In this day and age we cannot avoid dealing with E-commerce. It is so irresistible, easy shopping at one click. As the power of E-commerce grow stronger, has its user experience grown equally as well? Recently I had experienced this shopping experience with one of the biggest drugstores – Walgreens. And it was not the best that you could imagine.
What Happened?
It was quite simple and straight forward: I bought about a dozen items online from Walgreens.com. When my order shipped, I received an email saying “part of your order has been shipped”. Then I received my order, with one item missing. I waited for about 2 weeks, seeing that no follow-up email nor shipment from Walgreens, I decided to contact customer service.
I was told that upon shipping, the item was out of stock. But it was back in stock now as we spoke, so can’t Walgreens just ship it now? NO CAN DO…Why? Customer service told me that since it belongs to a buy 2 get 3rd free promotion, they didn’t charge me this out of stock item (and gave that 3rd free item to me for free), so now if I want it, I’ll have to place another order and handle the shipping.
Well I summarized this in one paragraph, but it took 2 online chatting sessions and one extensive phone call to sort out with Walgreens. I was not complaining about any money loss, in fact I didn’t lose any. However, as an E-Commerce customer in the digital age, I was simply thrown off by the logic of Walgreen’s customer service.
Let’s Dive Deeper
There are many parties involved between me as a customer placing an order and receiving an order. Walgreens, vendors, warehouse, shipping company, etc. I understand that shipping service cannot be fully controlled by Walgreens, but I DON’T CARE ABOUT anything beyond that. Because as a customer I only deal with you. You screwed up by your warehouse? I can understand but I don’t care. Placing an order = an exchange of money for goods = a contract. If you cannot fulfill this order, at least have the courtesy to notify me by email. When an error happens on your end, don’t sweep in under the rug and expect that the customer won’t notice.
OK, I understand that the hardest part for offering good E-commerce is managing so many touchpoints that can go wrong. But what can you do to improve it?
Make It Better
First of all, Error Prevention. Reorganize your logistics so that things don’t go out of stock between customer placing order and shipping. Predictive analytics? