name}},

Thank you for reaching out and letting us know about your experience with us. This is not up to our standard and I've passed this along to our team to ensure this doesn't happen again.

I have CC’d {{Technical/Lead agent first name}} on this email. They will be able to figure out what happened here and ensure that we resolve this for you. 

{{Current agent first name}}

Winning back upset customers is worth it

When mistakes happen, remember that your most valuable customers are the ones who come back again and again. Mistakes create a risk of losing a customer, but it’s also an opportunity to rebuild loyalty and turn a bad situation into a chance for a positive customer service interaction.

Your customer service team should have a clear process in place for winning back upset customers and having a thorough library of sincere, on-brand customer apology emails is a key piece of the process. 

For further reading on customer responses, read about Gorgias’ other customer email templates and customer service scripts inspired by top ecommerce brands.

Start a demo with Gorgias today to streamline your customer responses and get the best possible return on investment with customer service.Mistakes happen. Even with the best-laid plans, your ecommerce business will inevitably run into shipping delays, website outages, and other mishaps that cause customer complaints.

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The trick to ecommerce is having great products and attracting a bunch of people to your website. Right? Not quite. 

Great products and brand awareness are important, but so are all the little details that make up your website’s shopping experience. Everything — from the way your products are categorized to the live chat widget (or lack thereof) — impacts how successfully you can turn browsers into buyers, also known as your site’s conversion rate. One of the most important of those elements is your online store’s shopping cart. 

In this article, we’ll explore everything that happens after a website visitor clicks “Add to cart,” including the reasons customers abandon carts and 14 shopping cart best practices to encourage customers to keep shopping and place an order.

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How damaging is cart abandonment for your brand’s revenue?

Shopping cart abandonment is when a customer adds items to their shopping cart on your website, but leaves before making the purchase. Recent data from the Baymard Institute shows that the average shopping cart abandonment rate is 69.82%. This means that about seven out of every 10 shoppers at your store will not click “purchase.” 

Baymard also crunched the numbers to find out that companies across the U.S. and Europe collectively lost out on $260 billion worth of revenue due to cart abandonment. This revenue could be recovered through a stronger checkout flow and cart design. 

What causes shoppers to abandon shopping carts?

The next layer of navigating how to address checkout abandonment issues revolves around reasons for abandonment, which run the gamut. Baymard’s research reveals the top reasons for cart abandonment:

Let’s dive into some of the top reasons.

Multi-step checkout processes 

A checkout process that requires the customer to go through multiple steps is one reason that customers abandoned their carts, as cited by the Baymard survey from late 2021. Of those surveyed, 17% say that they didn’t complete their purchase because the process was “too long or complicated.” 

It’s vital to get your shoppers to quickly find a checkout button that actually completes the purchase, in as few clicks and screens as possible. 

Gated checkout processes

If you require customers to create an account before checking out, you’re most likely losing some of them before checkout. Simply put, people don’t want to be forced into creating an account (that will most likely lead to emails they do not care for in their inbox) just to purchase a product from your company. In the Baymard study, 24% of consumers report “the site wanted me to create an account” as their top reason for abandoning during checkout. 

Even if customers do comply and create an account, they may be annoyed or frustrated by having to do so — which your company should avoid at all costs in order to ensure an excellent customer experience. 

Not enough payment options (or missing convenient options)

Another reason for cart abandonment cited in the Baymard survey was “not enough payment methods.” This could mean that an ecommerce company doesn’t accept certain credit cards or other payment options like PayPal.

When your online store accepts multiple payment methods, you are more likely to meet each customer’s individual expectations. This leads to a sense of convenience and a smoother customer experience. 

Lack of trust in the shopping cart’s security 

Most online shoppers want to feel a sense of trust before plugging their credit card details into any website. Baymard’s 2021 survey finds that 18% of customers say they abandoned their online cart because they did not feel that the ecommerce store was trustworthy. 

It’s important to make your customers feel secure, specifically when dealing with privacy and sensitive data like credit card numbers and personal information. Social proof like customer reviews on your products, as well as security guidelines like secure sockets layer (SSL) and payment card industry data security standard (PCI DSS), are a great way to bolster trust among first-time visitors. 

Surprise shipping charges or long delivery wait times

Finally, the most commonly cited reason for cart abandonment among consumers is surprise shipping costs or long delivery wait times. According to Baymard, “extra costs” and “delivery was too slow” made up 68% of survey responses. This shows just how much shipping can impact whether or not someone chooses to go through with ordering your product.

Related: Trying to improve your shipping experience? Check out our guides on shipping for ecommerce and how to offer free shipping. 

14 optimization tips for the best shopping cart experience

1. Offer the right payment options
2. Don’t require shoppers to create an account in order to buy 
3. Add “mini cart” functionality to keep your cart visible
4. Make product descriptions and thumbnails visible on the shopping cart page
5. Limit the customer information you collect
6. Provide total cost estimates during checkout
7. Use breadcrumbs to show the number of steps in your checkout process
8. Create an abandoned cart workflow automation
9. Give your customers multiple shipping options
10. Implement an auto-save feature for items in shoppers’ carts
11. Offer a live chat feature on the checkout page
12. Make it easy for customers to move between their cart and product pages
13. Use your shopping cart for upselling and cross-selling
14. Add a “Buy now” button to skip the shopping cart

Now that you know some of the top reasons customers are abandoning their carts, let’s look at some best practices you can implement to give customers a positive shopping cart experience — and lower your cart abandonment rate.

1) Offer the right payment options for your customers 

As mentioned, a lack of payment options is one reason customers abandon their online shopping carts, so ensuring your ecommerce website has options is vital. According to SaleCycle, the majority of online shoppers want the option to pay for purchases online with either a digital wallet (digital payments not attached to a card), credit card, debit card, or bank transfer. 

The more options you have available, the better. Additionally, some payment options can also make checkout faster and easier for customers, which also helps with cart abandonment rates. 

Pro tip

Be sure to think about which payment types will make the most sense for your customers and your business size. If you are just starting out and have a limited budget, consider starting with PayPal or Venmo. Once you start growing, expand to include all the major payment options: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Apple Pay, PayPal, and maybe even a buy-now-pay-later option like Klarna or Afterpay. 

Also, consider investigating whether your ecommerce platform has express checkout options. Shopify, for example, has express checkout options that let people pay through services like Amazon so they can skip typing out contact, payment, and billing information. Here’s an example of express pay on CROSSNET’s website:

Read more about choosing payment options for your ecommerce business. 

2) Don’t require shoppers to create an account in order to buy 

Shoppers don't want to create an account in order to make a purchase, so eliminating this requirement (if you’re using it within your online store) can be a quick fix for boosting conversions. 

The National Retail Federation reports that 97% of cart abandonment is due to inconvenience. So, keep the shopping cart design as simple as possible — give customers the option to create or sign into an account, but also provide a guest checkout option with a prominent checkout button.

Pro tip

Give customers the option to create an account via social media or their Google account after they purchase. This taps into the convenience factor, and gives you a chance for future email marketing or customer loyalty programs. 

Also, if you have subscribe-and-save functionality, make the discount clear to customers throughout the checkout process — again, without making it mandatory. Olipop’s “Add to cart” option is a great example of advertising the better deal without sacrificing usability for the shopper:

3) Add “mini cart” functionality to your ecommerce site to keep your cart visible while browsing

Keeping a customer’s online shopping cart accessible while browsing is another best practice that can help decrease cart abandonment. A mini cart makes the shopping process much more seamless because customers can easily add products to their cart — or review current cart contents — in a drop-down and without being directed to a new page. This can help minimize potential website loading issues, which Baymard’s survey cites as a top reason that customers abandon their carts during checkout. 

Pro tip

Mini carts are usually a simple add-on, depending on which platform your online store is based. Both Shopify and WooCommerce offer mini cart options that you can easily add to your shop. If you’re looking for a brand that has a successful mini cart, check out fashion retailer Marine Layer. Here’s the drop-down that happens if you hover over the cart icon:

Looking for more Shopify-specific tips on abandoned cart recovery? Read more here.

4) Make product descriptions and thumbnails visible on the shopping cart page (where it makes sense) 

Adding your product details to customers’ carts can be extremely helpful — if it makes sense for your business. 

For example, if you sell power tools and a customer is purchasing new drill bits, they may want to double-check that the drill bits they put in their cart are the correct size. So, in order to keep them on the checkout page, include a brief description below the product name. This eliminates the need to go back to the main product page, which eliminates the potential for slow page loading and frustrated customers.

Pro tip

The product description on the checkout screen doesn’t need to be long or complicated — one or two solid sentences from the original product page will do. Or, if your company sells highly visual merchandise, a thumbnail — a picture’s worth a thousand words, after all. One store that add thumbnails to their shopping carts is Glamnetic:

5) Limit the customer information you collect to only the essentials

Everyone values their personal privacy, especially when shopping online. ROI Revolution reports that ”39% of consumers say they have maintained the same level of concern about their online privacy over the past year and 20.5% of consumers say they’re much more concerned about their online privacy compared to one year ago.” Only 8.6% of online shoppers say they’re less concerned now than they were a year ago. 

This is why it’s so important to only collect information from your customers that is absolutely necessary. In a typical shopping transaction, these essentials would include things like email address, phone number, and street address. In some cases, you might also ask for some basic demographic info that’s important to your company’s segmentation, such as gender and purchase habits. You may offer the option to keep customers’ credit cards on file, but we don’t recommend doing this without their permission. 

If customers do opt to keep their credit card information stored on your site, be sure to let them know exactly how this works. Most companies take advantage of encrypted online or cloud-based storage systems. Let customers know there are even regulations that dictate what you can and can’t do with your information. This will help put them at ease and show that your brand is trustworthy. 

Pro tip

Offer customers two-factor authentication (2FA) or multi-factor authentication (MFA) when shopping on your site, which signals to your customers that you take their privacy seriously. Many companies have opted for MFA or 2FA in the past few years, and you can use Amazon Pay or Google Pay as a version of 2FA on your ecommerce site. 

6) Provide total cost estimates during checkout to reduce sticker shock

As pointed out earlier in this article, unexpected fees are cited as the most popular reason that customers abandon their carts before checkout. To avoid this, give customers an estimated subtotal before they get to the checkout screen. This can be especially important for larger-ticket items because shipping a $1,000 sofa will most likely come with a higher shipping fee (and more tax) than a box of clothing. 

Pro tip

When a customer is on a product page, include an option to enter their zip code to calculate a preview of tax and shipping before they click “add to cart.” Native Union does an excellent job of this on its website. They even break down the costs for various shipping options like standard and express delivery:

7) Use breadcrumbs (progress indicators) to show the number of steps in your checkout process

The breadcrumb feature can be used in many ways on websites but has a specific use for ecommerce checkout processes. Letting customers know how much time, or how many steps, they have left in the checkout process is important to ensure they complete their purchase. Progress indicators can be as simple as a little block of text on the checkout screen that says “1 of 3,” or can use graphics for more visual appeal.

Pro tip

Take this time to think about each step of your business’ checkout process and make it as simple as possible. The more steps a customer has to go through, the more chances you have to lose them. Shopify’s default checkout page has a clear progression from Cart > Information > Shipping > Payment, which you can see on Comfort One Shoes’ site:

8) Create an abandoned cart workflow automation for customers that leave items for later

Some ecommerce sites let customers add items to a wish list or “save for later” to reduce the number of times customers add items to a cart without plans to buy them in that shopping session. Regardless of whether you have that functionality, you should create a workflow for customers who leave items behind. 

This workflow could include things like email reminders, on-screen pop-ups, retargeting ads, and sending follow-up coupon codes. It’s important to keep in mind the specific goals of your ecommerce business. What may be right for some brands may not be right for yours. 

Pro tip

Timeliness is everything when it comes to your abandoned cart workflow. When customers are ready to buy, you must be there. Some sites use exit-intent pop-ups as a hail mary for customers about to abandon carts. And while this is effective, some customers find it disruptive. 

Consider instead adding live chat to your website, ideally with proactive functionality. Live chat can have an incredible impact on sales — Ohh Deer generates about $12,500 per quarter in sales through Gorgias’ live chat — because you can reach out to customers with certain order values in their cart to ask if they need support or offer a discount to stop them from leaving. 

"When you make sales thanks to your good service, customers will come back and recommend you. That's revenue-generating."

Alex Turner, Customer Experience Manager at Ohh Deer

Check out our guide to shopping cart recovery for more recommendations on winning back lost sales.

9) Give your customers multiple shipping options

Every customer has different expectations and needs when it comes to shipping. Offering robust shipping options expands the number of situations your ecommerce business can seamlessly respond to. Beyond helping to decrease your brand’s cart abandonment rate, providing various shipping options can lead to more sales as well as higher retention and customer satisfaction. 

Pro tip

Take into account your target customers’ needs and try to cater to every shipping scenario, which could include the following options:

• Flat-rate shipping (4-5 business days)
• Expedited shipping (3 business days)
• Next-day/overnight shipping (1-2 business days)
• Local pick up, especially if you have a large number of customers in the city where you operate

Regardless of your options, clarify the price as early as possible to avoid unwanted surprises. Here’s the clear layout of shipping costs on Sol de Janeiro’s website:

10) Implement an auto-save feature for items in shoppers’ carts

At this point, you know many of the reasons customers may abandon their shopping carts online. From frustration and slow page loading speed to simply being distracted, customers leave their carts a lot, so implementing an auto-save feature on your website can help decrease your shop's cart abandon rate. A customer may be distracted and leave your website, but then come back to it a few days later. When they reopen it, their saved cart will remind them of their previous intent to purchase. 

Pro tip

Tap into your website management software to see if an auto-save feature is available. It may be as easy as flipping a toggle. If you use Shopify, you can also save carts between visits so customers can retrieve their old carts when coming back to your site.

11) Offer a live chat feature on the checkout page for customer questions

Most customers (90%) expect an immediate response to their customer service inquiries, according to HubSpot. Being able to provide your customers with this support through a live chat feature can boost the overall customer experience, as well as improve your store’s cart abandonment rate. Even more, Kayako reports that 79% of businesses say offering a live chat feature positively impacted sales (including upsells), revenue, and customer loyalty.

Pro tip

Use Gorgias for live chat (and more). The live chat widget can seamlessly integrate with your Shopify store and provide a solution for customers who may have questions at the time of purchase to drive sales. You can even use chat campaigns to target certain customers — like those lingering on a checkout page — to see if they need information or a discount to complete the purchase:

Want to learn more about the power of live chat for ecommerce? Check out these lists:

• The best live chat apps (general)
• The best live chat apps for ecommerce
• The best live chat apps for Shopify
• 22 statistics about live chat

Alternatively, if you already have a live chat app in mind, learn how to install it into your Shopify store.

12) Make it easy for customers to move between their cart, product pages, and more in your online store 

Ensuring the design and user experience of your ecommerce shop is up to par is the last but extremely important best practice when it comes to lowering your cart abandonment rate.  You’ll want to ensure customers can move through all areas of your website with ease. 

Pro tip

Explore new features and add-ons that your website software offers. If you’re currently building everything yourself, we encourage you to check out how a tool like Shopify can drastically elevate your customers’ experience while not taking too much time away from your team. For inspiration from an online retailer who does this well, check out skincare brand Then I Met You. 

Related: Learn how to offer proactive customer service to improve your customer experience.

13) Use your shopping cart for upselling and cross-selling — with limits

Your shopping cart can be a good place to recommend additional products to browsers. This is especially true if some of your products require others for full functionality. 

As you can imagine, pushing items onto customers before they’ve even decided whether they want to make a purchase in the first place is dangerous. They could get annoyed and abandon the purchase altogether. So, if you do decide to add this to your store, do so strategically. For example, Little Poppy Co. uses in-cart recommendations to offer a discount and subscribe-and-save option, which many customers may appreciate.

Tools like In Cart Upsell and Cross Sell can activate this feature on your store. 

14) Add a “Buy now” call to action (CTA) button to skip the shopping cart altogether

As we described above, the shopping cart is a bit of a minefield. Customers can fall off at any second and decide not to buy anything or, worse, check out your competitor’s website. One way to avoid issues is to let shoppers skip the shopping cart altogether and let customers just buy the product. 

If you use Shopify, check out their article on Buy Buttons for more information, including some words of warning about the button’s shoddy functionality. 

Check out Loop Earplug’s website for a good example of a clear, visible button to skip the checkout process and buy now:

Check out our customer story on Loop Earplugs to learn how Gorgias helped them increase 43% of their revenue from CS.

“We’ve seen 43% increase in revenue from customer support since we launched pre-sales flows. Quick response flows give us the ability to build trust with our customers and that’s priceless. When customers get a quick and honest answer, they often end up buying more than one product in a short span of time. Seeing customers live the life we’re aiming to create for them in Loop Earplugs is extremely rewarding for us.”
‍‍- Milan Vanmarcke, Customer Service Manager at Loop Earplugs

3 amazing ecommerce shopping cart experiences to inspire you

Finally, let’s take a look at what we consider to be the gold standards of ecommerce shopping experiences. Don’t hesitate to take some ideas back for your online shop — they may be exactly what your ecommerce strategy needs.

Revolve

Clothing retailer Revolve is a top example of a clean, efficient customer checkout process. The brand doesn’t force customers to log in or sign up for an account in order to purchase — but does give the option. Revolve also provides a live chat option, as well as text and phone numbers to get a hold of a customer service rep should a question come up. 

Amazon

Amazon is another leading example of a shopping cart experience that covers a lot in a small amount of space. Though it may seem busy for some customers, Amazon features additional information about the product a customer is buying right in the checkout screen, such as the stock count (if there is a low number), eligibility for free shipping, and even information about if the product is Climate Pledge Friendly. 

Nike

Third, we’re highlighting the athletic wear brand Nike. The company takes a similarly minimalistic approach to Revolve, but is a top-tier example of breadcrumbing and providing estimated additional fees like shipping and tax. The brand also provides a product description on this page, which can be especially helpful when purchasing shoes. 

Take your ecommerce customer service to the next level with Gorgias

Providing a smooth shopping and purchasing experience can lead to a satisfying, stress-free customer experience. Ensuring a positive customer experience will lead to greater customer experience which has a huge impact on your revenue.

To make the process even more seamless, we recommend checking out Gorgias to manage all of your customer support in one place. The all-in-one platform was built specifically for ecommerce businesses and can integrate easily with other online shop platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento. Learn more about how Gorgias can optimize all customer interactions and streamline your business.

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TL;DR:

• FAQ pages deflect repetitive support tickets and reduce response times by providing instant self-service answers
• Strong FAQ pages combine clear categorization, search functionality, and schema markup to capture organic traffic
• Top-performing examples from Amazon, Nike, and Etsy use accordion user interfaces (UIs) and contextual placement across product pages
• Creating an effective FAQ requires mining customer data, writing concise answers, and maintaining content freshness
• Schema markup can earn rich results for government and health sites, though eligibility is limited

Shoppers expect instant answers, but support teams can't scale 24/7. FAQ pages bridge this gap by providing self-service resources that work around the clock.

A well-executed FAQ page reduces ticket volume while building trust with shoppers. This guide covers proven examples, creation steps, search engine optimization (SEO) implementation, and strategies to measure your FAQ's impact.

What is an FAQ page?

An FAQ page is a self-service resource that answers your shoppers' most frequently asked questions in one centralized location.

The questions typically cover key information relevant to most visitors: operating hours, product availability, pricing, return policy, basic troubleshooting, and more.

By providing these answers proactively, customers get the information they want immediately without contacting your support team. FAQ pages are fairly low-tech but highly strategic. 

You can create an FAQ page in just a few hours and start seeing benefits immediately, whereas more advanced customer service strategies like customer service automation and omnichannel customer support require more investment.

FAQ vs. Help Center (when to use each)

A Help Center is a broader knowledge base that includes detailed articles, tutorials, video guides, and, in some cases, community forums. It serves as a comprehensive resource for complex topics that require step-by-step explanations or troubleshooting flows. 

An FAQ page, by contrast, is a focused Q&A list designed for high-frequency, straightforward questions that can be answered in a few sentences.

Use an FAQ page when customers need quick answers to common questions like shipping costs, return windows, or order status. Build a full Help Center when your products or services require detailed guidance, technical documentation, or multi-step tutorials. Most ecommerce brands benefit from both: an FAQ page for speed and a Help Center for depth.

Why FAQ pages matter

We identified the FAQ page as one of our top customer service trends because more brands have realized how much time their customer support teams can save by implementing effective self-service resources. FAQ pages aren't just great for agents, they're great for customer experience.

Reduce support tickets (deflection)

FAQ pages intercept repetitive inquiries before they reach agents, a strategy called ticket deflection. A Microsoft study shows that 66% of all customers consult self-service resources before contacting an agent. Your team doesn't need to spend hours answering questions about return policies, shipping rates, or order status.

Reducing repetitive tickets improves your customer service response time and frees up agents to work on sensitive, urgent, or higher-value support tickets. self-service resolves up to 60% of common inquiries, letting your team focus on conversations that actually require human expertise and build customer relationships.

Creating an FAQ page to answer common customer questions is one of our top tips in our CX-Driven Growth Playbook. The playbook shares 18 actionable tactics to boost revenue by 44% by improving CX. Our team created it using data from over 10,000 Gorgias merchants and in-depth interviews with 25 top ecommerce brands.

Improve conversion and trust

Shoppers experience pre-purchase anxiety about shipping, returns, sizing, and product quality. They need clarity before buying, especially when visiting your site for the first time. An FAQ page addresses this anxiety by demonstrating transparency and making essential information easy to find.

Earning shopper trust is key to growing your store, and a well-organized FAQ page shows customers you have clear policies for essential buying considerations. When answers are readily available, cart abandonment drops because customers feel confident moving forward with their purchase.

Capture organic and AI Overview traffic

If properly search-optimized, your FAQ page becomes another entrance point into your website from Google. A Help Center article from FIGS, a direct-to-consumer (DTC) scrubs brand, appears on the first page of Google's search results for the question:

The person who searched the question might click this link, find their answer, explore FIGS' website, remember the brand, and eventually return to make a purchase. Schema markup, which we'll cover later, helps search engines understand your FAQ content and include it in these valuable search features.

Shorten time-to-answer

FAQ pages provide 24/7 availability, unlike human support that operates during specific hours. Global customers across time zones can find answers immediately, regardless of when they visit your site. For simple inquiries, 68% of people would rather use self-service resources like an FAQ page than contact an agent and wait for a response.

Mobile accessibility makes FAQ pages even more valuable for shoppers browsing on-the-go. Of course, some customers prefer human support, and many questions are too complex for an FAQ page. Offer a healthy combination of self-service and human support to cover the entire range of customers and questions.

Best FAQ page examples

Studying what works on screen helps you understand effective FAQ design patterns. These nine examples from brands of all sizes showcase different approaches to organization, search functionality, and visual presentation.

Amazon

Amazon's help center creates a tailored experience using customer data and purchase history. When you log in, the FAQ prioritizes topics relevant to your recent orders and browsing behavior. Amazon also integrates AI-powered conversational support alongside traditional FAQ sections, letting customers choose their preferred path to answers.

The platform seamlessly connects FAQ content with account history and order tracking, so customers can resolve issues without leaving the help interface. This contextual approach reduces friction and keeps resolution times low.

WhatsApp Help Center

WhatsApp's FAQ page features clean categorization with expandable sections that keep the interface uncluttered. The conversational tone matches WhatsApp's brand voice, making technical information feel approachable. Each answer is concise and written in plain language, avoiding jargon that might confuse users.

The mobile-first design loads quickly and works smoothly on small screens, which is essential for an app primarily used on phones. Fast load times and responsive design ensure customers can find answers without frustration.

Wikipedia Help

Wikipedia's main FAQ page exemplifies how text-heavy, comprehensive FAQs can remain effective. It conforms to the overall site design, which creates consistency across the user experience. The page is fully searchable both on-page and using browser search, with a clear list of 11 questions linked to answers lower on the page.

Wikipedia also maintains a FAQ index page listing 20+ different FAQs on the site. While it doesn't list all questions for every FAQ, it includes strategic keywords that quickly guide users to the right FAQ for any use case.

Nike

Nike's Get Help page demonstrates how minimalist design with active white space can improve scannability.

The interface uses clear calls to action (CTAs) and simplified navigation that guide users to answers without overwhelming them with options.

This “less is more” approach works particularly well for brands with broad customer bases, where clarity trumps comprehensive detail on the main FAQ landing page.

Microsoft Support

Microsoft's page for Microsoft 365 mixes content types including video tutorials, community forum integration, and traditional text-based FAQs. This multi-format approach accommodates different learning styles and complexity levels. The robust search and filtering capabilities help users navigate vast amounts of information.

The top questions section smartly pulls the most-asked questions from each category and places them at the top of the page. For companies with complex products, this organizational strategy ensures quick access to high-priority information.

Google Support

Google's support hub serves as a reference example for organizing vast amounts of information with clear visual hierarchy. The categorization system breaks down complex services into digestible sections, each with intuitive icons and descriptions. Users can drill down from broad topics to specific questions through logical pathways.

The design, layout, and information architecture demonstrate how to scale FAQ content without sacrificing usability. Even with thousands of help articles, users can find answers quickly through strategic organization.

Etsy

Etsy's help center showcases ecommerce-specific FAQ structure with clear segmentation between seller and buyer resources. The platform spotlights cornerstone content based on engagement data, ensuring the most valuable articles appear prominently. This data-driven approach prioritizes what customers actually need rather than what the company assumes they need.

Etsy's search functionality is robust, with filters that narrow results by user type, topic, and issue category. This makes the Help Center scalable as the marketplace grows more complex.

Spotify Community

Spotify's community-driven FAQ model combines official answers with peer support through user forums. This push-pull information access lets customers choose between verified company responses and community-sourced solutions. The voting system on community answers helps surface the most helpful responses over time.

Blending official FAQs with peer support creates a scalable support model where engaged users help answer questions. This approach works particularly well for consumer products with passionate user bases.

Brooklinen

Brooklinen's FAQ page exemplifies effective DTC ecommerce design with focus on product care, shipping, and returns. The on-brand design matches the rest of their website, creating visual consistency. Simple navigation uses expandable sections to keep the page clean while providing detailed answers when needed.

The emphasis on product care information demonstrates understanding of customer concerns post-purchase. Addressing how to maintain product quality builds confidence in the purchase decision.

How to create an FAQ page

Building an effective FAQ page from scratch requires a data-driven approach. Follow these steps to create an FAQ that actually serves your customers and reduces support volume.

Identify top customer questions

Start by mining your support tickets, chat logs, and email conversations for recurring questions. Tag and categorize inquiries by intent to identify patterns in what customers ask most frequently. If you use Gorgias, our shopper intent detection automatically provides this information.

Supplement ticket data with competitive research, customer surveys, and on-site search queries. Focus on questions that appear more than once rather than edge cases that affect only a handful of customers. Look at data from the past three to six months to capture current trends.

Additional data sources include:

• Support tickets and chat transcripts
• On-site search queries
• Customer reviews mentioning confusion or questions
• Sales call recordings
• Social media comments and messages

Categorize by intent (shipping, returns, product)

Group questions into logical categories that match how customers think about their needs. Common categories include ordering, shipping, returns, account management, and product details. This categorization reduces cognitive load and improves scannability by letting users jump directly to relevant sections.

Use customer-facing language for category names rather than internal jargon. For example, use “Returns” instead of “Reverse Logistics” and “Shipping” instead of “Fulfillment.” Test your categories with a few customers to ensure the organization makes sense from their perspective.

Common category examples:

• Orders and tracking
• Shipping and delivery
• Returns and exchanges
• Account and billing
• Product information and care
• Technical support

Write concise, action-oriented answers

Answer the question in the first sentence, then provide supporting details if needed. Keep answers to two or three sentences maximum, linking to deeper resources for complex topics. Use active voice and simple language, avoiding jargon unless you define it first.

If you use Gorgias, AI Agent can auto-generate draft answers from existing Macros and Help Center content, giving you a starting point to refine.

Compare these two approaches:

• Bad example: “We have a comprehensive returns process that we've designed to be as customer-friendly as possible while maintaining our business requirements.”
• Good example: “You can return unworn items within 30 days for a full refund. Start your return by clicking the link in your order confirmation email.”

Add search + accordion UX

The accordion pattern uses expandable sections to reduce visual clutter while keeping all content accessible. Users see question headlines at a glance and can expand specific answers without scrolling past irrelevant information. This pattern works particularly well for FAQ pages with more than 10 questions.

Include a search bar for users with specific questions who don't want to browse categories. Mobile responsiveness is non-negotiable since many customers will access your FAQ from phones while shopping or awaiting deliveries.

UX best practices:

• Prominent search bar at the top of the page
• Expandable accordion sections for answers
• Clear category headings with visual hierarchy
• Mobile-friendly touch targets and readable text
• Fast page load times

Link to deeper resources

FAQ answers should be concise starting points, not comprehensive guides. When topics require detailed explanations, link to full Help Center articles, product pages, or contact forms. This keeps your FAQ scannable while ensuring customers can access depth when they need it.

With Gorgias, you can embed links to Help Center articles, product pages, or your live chat widget directly in FAQ answers. For complex topics, link to a full guide instead of cramming details into the FAQ. This tiered approach to information architecture serves both customers who want quick answers and those who need comprehensive detail.

FAQ page design and user experience (UX)

Search + accordion for scannability

The accordion pattern has become the standard for FAQ pages because it keeps the interface clean while making all content accessible. Users can scan question headlines without opening every answer, then expand only the sections they need. This reduces scroll length and gives customers control over their experience.

Search bar placement matters. Position it prominently at the top of the page with placeholder text that suggests how to use it. Implement keyword matching and autocomplete to help users find answers even if they phrase questions differently than you do.

Accordion benefits:

• Reduces page scroll length
• Keeps interface visually clean
• Lets users control their experience
• Works well on mobile devices
• Improves perceived load times

Accessibility and mobile readability

Use readable font sizes (minimum 16px for body text), sufficient color contrast ratios, and keyboard navigation support to ensure all customers can access your FAQ. Many customers have visual impairments or motor limitations that require assistive technologies. Following Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) isn't just ethical, it expands your potential customer base.

Test your FAQ on mobile before publishing. Mobile users represent a significant portion of traffic, and FAQ pages must work smoothly on small screens. Check that buttons are large enough to tap accurately and text is readable without zooming.

Accessibility checks:

• Font size of at least 16px
• Color contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1
• Full keyboard navigation support
• Screen reader compatibility
• Touch targets at least 44x44 pixels

FAQ SEO and schema markup

Schema markup helps search engines understand your FAQ content structure, potentially earning rich results in search. While implementation requires some technical work, the SEO benefits make it worthwhile.

JSON-LD FAQPage markup (eligibility caveats)

FAQ schema is structured data that tells search engines which content represents questions and answers. It uses JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data (JSON-LD) format, a lightweight markup language that sits in your page's code without affecting visible content. When implemented correctly, schema helps search engines parse your FAQ for AI Overviews and featured snippets.

Rich results are limited to government and health sites, but schema still improves SEO for all sites through better indexing and AI Overview inclusion. Even without rich results, search engines understand your content structure more clearly, which can improve rankings for question-based queries.

For complete implementation guidance, check out creating SEO-friendly FAQ pages, which walks through tactics like internal linking and keyword placement. Also see our guides on ecommerce SEO and creating ecommerce blog content that ranks on Google.

Track impressions/clicks in Search Console

Google Search Console shows how your FAQ page performs in organic search. Monitor impressions (how often your page appears in search results), clicks, average position, and click-through rate to understand which questions drive traffic. The URL Inspection tool validates your schema markup and identifies any implementation errors.

Key metrics to track:

• Search impressions
• Click-through rate
• Average position in results
• Top performing queries
• Schema validation status

Make your FAQ visible

Embed on product pages

Product-specific FAQs reduce pre-purchase friction by answering questions in context. Questions about sizing, materials, compatibility, and care instructions belong on product pages where shoppers are making buying decisions. Contextual FAQs address concerns before they become barriers to purchase.

If you use Gorgias Convert, trigger FAQ modals based on user behavior. If a shopper lingers on a product page, show a modal about sizing or shipping to address common hesitations proactively.

Reinforce at cart/checkout

Cart and checkout represent high-anxiety moments where FAQ content can prevent abandonment. Common questions at this stage include shipping costs, delivery times, and return policies. Link to your FAQ page prominently during checkout or embed critical answers directly in the checkout flow.

Consider adding an FAQ link in the cart sidebar or below the checkout button. This placement catches customers who hesitate before completing their purchase.

Surface via live chat/helpdesk

FAQ articles can be surfaced in live chat conversations before escalating to human agents. This deflects tickets while maintaining customer satisfaction since most customers prefer instant answers over waiting for an agent. With Gorgias, AI Agent auto-suggests relevant FAQ articles based on the customer's question, resolving issues before creating a ticket.

Surface FAQ articles in live chat to resolve questions before creating a ticket. This approach combines the efficiency of self-service with the personal touch of chat, creating a seamless experience.

Measure FAQ success

KPIs (engagement, conversions, search visibility)

Key metrics include page views, time on page, bounce rate, conversion rate, and search impressions. Track engagement in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) by setting up events for scroll depth, link clicks, and accordion expansions. FAQ pages should reduce bounce rate by providing answers that keep users on site rather than leaving to search elsewhere.

Set up GA4 events to track FAQ engagement. This data shows which questions get the most attention and which categories might need expansion or clarification.

KPIs to track:

• Page views and unique visitors
• Average time on page
• Bounce rate
• Conversion rate for visitors who view FAQ
• Search impressions and clicks
• Click-through rate from search

Ticket deflection ROI

Ticket deflection measures inquiries resolved via FAQ instead of creating support tickets. Calculate the value using this formula: tickets avoided multiplied by cost per ticket equals deflection savings. If your FAQ prevents 100 tickets per month and each ticket costs $5 USD to resolve, that's $500 USD in monthly savings.

Maintain and improve

Feedback loops (tickets, on-site search)

Monitor support tickets, on-site search queries, and customer feedback to identify FAQ gaps. New product launches, policy changes, and seasonal trends require FAQ updates to stay relevant. If you see the same question appearing repeatedly in tickets despite having an FAQ page, either the answer isn't clear or customers can't find it.

With Gorgias, use ticket insights and intent statistics to surface emerging questions that should be added to your FAQ. Review ticket data monthly to identify new FAQ topics and update existing answers that generate follow-up questions.

Feedback sources:

• Support ticket themes and trends
• On-site search queries with no results
• Customer surveys and feedback forms
• Product reviews mentioning confusion
• Sales team questions and objections

Update cadence and ownership

Schedule quarterly reviews of FAQ content to verify policies, refresh screenshots, add new questions, and remove outdated content. Assign ownership to your CX or content team to ensure accountability. Without clear ownership, FAQ pages decay over time as policies change and products evolve.

Outdated FAQs erode trust faster than having no FAQ at all. Customers who find incorrect information lose confidence in your brand and may abandon their purchase or leave negative reviews.

Example update checklist:

• Verify all policies are current
• Refresh screenshots and visual examples
• Add questions that appeared in recent tickets
• Remove content about discontinued products
• Update seasonal information (holiday shipping)
• Test all links to ensure they work

Build your FAQ page today

FAQ pages deliver immediate value through ticket deflection, improved conversion rates, and SEO visibility. The key is treating them as living documents that evolve with your business rather than static pages you build once and forget.

Gorgias makes FAQ implementation seamless, helping you turn FAQ pages into a strategic asset that reduces costs while improving customer experience. 

Book a demo to see how Gorgias can transform your approach to self-service support.

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TL;DR:

• An ecommerce strategy is a structured plan connecting product, customer experience, and operations to measurable revenue and retention goals
• The three core pillars are product strategy (selection, pricing, positioning), customer strategy (personas, lifecycle marketing, service), and operational strategy (tech stack, fulfillment, data)
• A successful framework starts with goal-setting (OKRs, North Star metrics), then tech stack alignment, then content and SEO planning by funnel stage
• Omnichannel cohesion is required across all touchpoints, from a shopper's first interaction through post-purchase and retention.
• Conversational CX — through AI automation, Self-service, and personalized support — turns strategy into operational leverage and measurable outcomes.

An ecommerce strategy is a structured plan that connects your product assortment, customer experience, and operational systems to measurable revenue and retention goals. It matters now because customer expectations have shifted. Personalization, speed, and seamless experiences are table stakes.

At the same time, rising acquisition costs mean brands can't rely on traffic alone. They need to convert efficiently and retain relentlessly. A working strategy follows a clear framework: set goals, align your tech stack, and map content to each stage of the shopper's experience.

Customer experience is central to execution. Conversational AI, Self-service tools, and omnichannel support drive conversion, reduce churn, and create operational leverage that scales with your business.

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What is an ecommerce strategy?

An ecommerce strategy is a structured plan that connects your product assortment, customer experience, and operational systems to measurable revenue and retention goals. It's not a list of tactics. Strategy is the roadmap—the decisions about what you sell, who you sell to, and how you deliver value. Tactics are the actions you take to execute that roadmap.

Without strategy, brands chase one-off wins: a viral ad, a discount-driven spike, a temporary boost from paid social. With strategy, those same efforts compound. Every channel, message, and customer interaction reinforces the same goals.

A strong ecommerce strategy enables three critical outcomes:

• Acquisition efficiency: Lower customer acquisition costs (CAC) and higher conversion rates by targeting the right customers with the right messages at the right time
• Retention rates: Repeat purchases and customer lifetime value (CLV) growth through personalized experiences and proactive service
• Operational leverage: Automation, integrations, and self-service tools that scale support without scaling headcount

Core components (product, customer, operations)

Every ecommerce strategy rests on three interconnected pillars. They're not siloed—decisions in one area affect the others.

Product strategy defines what you sell, how you price it, how you source and manage inventory, and how you differentiate. It's informed by customer demand data, competitive positioning, and operational constraints like lead times and carrying costs.

Customer strategy defines who you sell to, how you acquire and retain them, and how you serve them. This includes buyer personas, lifecycle marketing, personalization, and service excellence. It's where conversion and retention battles are won.

Operational strategy defines how you fulfill orders, manage data across systems, and enable teams to execute. This includes your tech stack, order management, fulfillment workflows, and the integrations that make it all run smoothly.

Product strategy

Selection & sourcing

Product assortment decisions shape everything downstream, from marketing messages to fulfillment complexity. The challenge is balancing breadth (how many categories) with depth (how many SKUs per category).

Too much breadth dilutes focus. Too much depth increases carrying costs and stockout risk.

Stock keeping unit (SKU) rationalization is the process of identifying which products drive revenue and margin, and which create operational drag. Most brands find that a small percentage of SKUs generate the majority of revenue. The goal isn't to cut everything else—it's to be intentional about what you carry and why.

Sourcing considerations include:

• Minimum order quantities (MOQs) and lead times that affect cash flow and inventory flexibility
• Supplier reliability and quality consistency
• Cost versus margin trade-offs (lower cost doesn't always mean higher profit if quality suffers)
• Flexibility to adjust orders based on demand shifts

Customer demand data and voice of customer (VoC) insights should inform these decisions. What are customers asking for? What problems are they trying to solve? What gaps exist in your current assortment?

Pricing strategy

Pricing is positioning. It signals value, influences perception, and directly impacts unit economics. There's no single right model—the best approach depends on your market, competition, and brand positioning.

Common pricing models include:

• Cost-plus: Add a fixed markup to your cost of goods sold (COGS)
• Competitive pricing: Match or undercut competitors to win on price
• Value-based pricing: Price to the perceived value customers place on your product, not just your costs
• Dynamic pricing: Adjust prices based on demand, inventory levels, or competitive activity

Promotions and discounts play a role, but overuse trains customers to wait for sales. The most successful brands use discounts strategically—to clear inventory, reward loyalty, or convert hesitant first-time buyers—not as a crutch for weak positioning.

Dynamic pricing and unit economics (the profit or loss on each individual sale) become especially important as you scale. Small changes in pricing or cost structure can have outsized effects on profitability.

Branding & positioning

Brand positioning is how you want customers to perceive your brand relative to alternatives. It's not what you say about yourself—it's the distinct space you occupy in customers' minds.

To identify what makes your brand unique, look at three inputs: customer feedback, competitive gaps, and brand strengths.

Consistency across channels reinforces positioning. Visual identity, messaging tone, and customer interactions should all communicate the same value. A premium brand that delivers slow, impersonal support creates cognitive dissonance. A value brand that overinvests in packaging might confuse customers about what they're paying for.

Inventory management

Inventory is a balancing act. Too little, and you lose sales to stockouts. Too much, and you tie up cash in products that sit on shelves, accruing carrying costs.

Demand forecasting uses historical sales data, seasonality, and market trends to predict future demand. Safety stock is the buffer you keep on hand to account for demand variability or supply delays. Reorder points trigger new orders when inventory hits a predetermined threshold.

Inventory turnover and carrying costs are the two key metrics for inventory efficiency. Inventory turnover measures how many times you sell through your inventory in a given period.

Key inventory KPIs include:

• Inventory turnover rate (sales divided by average inventory)
• Stockout rate (percentage of time products are out of stock)
• Carrying cost as a percentage of inventory value

Inventory data also prevents stockouts and overstock situations that erode profitability and customer trust.

Differentiation & VoC feedback loop

Customer feedback doesn't just inform service—it shapes product development. Voice of customer (VoC) data includes support tickets, chat transcripts, product reviews, and survey responses. It's a direct line to what customers want, need, and struggle with.

Use VoC data to identify gaps (features customers ask for that you don't offer), opportunities (unmet needs in the market), and validation (whether a new product idea resonates). Conversational data sources—support interactions, chat logs, social comments—are especially valuable because they capture unfiltered, real-time feedback.

The best brands close the loop: they collect feedback, act on it, and communicate changes back to customers. This builds trust and signals that you're listening.

Customer strategy

Buyer personas & segmentation

Buyer personas are semi-fictional profiles representing your ideal customer types. Segmentation is the process of grouping customers by shared characteristics or behaviors. Both help you tailor messaging, offers, and experiences to specific customer needs.

Build personas using behavioral data (what customers do) and demographic data (who they are). Behavioral data—browsing patterns, purchase frequency, channel preference—often predicts outcomes better than demographics alone.

Segment-specific strategies might include different email messaging for first-time buyers versus repeat customers, or different product recommendations based on past purchases. The goal is relevance at scale.

Key persona elements include:

• Demographics: age, location, income level
• Behaviors: browsing habits, purchase frequency, channel preference
• Pain points: the problems they're trying to solve
• Goals: the outcomes they want to achieve

Personalization & lifecycle marketing

Lifecycle marketing tailors messages and offers to where customers are in their journey with your brand. It's not one-size-fits-all communication—it's contextual, timely, and relevant.

The five lifecycle stages are:

• Awareness: discovering your brand for the first time
• Consideration: evaluating your products against alternatives
• Purchase: making a first buy
• Retention: coming back for repeat purchases
• Advocacy: recommending your brand to others

Personalization enhances each stage. In awareness, it might mean serving content based on browsing behavior. In consideration, showing product recommendations based on items viewed. Post-purchase, sending replenishment reminders based on purchase history.

Data sources for personalization include browsing behavior, purchase history, and support interactions. One study finds that 70% of marketers using advanced personalization see an ROI of 200% or more for their efforts.

Retention has been the talk 2022 but I only see it becoming more important in 2023, with brands seeking out ways to truly differentiate their retention experience. It's not enough to have just a post-purchase flow; what are you really doing to personalize the customer experience from order 1 all the way through the course of their life with your brand?

— Brandon Amoroso, Founder and President of Electriq Marketing

Engagement & retention programs

Repeat customers are 300% more valuable than first-time shoppers, thanks to behaviors like higher average order values (AOV), referrals, social sharing, and reviews. Retention programs formalize the path from one-time buyer to loyal advocate.

Common retention tactics include:

• Loyalty programs: points-based systems or tiered programs that reward repeat purchases
• Subscription models: recurring revenue that increases predictability and CLV
• Exclusive access: early product drops, VIP perks, or members-only content

Engagement channels—email, SMS, push notifications—keep your brand top of mind between purchases. The key is frequency and relevance. Too much communication feels like spam. Too little, and customers forget about you.

Customer lifetime value (CLV), churn rate, and retention rate are the metrics that matter. CLV predicts total revenue from a customer over their entire relationship with your brand. Churn measures how many customers stop buying. Retention measures how many come back.

"Consumers are being more picky with their purchases as cash simply isn't stretching as far, so brands will have to work harder to prove their value. Businesses themselves are also having to navigate smaller budgets, so with customer acquisition prices soaring, it makes sense to switch the focus towards existing customers."

— Georgie Walsh, Content Marketing Manager at LoyaltyLion

CX foundations (navigation, search, PDPs)

Site UX fundamentals determine whether visitors convert or bounce. Navigation structure should be clear and intuitive—minimal clicks to key categories. Search functionality needs autocomplete, filters, and relevant results. Product detail pages (PDPs) require high-quality images, detailed specs, customer reviews, and clear calls-to-action.

Customer experience affects both conversion and retention. A smooth first purchase builds confidence. A frustrating checkout creates abandonment. Given that online shopping cart abandonment rates sit at around 70%, removing friction at every step matters.

Self-service options—Help Centers, FAQ pages, chatbots—reduce the effort customers expend finding answers. They also reduce support volume, freeing your team to focus on complex issues.

Service excellence (SLAs, Self-service)

Service excellence is meeting or exceeding customer expectations for speed, accuracy, and empathy. Given that 54% of customers will leave a brand after just one bad experience, it's essential for retention.

Service-level agreements (SLAs) define response time expectations. First response time—how quickly you acknowledge a customer's message—and resolution time—how quickly you solve their issue—are the two metrics customers care about most. 42% of customers say they're willing to pay more for a friendly, welcoming experience, and 65% say that a positive experience with a brand is more influential than great advertising.

Self-service options reduce support volume and improve convenience:

• Help Center: searchable articles covering common questions
• AI agent: Instant answers and automated order actions like tracking and cancellations
• Automation: Ticket routing, Macros, and workflows that speed resolution

Source: ALOHAS

Service quality builds trust. Trust drives repeat purchases. The relationship is direct and measurable.

For a more in-depth analysis of what defines excellent customer service, read our guide to 20 customer service best practices.

Ecommerce strategy framework

Goals & KPI tree (OKRs, North Star)

Objectives and key results (OKRs) are a goal-setting framework where objectives are qualitative goals (what you want to achieve) and key results are quantitative milestones (how you'll measure progress). A North Star metric is the single metric that best predicts long-term success—revenue per visitor, CLV, or monthly active subscribers, depending on your business model.

KPI hierarchy flows from the North Star down. Your North Star metric is supported by primary KPIs (conversion rate, AOV, retention rate), which are supported by secondary metrics (traffic sources, email open rates, support resolution time). This structure clarifies which metrics matter most and how they connect.

Common ecommerce KPIs by category:

• Acquisition: conversion rate, customer acquisition cost (CAC)
• Revenue: average order value (AOV), gross merchandise value (GMV)
• Retention: customer lifetime value (CLV), repeat purchase rate
• Service: Net Promoter Score (NPS), customer satisfaction (CSAT), average handle time (AHT)

Measurement without iteration is pointless. Use data to test hypotheses, identify bottlenecks, and optimize continuously.

Tech stack audit & integrations

Your tech stack is the set of tools and systems that power your ecommerce operations. A well-integrated stack enables data to flow between systems, automations to run smoothly, and teams to work efficiently.

Core tech stack components include:

• Platform: Shopify, BigCommerce, or custom builds
• Helpdesk: Gorgias or alternatives for customer support
• CRM: customer data platforms for segmentation and personalization
• Enterprise resource planning (ERP): systems for inventory, financials, and supply chain
• Order management system (OMS): software for fulfillment, shipping, and returns
• Analytics: tools for tracking behavior, attribution, and performance

Integrations matter because disconnected systems create manual work, data silos, and errors. An API (application programming interface) enables systems to communicate. Composable commerce—building your stack from best-of-breed tools rather than an all-in-one suite—gives flexibility but requires strong integration infrastructure.

"As brick-and-mortar storefronts open up again, a unified customer service across all channels will be important. The unification of systems, operations, experience, and service with composable architectures will set a brand up for success in the next decade to come."

— Steve Krueger, CEO and Founder at JIBE

Content and SEO plan by shopper awareness stage

Content serves different purposes at different funnel stages. Map content types to customer intent:

• Awareness: blog posts, guides, educational resources, social content
• Consideration: product comparisons, customer reviews, case studies, buying guides
• Conversion: product detail pages, checkout copy, guarantees, trust signals
• Retention: email campaigns, loyalty program content, post-purchase communications

Search engine optimization (SEO) drives organic traffic and lowers acquisition costs over time. Keyword research identifies the terms customers use when searching for solutions. On-page optimization ensures your pages are structured and written to rank. Technical SEO addresses site speed, mobile-friendliness, and crawlability.

Content also plays a role in self-service and customer education. Help Center articles, video tutorials, and FAQ pages reduce support volume while improving customer confidence.

Shopper experience & omnichannel

Channel cohesion across touchpoints

Omnichannel is a seamless customer experience across all channels and devices. Channel cohesion is the consistency in messaging, data, and functionality across those touchpoints. When done well, customers move between channels without friction—starting a conversation on Instagram, continuing it via email, and completing a purchase on your website.

Consistency matters because customers don't think in channels. They think in problems and goals. If your brand voice shifts from playful on social to formal in email, or if your support team can't see a customer's chat history when they call, the experience feels disjointed.

Unifying customer data across channels requires integration. Your helpdesk should pull order history, browsing behavior, and past interactions into a single view so agents have full context.

Key touchpoints include:

• Website (desktop and mobile)
• Mobile app
• Social media (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok)
• Email
• Chat (live and AI-powered)
• Voice (phone support, voice assistants)

By providing multiple ways for customers to contact your support team, you make your support services more convenient and accessible. Omnichannel customer service entails offering support via channels like email, SMS, Live Chat, and social media.

Post-purchase & OMS experience

The post-purchase experience includes every touchpoint after the buy button: order confirmation, shipping updates, delivery, and returns. It's where satisfaction is cemented or eroded.

Post-purchase touchpoints include order confirmation emails or SMS, shipping notifications with tracking links, delivery notifications, and a returns portal with clear policies and refund timelines. The order management system (OMS) orchestrates fulfillment—routing orders to the right warehouse, updating inventory, and syncing tracking data back to the customer.

Fulfillment efficiency affects customer satisfaction. Late shipments, incorrect orders, and complicated returns create support volume and churn. A smooth post-purchase experience, on the other hand, drives retention and advocacy. Customers who feel taken care of come back and refer others.

Turn your ecommerce strategy into action with conversational CX

Conversational CX—AI-powered automation, self-service tools, and omnichannel support—is what turns strategy into operational leverage. AI Agent automates repetitive inquiries like order tracking, return status, and product availability, freeing your team to focus on complex, high-value conversations. Help Centers enable self-service at scale, letting customers find answers on their own time. Omnichannel support meets customers where they are, whether that's Instagram DM, email, or live chat.

The result is speed, personalization, and efficiency. Faster response times improve satisfaction. Personalized interactions build trust. Operational leverage lets you scale support without scaling headcount.

If you want to start creating an optimized experience for your customers that will drive customer loyalty and grow your store's sales, Gorgias can help.

See how Gorgias helps brands execute their ecommerce strategy with conversational CX. Book a demo today.

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TL;DR:

• Ecommerce churn rate measures the percentage of customers who stop buying from your store over time, typically ranging from 60-80% annually depending on industry.
• High churn directly hurts profitability because acquiring new customers costs 5-25x more than retaining existing ones.
• You calculate churn differently for subscription and non-subscription stores: subscriptions use cancellation data, while other stores use cohort analysis.
• Reduce churn by removing support friction, personalizing offers, streamlining post-purchase experience, and automating save plays with AI.
• AI automation helps prevent involuntary churn and speeds up issue resolution across all customer touchpoints.

While ecommerce churn rate is most common among subscription-based businesses, every online store should track it. Rising customer acquisition costs (CAC) mean that constantly chasing new customers doesn't lead to sustainable revenue.

Instead, data from Gorgias customers shows that repeat customers account for only 21% of customers, but generate 44% of revenue and 46% of orders. 

In this article, we explain how to calculate your churn rate, what causes customers to leave, and how to reduce attrition using multiple strategies.

What is churn rate in ecommerce?

Ecommerce churn rate is the percentage of customers who stop buying from your business over a given period. 

For subscription businesses, churn is easy to spot when a customer cancels their subscription. 

For non-subscription stores, you track churn by analyzing repeat purchase behavior and identifying customers who don't return within an expected timeframe.

There are two types of churn:

• Voluntary churn occurs when customers actively decide to stop buying from you, often due to poor service or better alternatives. 
• Involuntary churn happens when technical issues like payment failures prevent purchases, even though customers want to continue buying.

Online stores without subscription models can approximate customer churn by looking into customer behavior metrics like:

• Negative feedback and customer complaints
• Repeat purchases or lower purchase frequency
• Reduced customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores or net promoter scores (NPS)

How do you calculate ecommerce churn rate?

Your calculation method depends on your business model. Subscription businesses track when customers cancel, while non-subscription stores use cohort analysis to identify when customers stop returning. Both methods help you understand customer retention and identify where you're losing business.

How to calculate customer churn for subscriptions

Find the total number of customers at the start of a period. Then, find how many customers canceled during that same period. Then apply this formula:

[(customers at the beginning of the time period - customers at the end of the time period) / customers at the beginning of the time period] x 100 = customer churn rate (%)

Here's an example: If you start the month with 5,000 subscribers and end with 4,800, your calculation looks like this:

[(5,000 - 4,800) / 5,000] x 100 = 4% monthly churn rate

How to calculate churn for non-subscription stores with cohort analysis

For non-subscription stores, use cohort analysis to track customer retention over time. This method groups customers by when they made their first purchase and tracks how many return within your expected repurchase window.

Follow these steps:

1. Define your repurchase window based on your product type (e.g., 30 days for consumables, 90 for apparel).
2. Group customers by their first purchase month to create cohorts.
3. Track how many customers in each cohort make a second purchase within your repurchase window.
4. Calculate the percentage of customers who do not return to find your churn rate.

Example: If 1,000 customers made their first purchase in January and only 300 purchased again within 90 days, your churn rate is 70% [(1,000 - 300) / 1,000 x 100].

How to calculate revenue churn

Revenue churn rate is the change in your store's incoming revenue from existing customers. For brands that sell standalone products rather than subscriptions, revenue churn may be a more accurate indicator of retention because it accounts for purchase value, not just customer count.

[(revenue from customer at the beginning of the time period - revenue from customers at the end of the time period) / revenue from customers at the beginning of the time period] x 100 = revenue churn rate (%)

You can calculate gross revenue churn (revenue lost only) or net revenue churn (factoring in upsells and additional purchases from existing customers).

Pro Tip: Do not include any revenue from new customers during this time period. Churn rate calculates the amount of revenue you lost from repeat business, not the total change in revenue.

What is a good ecommerce churn rate by industry?

A good churn rate varies significantly by industry and business model. Subscription ecommerce businesses typically see 3-8% monthly churn (36-96% annually), while non-subscription stores experience 60-80% annual churn on average. Products with shorter replenishment cycles, like beauty and food, naturally see lower churn than durable goods.

Omniconvert analyzed data from over 1,000 online stores to benchmark churn rates by vertical. The following numbers show the percentage of customers who made at least one purchase but didn't return within a year:

• Beauty and fitness: 62%
• Food and drinks: 64%
• Health: 65%
• Apparel: 71%
• Home and garden: 75%
• Consumer electronics: 82%

Keep in mind that seasonality affects churn rates, too. Holiday shopping periods may show lower churn as customers stock up, while slower months reveal higher attrition.

Why ecommerce churn rate matters for profitability

Customer churn directly impacts your bottom line because acquiring new customers costs significantly more than retaining existing ones. 

Studies show that CAC can be 5-25 times higher than retention costs. When you lose customers, you're not just losing their immediate purchase. You're losing their entire customer lifetime value (CLTV).

Repeat customers drive disproportionate revenue. As we mentioned, while repeat customers account for only 21% of customers, they generate 44% of revenue and 46% of orders. They also spend more per order, require less marketing spend, and generate valuable referrals and reviews.

Lowering your churn rate improves your CLTV:CAC ratio, making every marketing dollar more effective. It creates a compounding effect where each retained customer generates more reviews and referrals, attracting new customers at a lower cost. 

For a deeper dive into the connection between customer experience and revenue, check out our playbook for CX-Driven Growth.

What causes customers to churn?

Understanding why customers leave helps you prevent churn before it happens. Here are the most common causes of ecommerce customer attrition:

• Poor customer service
• Payment failures
• Lack of perceived value
• Better competitive offers
• Inconsistent experience across channels
• Complicated returns process
• Poor post-purchase communication

How to identify at-risk customers before they churn

Catching customers before they churn is easier and more cost-effective than winning them back. Watch for these leading indicators that signal a customer is at risk:

• Declining purchase frequency: Customers are buying less often than their historical pattern. Track this with recency, frequency, and monetary (RFM) segmentation to spot when purchase intervals stretch beyond normal.
• Negative CSAT or NPS scores: Poor satisfaction ratings after support interactions or low net promoter scores. Follow up immediately to address concerns.
• Increased support tickets: Multiple unresolved issues or repeated contacts about the same problem. Escalate to a senior agent and provide proactive updates until resolved.
• Cart abandonment spikes: Customers adding items but not completing checkout more frequently than before. Send targeted reminders or offer assistance via chat.
• Payment failures: Failed payment attempts on subscription renewals or saved payment methods. Automate follow-up sequences to recover the sale before the customer moves on.
• Extended browsing without purchase: Customers visiting your site regularly but not buying. Use proactive chat to offer help or highlight new products.

How to reduce ecommerce churn rate

Reducing churn requires a multi-faceted approach focused on customer experience, personalization, and automation. Here are four proven strategies to keep customers coming back.

Remove support friction across channels

Great customer support prevents churn by helping customers solve issues quickly, no matter where they reach out. The key is reducing customer effort: make it easy to get help and fast to get answers.

Omnichannel customer service lets customers contact you on their preferred channel without repeating themselves.

Specific tactics to remove friction:

• Proactive support: Welcome new customers with DMs, use live chat to ask if visitors need help, and reach out before customers have to ask.
• Self-service resources: Build an FAQ page and Help Center so customers can find answers without waiting.
• Fast response times: Use AI to provide instant responses 24/7, reducing wait times that drive customers away.
• Consistent experience: Keep customer context across all channels so they never have to repeat themselves.

Read more: How omnichannel communication can drive revenue & boost customer loyalty

Personalize offers and timing

Personalization makes customers feel valued and ensures they receive relevant messages at the right time. Segment your customer base to deliver customized experiences that increase engagement and repeat purchases.

Customer segmentation helps you target the right people with the right message. You can segment customers based on factors such as items purchased, purchase timing, purchase volume, and demographics. These segments enable targeted advertisements, reduced message fatigue, and personalized support.

Specific personalization tactics:

• Loyalty programs: Reward repeat customers with points for every purchase. Nearly 68% of customers said they'd join a loyalty program for brands they like, according to Yotpo's State of Brand Loyalty 2021 Survey.
• Behavioral triggers: Send win-back campaigns to inactive customers or special offers when customers reach purchase milestones.
• Product recommendations: Use purchase history to suggest complementary products and encourage additional orders.
• VIP treatment: Give your highest-value customers early access to new products, exclusive discounts, or priority support.

Reinforce the post-purchase and returns experience

Your post-purchase experience is everything customers see after they complete a purchase. A poor experience leaves first-time customers confused about what to expect, while a great one builds confidence and increases the likelihood of repeat purchases.

Think of your post-purchase experience as onboarding customers from first-time buyers to repeat customers. Clear communication about shipping, delivery timelines, and product usage removes anxiety and builds trust.

Specific post-purchase tactics:

• Proactive shipping updates: Send automatic notifications at each shipping milestone so customers know exactly where their order is
• Product education: Share how-to content and use cases to help customers get maximum value from their purchase
• Easy returns process: Make returns simple and fast. Even if you lose one sale, a great experience makes customers more likely to return
• Exchange incentives: Offer additional trade-in credit for exchanges instead of returns. Shopify stores that use Loop issue 15% fewer refunds than brands that don't

Automate common save plays with AI

Automation helps you prevent churn at scale by catching issues quickly and responding consistently. AI-powered systems can handle involuntary churn, win-back campaigns, and cancel-save flows without human intervention.

Involuntary churn (when payment failures or technical issues prevent purchases) is one of the easiest types to prevent with automation. Create a process to follow up after failed payments:

1. Run the card multiple times to ensure the error wasn't a fluke
2. Send an automated email sequence from various members of your support team to remind the customer to update their card to continue the subscription
3. Escalate the outreach to SMS if the customer still doesn't respond or update the card
4. Export the contact and build a list of involuntarily churned customers to conduct a separate win-back email sequence

Additional automation use cases:

• Win-back campaigns: Automatically send targeted offers to customers who haven't purchased in their expected repurchase window
• Cancel-save flows: When subscription customers try to cancel, trigger automated conversations that address common concerns or offer alternative plans
• At-risk monitoring: Use automated tagging to flag customers showing churn signals and route them to your best agents
• Feedback collection: Automatically send CSAT surveys after every support interaction to catch dissatisfaction early

How Gorgias reduces ecommerce churn

Gorgias combines all the churn-reduction tactics above into one unified platform powered by AI. Our AI Agent handles repetitive support tasks instantly across every channel, while your team focuses on relationship-building that prevents churn.

Slow support is one of the top reasons customers leave, but AI Agent eliminates wait times for common questions. Customers get immediate help with order tracking, returns, product recommendations, and account issues.

The deep integration with Shopify means AI Agent can take actions, not just provide information. It can process refunds, update orders, apply discount codes, and handle exchanges — all automatically. This speed and efficiency create an effortless experience that builds loyalty.

See how Gorgias can help your team reduce churn. Book a demo today.

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Your customer service team's performance can have a major impact on the customer experience and the overall success of your brand. Like any employee, though, customer service agents sometimes need motivation and direction to achieve the best results.‍

65% of customers have higher expectations for customer support than they did three to five years ago, so offering incentives designed to improve agent performance is now more important than ever. And as customer experience continues to have a larger impact on overall revenue, ensuring agent performance aligns with company goals is mission-critical.

We put together this guide to help you develop an employee incentive program with incentive ideas to boost employee morale, employee satisfaction, and overall performance. We also chatted with Caela Castillo, Director of Customer Experience at men’s jewelry retailer Jaxxon, and share some best practices from her team’s incentive program.

Why are customer support incentives important for your team?

According to Gorgias data from over 10,000 merchants, launching a customer service employee incentive program can lift overall revenue by 1%.

There are a couple of reasons why incentive plans for customer support teams can offer this degree of value. The first and most obvious benefit of these programs is that they are proven to boost agent performance: Properly structured incentive programs can improve employee performance by as much as 44%.

Customer support incentive programs are especially beneficial when you can align your incentive programs with company goals and channel that performance boost toward the areas that matter most.

Along with improving agent performance, customer support incentive programs can also improve employee retention. The cost of replacing an employee is typically one-half to two times the employee's annual salary, and employee recognition programs can help mitigate turnaround and boost retention.

Here’s what Caela says about the impact of customer support incentives at Jaxxon:

Agents love having these goals because it keeps morale high, allows them to show off their performance, and comes with a prize if they hit their goals! We do switch things up often so that the agents don't feel like they have to hit certain goals only when a prize is attached and we have yet to see those scores decline.

7 great ways to incentivize customer support

The final step in designing an incentive program is choosing the rewards you will provide to your team and individual agents when they reach company goals. The sky's the limit here, and there's a lot of room to create creative goals that will best motivate your agents.

To help you get started choosing the rewards for your incentive program, here are a few great ideas for how to incentivize customer support agents:

1. Issue an extra paid day off to the top performing team member
2. Reward the team with a free lunch after hitting a goal
3. Create an internal team Slack channel to celebrate wins
4. Give out cash bonuses
5. Offer flex time to your customer service teams
6. Create a customer service team member of the month incentive
7. Award top performers with company swag or other gifts

1) Issue an extra paid day off to the top performing team member

Issuing rewards to the top performing team member during a given period encourages healthy competition that inspires agents to do their best work. Extra paid time off is an especially great incentive for companies without budget for monetary compensation.

Why we love this idea

Issuing an extra paid day off to your top performing team member recognizes the individual efforts of the agents that contribute the most to your company. Those kinds of results deserve to be recognized, and everyone loves paid time off! The biggest benefit of this incentive, though, is that it encourages (healthy) competition. In many cases, the friendly competition and desire to be the top performer will be even bigger motivators than the reward itself.

 2) Reward the team with a free lunch after hitting a goal

Along with rewarding individual performance, it's also important to reward team-wide performance in order to encourage teamwork and collaboration. Treating your support team to a free lunch (or a gift card for a local restaurant for remote teams) is a simple and affordable way to reward your entire team for reaching a team-wide goal.

Why we love this idea

Treating your support team to lunch lets you reward your entire team in one easy, relatively affordable event. It also encourages more team bonding and provides your team with an opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments.

3) Create an internal team Slack channel to celebrate wins

Slack is a great platform for project management and team communication, but you can use it to celebrate accomplishments, too. By creating an internal Slack channel to announce and celebrate individual and team-wide accomplishments, you can ensure that all your agents feel recognized for their hard work.

Why we love this idea

Recognition alone is sometimes all it takes to motivate an employee — and recondition is free. Setting up an internal Slack channel to celebrate wins provides a medium for recognizing agent performance and allows agents to celebrate together, further encouraging team bonding.

Here at Gorgias, have a #wins channel for informal praise and use Lattice to give employees official recognition:

4) Give out cash bonuses

It might not be the most original or creative incentive, but that doesn't mean it's not effective. No matter who it is that you are rewarding, you can rest assured that they are going to appreciate a cash bonus. Offering bonuses when agents meet individual goals or even team-wide bonuses for team goals is guaranteed to provide your agents with a strong source of motivation.

Why we love this idea

Cash is king, and few things will incentivize an employee more than cash bonuses. Cash bonuses are also the most straightforward type of reward and don't require extra effort or planning.

5) Offer flex time to your customer service teams

The ability to set their own hours is something that employees have come to value more and more, so offering flex time to your support agents can be a great incentive. You can offer this incentive as a one-time reward (for example, letting an agent set their own hours for one week after reaching a goal), or you can provide agents who continually meet their objectives with the option to set their own hours on an ongoing basis.

Why we love this idea

This is another simple and affordable way to provide support reps with a desirable incentive. Best of all, offering flex time may actually improve your team's performance on its own; according to a 2021 Gartner survey, 43% of employees say that having flexible working hours helps them achieve greater productivity.

6) Create a customer service team member of the month incentive

There's a reason why "employee of the month" programs are so popular. Recognizing the top performer on your support team each month won't cost your company anything, and it'll promote healthy competition within your team.

Why we love this idea

Again, recognition alone is often the best reward and most powerful source of motivation. By making something of a spectacle out of recognizing your top performers (company announcement, plaque, etc.), you can incentivize your support team with minimal effort and expense.

7) Award top performers with company swag or other gifts

Cash is great, but there's still something special about receiving a physical gift. Offering company swag, such as branded t-shirts, pens, and coffee mugs, to top performers is one great option to consider (if your company has swag to offer). Letting employees choose their own gifts from a catalog of available options is another commonly employed method of rewarding employees with physical gifts.

Consider an employee gifting platform like Guusto to recognize employees with a wide variety of gifts. And with Guusto, a dollar of every gift goes toward providing clean drinking water for someone in need:

Why we love this idea

Gifts are often valued more by the receiver than their monetary value. As a bonus, rewarding your top performers with company swag means that they will be promoting your brand everywhere that they take their new gifts.

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How to design a customer service incentive program

If you would like to design an incentive program that will reward your team's hard work and provide them with intrinsic motivation to offer the best customer service possible, here are the six steps that you should follow:

1) Identify a core company goal based on demonstrated problem

One benefit of customer service incentive programs is providing recognition and improving employee engagement and satisfaction. However, the biggest benefit of such programs is that you can use them to steer support teams toward accomplishing key company goals.

Before you can create a program that will incentivize your whole team to work toward important company goals, you first need to define what those goals are. Attracting new customers, generating referrals, and improving customer loyalty or customer retention rates are just a few measurable goals you can build your incentive program around. 

One best practice is to design your goals around a demonstrated problem. For instance, if your resolution times are longer than you'd like them to be, creating an incentive program to reward helpful response times may improve customer satisfaction.

Don’t be afraid to think outside the box here. Most customer service teams will default to metrics like first-response time, which is a great option. But as you develop your program further, remember that customer support has a large impact across the customer journey. Don’t be afraid to think about goals related to on-site conversion rate, proactive conversations with customers, conversations on public social media channels, educational content in your knowledge base, and beyond.

For example, Gorgias incentives employees to refer friends and former colleagues to improve our hiring effort. If you are in the midst of customer service hiring, consider using a program like Trusty for employee referrals:

2) Search for a customer service metric that has room for improvement (and aligns with the company goal)

Goals are only beneficial if they are measurable. You can't hand out performance-based awards unless you can keep score, which requires you to identify and track measurable customer service metrics. So once you have an overall company goal in mind, do some digging to see which metric will have the biggest impact:

Customer satisfaction score (CSAT), response and resolution times, net promoter score (NPS), and retention rates are a few of the measurable customer service metrics that you can use to evaluate the performance of individual agents and the performance of your whole team. By pinpointing metrics that align with the company goals you set for your incentive program, you can create a data-based system for measuring and rewarding agent performance that will encourage progress toward essential company objectives.

Here are a couple of examples of the kinds of customer support metrics Caela’s team lowered with incentives: 

We used to have Live Chat FRT around 45 seconds. With this program, we have brought it down to under 30s even hitting 15s. With phone answer times our goal used to be 80% answered within 30s and now it's 90% answered within 15s.

3) Consider individual and team-wide rewards programs

Individual and team-wide incentives both have their place in a customer service incentive program. Team-wide incentives encourage teamwork and collaboration and can focus your entire team's efforts toward a common goal. Meanwhile, individual incentives encourage personal responsibility and individual agent performance and ensure that each agent is recognized for their contributions.

As you create your incentive program, developing a rewards system that encourages individual and team-wide performance will deliver the best results.

Here’s how Caela thinks about individual vs. team goals:

We have both individual and team goals. We switch these up month to month or depending on what we want to focus on. I have seen more success with team goals because it keeps everyone motivated and encourages them to hold each other accountable. Team goals are hit almost consistently every month. When we do individual goals, we typically have an 80% success rate.

4) Set up a system to track your metrics in real time

We've already mentioned the importance of choosing measurable metrics that are aligned with company goals. In many cases, actually measuring those metrics on an ongoing basis is easier said than done.

Helpdesk software such as Gorgias makes tracking key customer service metrics in real time easier than ever before. With Gorgias, you can access detailed metrics and analytics about individual agent performance and team-wide performance — metrics that you can use to form the scoring system for your incentive program. 

With a unified dashboard that clearly showcases key metrics regarding revenue generation, customer satisfaction, response times, and much more, Gorgias makes it easy for ecommerce stores to track the performance of their support teams in real-time.

We mostly use Support Performance: Overview, Agents, and Revenue to track those goals. But, we also use Self-Service and occasionally tags. (I’m interested to learn how to use these more efficiently and explore the Macros and Intents stats as well).

Here’s a glance at the Overview of Support Performance Statistics in Gorgias, which you can filter by agent, period of time, channel, and much more:

Gorgias also has other analytics views, including a Revenue Statistics view (which we’ll cover below) and a Customer Satisfaction view to track improvements in CSAT over time:

5) Create a policy and announce your new incentive program

Like any new program, your customer service policy will only succeed once employees understand how to participate. To get started, keep the program as simple as possible. Simple perks — Jaxxon offers Amazon gift cards, for example — for simple improvements. 

If you have a human resources department, consider consulting them to make the policy airtight. Otherwise, here’s a template to get you started:

Purpose: [Company name] is launching a customer service incentive program to make strides toward two company goals: improving employee engagement and customer experience. The program provides monetary bonuses to team members who meet team goals set at the beginning of each quarter. We understand that our customer service team is a large contributor to loyal customers and company revenue, and are thrilled to have a formal employee recognition program to reward these important efforts. 

Incentive structure:

• The Director of Customer Support sets individual and team goals at the beginning of each quarter
• Each agent’s level (L1, L2, L3) determines their individual goal for the quarter
• The team
• Individuals who meet their goal qualify for an individual reward (e.g. $100 Amazon gift card)
• If the team meets the goal, all agents will receive a team reward (e.g. $25 Amazon gift card)

Eligibility:

• Only full-time employees of [Company name] are eligible for incentives
• Part-time and outsourced call-center agents do not qualify for the program
• Employees eligible for other company incentive programs do not qualify for the program
• Employees on performance improvement plans (PiPs) do not qualify for the program

Procedure to claim rewards:

• Agents do not need to reach out to redeem rewards: the Director of Customer Support will distribute rewards by the 15th of the following month
• If you do not receive your reward by the 15th, reach out to the Director of Customer Support to resolve the issue

6) Revisit your chosen metrics often and tweak them as needed

Incentive programs are at their best when they are dynamic, continually adapting to meet new goals and address new challenges. By tracking customer support metrics in real time using Gorgias' helpdesk software, you can easily revisit the metrics you chose for your incentive program and adjust the program's goals as needed.

Ideally, your customer support incentive program will enable you to improve key customer support metrics and move on to new goals as previous goals are met. However, there may also be cases where you determine that a metric might not be the best one to base your program around, and you need to change it. In either case, continually tracking customer support metrics and tweaking your incentive program enables you to keep the program aligned with company goals as your company scales and new challenges and opportunities arise.

Why customer support incentives are a great way to drive revenue

One of the best metrics to base your customer support incentive program on is revenue generation. While customer support teams are often viewed as problem-solvers, the reality is that your customer support team can greatly impact your ecommerce store's bottom line in a lot of ways. Generating referrals, promoting customer loyalty, reducing cart abandonment, and driving conversions via upsells and personalized product recommendations are just a few ways that excellent customer support can create revenue for ecommerce stores.

Most brands have trouble understanding the amount of revenue customer support brings in, which is why we developed the Revenue Statistics dashboard in Gorgias. You can see real-time metrics like the conversion rate of customer support conversation and the total sales driven by support:

To learn more about how great customer support can drive revenue for ecommerce stores, check out Gorgias' CX-Driven Growth Playbook.

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Track and reward customer support performance with Gorgias

Creating an incentive program for your customer support team is one of the best ways to motivate team members and focus their efforts toward company goals. But to create an incentive program around measurable, impactful metrics, you need the right tools by your side. 

With Gorgias' industry-leading helpdesk, you can track key support metrics like revenue generation, referrals, customer satisfaction, response time, and much more. Find out how we helped our customers transform their customer support teams into revenue-generating machines, and book a demo to see what we can do for your team.

Your social media presence serves many purposes, from creating a brand image to testing out new product ideas. And whatever type of social media posts your brand creates, one thing is certain: people are going to reach out to you there.   

Using social media as a support channel can be unwieldy and time consuming for ill-equipped teams. Customer inquiries pop up in many different places, like in the comments on your paid ads, in direct messages, or as comments on your posts. The tricky part is keeping up with the customer service issues that arise while still maintaining a positive, engaging presence. 

However, the benefits of social media customer service outweigh the negatives, especially with the right tools and approach. 

Below, learn how to leverage your social media channels for customer support in ways that stand out to your customers and support your team. 

What is social media customer service and how can it benefit your shop?

Social media customer service is when brands answer support queries through one or more social media platform. Support tickets often come in through direct messages (DMs) or as comments on paid ads or organic posts. This differs from social media marketing, as it’s a largely reactive type of engagement.   

How social media is used in customer service

Service interactions on social media usually happen:

1. As part of an omnichannel approach to meet customers where they are
2. To manage brand reputation and resolve public comments privately
3. To offer support in the format and on the channels people like to use 

1) As part of an omnichannel approach to meet customers where they are

Social media can be used as a way to further connect with your customers and potential customers in the spaces they’re already active in. When teams answer support across different channels that seamlessly connect, that’s part of an omnichannel customer service approach. And, according to research from Shopify, 58% of people claimed that their purchase decision was influenced by getting support on their preferred channel.  

2) To manage brand reputation and resolve public comments privately 

Beyond answering direct messages from customers on social media platforms, maintaining a brand presence on social media helps you keep tabs on mentions of your brand, as well as engage and provide customer support via comments or threads. 

Showing customers that your brand is available whenever they have an inquiry builds trust. In fact, 69% of Facebook users in the U.S. who message businesses report that it makes them feel more confident about the brand, according to Meta for Business.  

In addition, social media is a public form where anyone can view comments, whether they’re positive or negative. Everyone who looks at your brand’s social page will be able to take a look at what people are saying. Because of this, it can define what people think of you and change your brand’s perception. 

These customer queries get the most eyes on them by far as compared to a one-on-one channel like email, direct messages, interacting with a chatbot, or making a phone call.  

3) To offer support in the format and on the channels people like to use 

Not everyone wants to make a phone call when they need help. 

Shoppers are more likely to actually reach out to you if they can do it on a channel they like, as opposed to not reaching out and just being upset and posting about that publicly, telling their friends, or simply never purchasing from you again.  

📚Recommended reading: Should you delegate social media to your customer support team?

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Differences between social media customer service and traditional methods

It’s (sometimes) public

Customer support via social media differs from traditional email or phone support because it’s public, so your customer support team members’ responses are on display for others to see. 

While emails, phone calls, or direct messages are handled privately, Instagram comments, public tweets, or Facebook comments are public to your entire audience. The way your support team handles these customer interactions could influence your future sales and brand perception.  

High-volume requests across many channels can get lost

Customer service requests on social media can get out of hand quickly because they can come in through many different channels in many different ways. If your team isn’t using some level of automation or a tool to capture each query, it’s easy to lose comments and ignore upset customers who really need support. 

Each social media platform is different 

To provide excellent customer service on social media, your social media customer support reps have to consider the nuances of each social media platform as well. Depending on your brand, you may use LinkedIn, TikTok, or even Snapchat for customer service. Below, we focus on three of the most common social media channels.

Facebook (and Facebook Messenger)

According to research by the Pew Research Center, Facebook is the second most popular social media channel with 69% of US adults saying that they use it. The research center also found that Facebook is popular with all different demographics, so chances are you’ll find some of your target audience there. Because Facebook is such a large platform, it’s important that you have some sort of presence there. 

📚Recommended reading: Best practices for using Facebook Messenger for customer service

Twitter 

When answering customer questions on Twitter, opt for speed. Twitter is built on the idea of immediacy and short-form in-the-moment takes. According to a study conducted by Twitter, one in four people Tweet at a brand because they want a faster response. 

Note: Gorgias no longer supports Twitter interactions. But you can manage Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, SMS, and WhatsApp posts from within Gorgias.

Instagram 

Instagram has pivoted into a shopping platform. People are scrolling through family photos just as much as they’re shopping for items and discovering new ecommerce stores. According to Shopify’s Future of Commerce report, 30% of US internet users now make purchases without leaving the social platform they’re on. Now, Instagram claims that half of users use Instagram Shopping to make a purchase weekly. 

These shoppers need to be able to get support in-app because they want to make purchases without exiting the app as well. If your business doesn’t offer support on Instagram, you could lose sales. 

📚Recommended reading: 9 Tips to Improve Customer Service on Instagram

5 strategies to improve your social media customer care

There are four major strategies you can implement in order to use your social media customer service channels in the most successful ways possible. 

1) Have genuine conversations with your customers 

As mentioned above, social media is casual and customers will reach out on social media instead of a traditional method because they want a genuine answer without the formalness of an email. Use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, or even WhatsApp to build relationships with your customers by having engaging conversations.

When a customer feels that your brand is being genuine they are more likely to trust you, become a loyal customer, and write a review or recommend your brand to their family and friends. This can lead to more new customers because 60% of consumers believe customer reviews are trustworthy, according to HubSpot Research. Even more, SuperOffice finds that 86% of customers are ready to pay more if it means they get a better customer experience. What all of this means is that building relationships with each and every customer will lead to the further success of your brand. 

📚Recommended reading: The Ultimate Guide to Personalized Customer Service

2) Move conversations into direct messages  

When you’re replying quickly to a lot of questions, it's sometimes easy to forget that you’re essentially in a public forum. Make sure you have systems in place to prevent customers’ personal information like phone numbers, shipping addresses, or order numbers from being viewed by the whole internet. Additionally, in the event of more complicated issues, you can comment publicly and ask the customer to private message (DM) you to help them resolve their issue. This shows that your brand is responsive to customer comments, but also that you value your customers’ privacy.

If you’re using a helpdesk like Gorgias, you can send and receive DMs on Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger from right within your helpdesk. You can create a template, called a Macro in Gorgias, for moving public social media conversations to DMs.

📚Recommended reading: Your Live Chat Support Guide: Benefits, Best Practices, and Helpful Tools

3) Share self-service style content

Another great use for your brand’s social media account is sharing self-service content. Oftentimes, customers ask the same questions over and over again. To help them get their questions answered quickly and efficiently, it can be beneficial to track which questions are very common and put together a document or self-service page to direct them to. 

Information that can be common to include in this type of document is contact information, return policy information, shipping information, and location information if your brand has brick-and-mortar locations. This proactive information also helps keep customer support freed up for the more complicated, in-depth customer inquiries coming through social media. 

Consider sharing your most popular FAQ page on social media

Though it can be extremely beneficial to direct customers on social media to a separate webpage that allows for self-service options, consider sharing your most popular FAQs on social channels. This will create more ease of use for customers and potentially get their questions answered even quicker. 

4) Create a handle specifically for customer service support

Depending on the size of your business, it may be a good idea to consider creating separate social media handles dedicated to customer support. This can be especially helpful for customers who have specific support needs. You can cross-promote your two different social pages on both accounts for ease of use. This way customers will be able to identify where to go for the quickest answer. In the event that a customer contacts the wrong social media account, it is important that a customer service rep responds to them from the correct account. This way, they’ll know where to reach out in the future. 

This practice can also be beneficial for your internal teams, if you have two different teams within your organization managing social media. For example, your marketing team may be running ads and posting content, while your customer success team is sifting through comments and messages to tend to customers’ needs. Having two separate accounts can make it way easier on your internal teams, as well as keep everything more organized.  

5) Reply quickly to exceed customer expectations

As mentioned previously, quick responses are vital to a great customer service experience. This is especially true in the context of social customer service. Social media moves extremely fast, and customers expect speedy replies. 

The longer a customer service agent waits to reply, the less likely the customer will be satisfied with the support you provide. However, it can be a tricky balance to respond quickly (which you can measure with metrics like average response time and resolution time) while also maintaining quality (which you can measure with metrics like customer satisfaction or net promoter score). 

If you’re first starting out with customer service on social media, it may be helpful to understand what your customer base expects. To do this, you can consider asking them to fill out surveys. Surveys can also be used to continuously track customer satisfaction. 

📚 Recommeded reading: Our list of the most important customer support metrics to track.

Pro tip: Aim to respond within 15 minutes (if possible)

This can be difficult outside of business hours, but if you have customer care team members who already work at night or on the weekends, this could help immensely. You can also dedicate space in your social profile’s bio to business hours and typical response times. This is a great way to manage expectations if you have a smaller team or are in an extremely busy time period. 

How Gorgias helps ecommerce stores offer helpful, efficient customer service on social media

When it comes to support, social media management gets challenging quickly. Even though your marketing team could attempt to keep up with comments or messages that require support, as your brand grows, it’ll only get harder. 

A helpdesk like Gorgias has functionality that helps you to keep track of all social support mentions in one place, lets you create pre-written templates for common questions, and can even automate responses or like and hide posts on your behalf. It helps create workflow automations for your team to deal with high amounts of volume. 

What can you respond to from within Gorgias?

Before you implement a helpdesk like Gorgias, you’ll likely want to let your social team research what kind of responses do and don’t work for your target audience, and then start getting good results. Then, that’s where Gorgias comes in: Take those learnings, manufacture efficiency with Gorgias, and pass the support side of the channel onto your support team to set channels more on autopilot. 

Here’s what you can respond to on each channel from Gorgias’s central platform. 

• Facebook and messenger: Respond to comments, ad comments, mentions where you’re tagged, and direct messages.  
• Instagram: Respond to Instagram messages, comments, ad comments, and mentions from posts and Stories. 
• WhatsApp: Respond to WhatsApp messages and calls.

Leverage autoresponses 

Especially on paid ads, sometimes there are just too many comments for a small team to manage without letting support quality falter.

Gorgias lets you autorespond to posts based on sentiment, so you can like promoter posts or auto hide angry or inappropriate comments. Auto-liking shows engagement without spending tons of time on going through each post on every channel daily.  

This has helped themed party apparel brand Shinesty increase revenue. “The Facebook ad commenting has been very interesting,” says CX Manager Cody Szymanski. “People have been converting right there thanks to a simple social interaction.”

See all customer interactions in one central place 

“Having quick access to the side bar is super convenient and helps us turn our support agents into sales people. For instance, if a potential customer asks a question about sizing, the agent can quickly have a look at their previous order info,” the team at MNML shared. 

This way, you can also see the customer’s entire history, including order info, past support interactions, and comments on social channels. 

Create Macros for common social interactions

Most likely, you’ll start to see the same questions or comments come in across social channels. Gorgias lets you create Macros, or templates, for the most common customer service messages you get on social media. This saves time for your support team and gets resolutions to your customers faster. 

Like a Facebook comment, send a shipping status in a private Instagram message, or answer questions on Instagram – all from Gorgias’s centralized helpdesk.

Essential tools for social media customer service

Now that you have some solid social media customer service strategies, the next step is to understand how to streamline the process through social media customer service tools. Below we’ll cover how Gorgias, Chatdesk, Gatsby, ShopMessage, and Octane AI could help your brand. 

Use Gorgias for efficient customer support

Gorgias is an all-in-one customer service platform built specifically for ecommerce brands that seamlessly integrates with your entire stack (Shopify and Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, and Magento). 

Through the platform, you can manage all of your organization’s customer service channels in real time, from live chat to email to social media. When it comes to social media specifically, there are many integrations Gorgias has that can allow your team to transition to social media customer service while keeping sales flowing and without slowing down support. 

Learn more about how ‎Gorgias can help you manage social media customer service with ease.

Chatdesk

Chatdesk is a social media monitoring app that allows your customer support team members to manage social moderation across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. It also integrates with email and chat.

Gorgias’ Chatdesk integration could be perfect for your brand if you strive to respond quickly — and around the clock — to all your Facebook comments, Instagram comments, DMs, and more. The app even allows for in-depth response personalization for your U.S.-based super fans.

Related: Our list of the best social media integrations for Shopify.

Gatsby

The next tool within Gorgias that will help your brand with social media customer care is Gatsby. Gatsby is a type of social listening app that allows your customer success team to view and track insights specifically on Instagram when responding to tickets, as well as track mentions and engagement for your brand. This tool can also be used to automate ecommerce influencer workflows

Here’s how it could work for you: With Gorgias and Gatsby integration, the tools can help you identify influential fans among your customer base. So, if someone is reaching out to support, you’ll be able to see if they are of “influencer status” thus, taking into account how they should be prioritized. This information can also be extremely valuable if you’re running customer engagement or customer satisfaction surveys.

ShopMessage

If your organization is heavy on Facebook Messenger — or if you’re hoping to expand in that area — ShopMessage could be a worthwhile tool you can integrate within your already-existing Gorgias platform. This tool sends messages to customers that can drive sales. It can contact customers via Facebook Messenger about things like abandoned carts, browser abandonment, welcome communications, upsells, shipping notifications, and custom Messenger menus. 

ShopMessage also has the capabilities to help your customer success team with Facebook Messenger Marketing by making it simple to set up automatic, personalized messages to your customers. 

Octane AI

Octane AI works as a messenger bot platform to help you and your team automate your brand’s conversations on social media channels. It works like this: When a customer sends a message to your brand via social media, Octane AI will automatically create an open ticket in Gorgias.

This means it’s simpler than ever to respond to your customers as quickly as possible. Having all your messages from various social networks in one place will also help prevent any from slipping through the cracks, thus creating an amazing customer experience.

Learn more about how Gorgias and Octane AI integrate.

Real-life examples of social media customer service

Finally, to complete your understanding of social media customer service, we’ve rounded up some real-life examples of companies using social media for customer service. We hope these leaders of industry can inspire your future strategies. 

Graza 

Trendy squeezable olive oil shop Graza has become the choice for influencers filming content in their kitchens. The fun bottles are filled with liquid gold: high quality olive oil for sizzling and drizzling. With 24k followers on Instagram, the brand is growing, and its audience is highly engaged. 

Recently, the brand ran a big promotion — but a loyal customer missed out because they had made a big order before the sale started. Graza responded to their comment, asked them to send in a DM, and implied that they would honor the promotion on that order. 

Graza uses Gorgias to help manage their social media interactions at scale. 

Nike

Nike currently has 9 million followers on its main Twitter page, @Nike, and about 202,000 followers on its customer service Twitter page, @NikeService. Nike is a perfect example of a brand utilizing both types of social media accounts to its advantage. For example, the brand often receives complaints from upset customers on its main Twitter account, but responds to the customer with its @NikeService account. 

Here’s an example of a recent Twitter exchange where Nike handled a negative comment from an unhappy customer with ease and professionalism. 

GoPro

Technology company known for its action cameras, GoPro is another great example of solid social media customer service. The brand doesn’t have dedicated customer service accounts on social media, but is highly active and quick to respond to customers posing questions in the comments on their Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook pages. 

For technology companies especially, it’s highly beneficial to have customer success reps who can answer customer questions with precision and accuracy. However, regardless of the industry your company is in, quality should always be a priority when responding to customers on social media. This also helps signal to other customers that you take your social media seriously, thus making others feel more comfortable to reach out there if they have a question or concern. 

Here’s one recent example of an in-depth response to a vague GoPro customer inquiry. 

Starbucks

Beyond staying on top of customer inquiries and troubleshooting on social media, the opportunity social media presents when it comes to building customer loyalty and brand identity can’t be overstated. Starbucks is a great example of a brand that is doing just this. The company has a distinct voice on all of its social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok) as it interacts with customers on a daily basis. Even something as simple as a heart emoji on Instagram comments, or a quick, sweet encouragement when a customer comments about how much they love a signature Starbucks creation can do a lot to create a brand that customers want to interact with. This also helps customers feel more connected to the brand. 

Starbucks also takes this approach further when it comes to responding to customer suggestions. For example, the Facebook post below shows a concerned customer sharing their ideas about creating more accessible Starbucks stores after the brand shared a post about its commitment to inclusivity and accessibility. Starbucks responds promptly and thanks the customer along with more information about how the company is sticking to its inclusivity and accessibility goals. 

Wayfair

Online home decor and furniture retailer Wayfair is another brand with standout social media customer service chops. Though the brand doesn’t have separate customer service social media channels, it is constantly keeping up with customer comments. Wayfair currently has 78,000 followers on Twitter, over 7 million likes on Facebook, and 1.7 million followers on Instagram. 

Through its social channels, the company displays another great way to interact with customers on social media about its products. Because the brand sells home goods, many social posts are interior design photos featuring their furniture, which elicits a lot of customer questions about which pieces are which, and where they can purchase them. Wayfair does a great job of responding to customers’ product questions with clear and concise information. Take a look at one example below:

Xbox

Lastly, we want to highlight the video game console company Xbox. The worldwide success of the company means there are also a lot of customers who have questions and want their voices heard. Xbox does a great job responding to customer complaints and questions via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, however, the brand also makes it a point to have some fun with their responses, too — further connecting with customers on a personal level. 

It can be really challenging for massive brands to show personality and remind customers that there are people behind the scenes who actually care and like to have fun, but social media is the perfect channel to make this fact known. The brand recently launched a marketing campaign featuring actor Andre Braugher where he is promoting Xbox’s new All Access monthly subscription service. The video was posted to all of Xbox’s social channels, and the brand took the opportunity to connect with customers in the comments.

Here are a few snapshots of how they are doing it:

Enhance your social media customer service with Gorgias 

From troubleshooting customer issues and answering their questions to simply showing off your brand's personality, social media customer service can be an extremely effective avenue to explore to boost your company’s customer experience quality.

Jumping into social media customer service for the first time can be exciting but also a lot of work, so to help make the process a bit easier, we recommend checking out Gorgias for an all-in-one solution for your customer service team that also has standout live chat tools and amazing integrations.

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Learn more about Gorgias and how you can get started.arn more about Gorgias and how you can get started.

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As an ecommerce store owner, the prospect of losing 70% of your sales probably makes your heart drop. But according to the Baymard Institute, that’s exactly what’s happening: 69.82% of online carts are abandoned.

Even with the ecommerce shopping cart best practices in place, brands of all sizes struggle to get customers to place an order. The good news is that a handful of tweaks to your site’s user experience can greatly reduce cart abandonment. 

Below, we’ll dive into some actionable solutions — ranging from offering free shipping to simplifying your checkout process — to lower your abandonment rates and boost your sales. 

What is Shopify cart abandonment?

Shopify cart abandonment occurs when a customer who’s online shopping on a Shopify store adds items to their cart but leaves the website before making the purchase. Ecommerce businesses that track cart abandonment do so by determining the rate of customers who add items to their cart against the rate of purchases.

How to calculate your cart abandonment rate

The formula to calculate your cart abandonment rate is:

[Completed purchases / Carts created] x 100 = Cart abandonment rate

Online shopping is a bit like browsing a shopping mall because you can browse a wide variety of stores without much buying intent. You may carry a few items around the store while you consider buying them, but you may put them down on a shelf and leave for another store — especially if the store associate doesn’t catch you in time to close the sale.

Shopify cart abandonment represents the online version of that lack of commitment — with even less commitment because online shoppers can get distracted by a text message or leave your store without moving an inch. Fortunately, you can tweak your Shopify store to reduce cart abandonment, just like the in-store associate. 

But before we share the steps you can take, let's explore the frequency and impact of the overall Shopify cart abandonment problem.

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9 strategies for decreasing Shopify cart abandonment

1. Use your data to prioritize changes
2. Offer free shipping (or low-cost) shippin
3. Create a rewards program and offer discount codes
4. Use proactive live chat to guide customers through checkout
5. Offer as many payment options as possible
6. Simplify your checkout process 
7. Ditch the mandatory account registration form
8. Use exit-intent pop-ups to catch shoppers before they leave
9. Use push notifications, SMS, and abandoned cart emails to recover abandoned carts

Reducing shopping cart abandonment is one of the most effective ecommerce growth tactics. Rather than spending tons on ads to get new audiences to your site, you’re instead maximizing the value of the visitors you already get. (And what’s the point of more visitors if they don’t end up placing orders?) 

Here are nine of our best tips for reducing cart abandonment to grow your ecommerce business. 

1) Use your data to prioritize changes

You could pick one of the tactics below and cross your fingers that it improves your cart abandonment rates. But you’ll see much better results by using your store’s data to come up with a strategy based on the highest potential impact for your unique store. 

Dig into your cart abandonment data to strategize where you can make the most impactful changes. Specifically, you’ll want to pull data like:

• Date and time of cart abandonment
• Total abandoned order amount
• Items abandoned
• Shopper information (e.g. new vs. repeat)

With information like this, you can better identify trends that can affect other areas of your ecommerce strategy. For example, if you notice that the majority of your carts are abandoned before the winter holidays, you may want to consider running a Black Friday promotion. Alternatively, you may also learn that your abandoned carts:

• Usually contain the same item, indicating you might want to revisit that item’s pricing or the product page 
• Don’t meet your threshold for free shipping, indicating you might want to lower that threshold
• Are from first-time shoppers, indicating you may need more social proof like testimonials and positive reviews to boost new shopper confidence

2) Offer free shipping (or low-cost) shipping

As we mentioned above, unexpected taxes, fees, and shipping costs are the most common reasons shoppers abandon carts. For context, 82% of shoppers say they’d rather have free shipping than expedited shipping. And shoppers are used to free and fast shipping because of services like Amazon Prime, so it’s becoming an even bigger disadvantage to require paid shipping.

For some ecommerce stores, especially new or small ones, free shipping for the entire site catalog isn’t always a sustainable option. So instead, offer free shipping for carts that meet a free shipping threshold. 

Check out our article on how to offer free shipping for more information.

Once you have a compelling shipping offer, use it as a marketing tool. Mention your free shipping in website banners, on checkout pages, and even on product pages. Look how Jaxxon, a luxury men’s chain retailer, clearly lets the shopper know how much they’ll have to spend to unlock free shipping right from the product page:

3) Create a rewards program and offer discount codes

Rewards, timely discount codes, and other incentives can push customers over the edge to make a purchase. 

Parade, a DTC underwear brand known for its referral programs, uses a refer-a-friend program to get discount codes into the hands of people who haven’t yet shopped at your store. This is particularly smart because first-time shoppers tend to be the most hesitant (and therefore abandon the most carts). But the discount code and social proof from the referring friend work together to push shoppers toward a purchase:

Discount codes and referral programs available to everyone will likely reduce cart abandonment but you should target customers with items in their cart (or customers who recently abandoned a cart) for the greatest impact. Live chat can help you target customers still shopping while exit-intent pop-ups and follow-up SMS or email can help with customers who already left your site. We’ll cover both strategies below.

4) Use proactive live chat to guide customers through checkout

Incorporate live chat, including proactive chat campaigns, as a way to help your customers during the checkout process and boost sales. A whopping 79% of stores that have live chat enabled report its positive impact on their sales and customer experience.

Every store should enable live chat for support because it’s such a fast, appealing option for customers, especially when they’re actively considering a purchase. Say that a customer isn’t placing an order because they’re not sure whether a small or medium size would fit. If you have a visible (but not intrusive) live chat option in your ecommerce store, the customer can quickly type in their question and ideally have a resolution from your support team or chatbot in minutes:​

With certain live chat apps, you can also take a more proactive approach to drive sales through your live chat widget. You can automatically reach out to certain customers (like shoppers hovering on the checkout page for more than a minute, or shoppers with a certain amount of merchandise in their cart) to ask if they have questions, offer discount codes, or remind them that you offer free shipping if they reach a certain amount (to drive upsells).

With Gorgias’ live chat campaigns feature, you can customize your greetings — the below example gives a friendly welcome to people who visit a specific product page:

5) Offer as many payment options as possible

One simple way to reduce cart abandonment is to offer as many payment options as possible. If customers make it to your checkout page only to find they have limited options to pay — especially if those options require them to divulge personal information — they are more likely to abandon the purchase. 

If you have a Shopify store, you can use Shopify Payments to easily accept a wide variety of payment options like credit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay without any third-party fees. If you don’t have Shopify Payments enabled, you’ll still be able to use major payment providers (like Paypal) to accept payments, but you may be stuck with limited payment options and fees.

6) Simplify your checkout process 

Reducing friction throughout your checkout process is another way to reduce abandoned checkouts. Get rid of unnecessary forms, fields, and questions that may turn your customers away from your store. Likewise, create large checkout buttons that make it obvious how to complete a purchase with the fewer clicks possible. If you’re still creating your store, you may want to try finding a Shopify theme with a streamlined checkout page. 

One tip to optimize your checkout process is to include a Buy Now button on the product page itself. This streamlines the buying process and gives shoppers fewer off-ramps away from your website. Check out CROSSNET’s clear button guiding users to make a purchase — not just add items to a cart that will later get abandoned: 

7) Ditch the mandatory account registration form

This is technically an additional tip to simplify your checkout process, but it’s impactful enough to warrant its own section. While you want customers to create an account for future marketing opportunities, forcing shoppers to create an account in order to place an order halts momentum during the checkout process and turns people off from your store. 

Instead, offer a guest checkout option with the choice to make an account for easier purchases next time they come to your store. Or, to make checkout even easier, consider adding one of Shopify’s dynamic checkout buttons. With an express checkout option like Amazon Pay, customers can complete a purchase without even typing out their billing and shipping information by retrieving that information from another service.

Check out CROSSNET’s store, which offers multiple express checkout options:

8) Use exit-intent pop-ups to catch shoppers before they leave

Making your checkout experience simple is a great start, but some customers may need one final push to place an order. Exit-intent pop-ups, or pop-ups that appear when a customer attempts to leave your store, can be the last-minute nudge (or discount code) that convinces customers to place an order.

You can add a pop-up to your Shopify store through a Shopify app like Privy or Pop-Up Window. However, practice caution with any sort of pop-up. Some customers will get frustrated if pop-ups interrupt their browsing experience, so make sure you provide value with each pop-up and keep a close eye on your purchase data to ensure they don’t hurt your store’s performance.

Check out our guide to Shopify pop-ups for more information. 

9) Use push notifications, SMS, and abandoned cart emails to recover abandoned carts

Personalized push notifications can also be a helpful follow-up tool to help customers return to their carts. Push notifications give the customer a visual of the products still in the cart with clear calls to action. This helps remind customers that they still have unpurchased items waiting to be checked out. 

SMS and email are other great options to reach customers even if they don’t return to your store. You can even create a full SMS or email campaign with an automated workflow that triggers emails to customers after a certain amount of time has passed, or after they revisit your website.

Check out this example of a cart recovery email from Braxley Bands, which is a great example of how you can recover carts with humor and attitude — or whatever your brand voice may be.

10) Consider retargeted ads to remind customers about what they left behind

Another technique you can consider to help bring customers back to their carts in your online store is retargeted ads. Retargeting allows you to get ads in front of customers who visited your website and gave you their information — but didn’t purchase an item. 

Most retargeted ads appear in the shopper’s social media feeds in the days after the abandoned checkout. They typically feature an image of the abandoned product, a new-and-improved discount, and a clear call to action (CTA) to purchase the item. 

Take a look at this example of a retargeted Facebook ad from Pact Apparel:

While retargeted ads work better than most ads, they still have a clickthrough rate of only .7%, so they may cost more than they provide in terms of recovered purchases.

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8 tools that help decrease Shopify cart abandonment

To limit shopping cart abandonment and encourage customers to make their purchases, you might need the help of some additional apps and tools.

1) Gorgias

A better overall customer experience can significantly lower your business’s cart abandonment rate. Why? Customers depend on things like an FAQ page, clear returns policies, and customer support to gain the information and trust they need to make a purchase.

Gorgias is a customer service platform specifically designed to help ecommerce merchants boost revenue through customer experience. Some of the features that help Shopify stores reduce cart abandonment include:

• Live chat: For proactive chat campaigns and targeted discounts, when customers are hovering on a checkout page or have items in their cart for a certain number of minutes 

• Shipping and returns integrations: Lets you offer free/easy shipping, and promise returns if the customer isn’t happy
• SMS and email: On top of being great support channels, you can use SMS and email marketing campaigns to remind and incentivize shoppers to complete an abandoned purchase

Sign up for a demo of Gorgias to see how we can help you reduce cart abandonment rates, improve customer experience, and drive revenue.

2) Recart

Recart is an app specifically designed to help you recover sales from cart abandonment. It uses Facebook Messenger to send out push notifications on social media to your customers. It can send out reminders for abandoned carts and order-related messages like shipping notifications and receipts, and has pre-written templates for messages to help you save time and optimize your ecommerce cart recovery processes.

See how Gorgias integrates with Recart.

3) LoyaltyLion

LoyaltyLion is a loyalty-building tool that helps you stand out from your competitors and offer great benefits and rewards to your customers. When a customer is happy with your brand and knows that checking out leads to great rewards down the line, they are much less likely to abandon their carts and instead will return due to the positive experience and relationship you have established with them.

See how Gorgias integrates with LoyaltyLion. 

4) Smile

Smile is an app and platform that helps with customer retention. It gives points and rewards to customers that invite others to join them and sign up for your ecommerce rewards program. This helps to increase your customer retention rates and expand your ecommerce business’s customer lifetime value. You can also use Smile to nurture your customers and encourage them to engage with your rewards program.

See how Gorgias integrates with Smile.

5) Bulk Discount Code Generator

Bulk Discount Code Generator allows you to save time and effort while reducing coupon abuse. You can generate reliable discount codes and coupon codes to use with orders on your ecommerce site without difficulty. You can then use those codes in pop-ups, email sequences, win-back strategies, loyalty programs, and more.

6) PushOwl

PushOwl is a push notification app that directly sends push notifications to mobile devices or desktops. You can quickly get out short, punchy messages that readers can easily consume and respond to. PushOwl is also a great tool with functionality for gathering important data and information from users and is especially effective for mobile shoppers, which are responsible for the highest rate of abandonment per platform.

7) Omnisend

Omnisend is a complete marketing app for Shopify. It offers advanced segmentation, pre-built automated emails and workflows, email templates, drag-and-drop editors, email list-building capabilities, and powerful analytics. In addition to all of this, Omnisend also has SMS marketing and push notification tools that you can use to create a sense of urgency for your abandoned carts with limited-time deals and time-sensitive rewards. You can also use A/B testing on your email subject lines and track open rates for your cart abandonment emails. Omnisend takes a lot of the work out of using Shopify and increases checkout purchases.

See how Gorgias integrates with Omnisend. 

8) Privy

Privy is an ecommerce marketing platform that helps ecommerce store owners increase their store’s conversion rates. The platform offers SMS, email marketing, and pop-ups to stop customers before they leave without making a purchase (or draw them back if they’ve already left).

Must-know cart abandonment statistics

Cart abandonment is a major issue that affects most ecommerce businesses. As we mentioned above, nearly 70% of all carts are abandoned. 

The type of device your customers are shopping on can play into your company’s cart abandonment rate. According to the study linked above, the average cart abandonment rate per device is:

• Desktop: 69.75% 
• Smartphone: 85.65% 
• Tablet: 80.74%

The time of year impacts cart abandonment as well. For example, the surge in people shopping online during Black Friday and Cyber Monday typically results in a higher cart abandonment rate due to the higher number of shoppers. 

Some people who abandon their carts do eventually come back to buy the items. Statista’s 2021 study of U.K. shoppers uncovers the following interesting information about consumers’ post-abandonment behavior:

• 31% return at a later date to purchase on the same website
• 26% purchase the item online from a different retailer or ecommerce business
• 23% weren’t looking to purchase and didn't return to buy
• 8% go to a physical store for an item

In order to know where the majority of your customers fit into these numbers, it’s important for you to first understand why your customers are abandoning their carts and leaving your ecommerce site before they can checkout.

Top reasons shoppers leave items in their cart

Understanding why customers leave your checkout page in the first place is key to reducing your number of abandoned shopping carts. According to Baymard Institute, there are five top reasons why online shoppers abandon their carts without making a purchase:

1. Extra costs too high (48%): Shipping costs can be a major turnoff to customers, along with other fees like taxes and handling charges. These types of extra fees can sometimes be almost as expensive as the item or items themselves. This can turn away customers and cause them to abandon their carts.
2. An account is required (24%): Customers simply want to buy their items and avoid friction or irritation at checkout. Forcing people to create an account and give out their personal information can seem like too high a price to pay for the items in the cart.
3. Delivery too slow (22%): Today’s customers expect expediency when it comes to deliveries. With so many huge ecommerce stores offering next-day or same-day delivery, you can expect to lose potential customers if your shipping takes longer than a few days. 
4. Don’t trust the site (18%): Customers today are rightly concerned about problems like digital theft and identity fraud. If a site appears untrustworthy, many customers will get cold feet and abandon their carts when credit card information or other personal information is required at checkout.
5. The checkout process is too long or complicated (17%): Long forms with many different fields and requests for information are another turnoff for customers at checkout. 

Gorgias helps you put a stop to cart abandonment by providing world-class customer support

Despite how frustrating cart abandonment is, there are solutions to help guide your customers to complete your checkout process and boost your bottom line. Take a look at how Gorgias customer, Lillie’s Q, was able to increase total sales by 166% with cart-saving support:

“Gorgias' chat allows us to respond to our customers in real time. We can answer customers' questions about a product and how to place an order without them leaving the site or abandoning their cart. We have seen a 75% increase in direct sales as a result of this quick communication.” - Nicole Mann, Marketing Director

Gorgias is an ecommerce helpdesk platform that turns your customer service team into a revenue-generating machine. With Gorgias, you can create an exceptional customer experience that not only encourages your customers to check out, but to come back to your ecommerce business for future purchases. To learn more, check out our case study of three businesses that increased sales with live chat or sign up for Gorgias today.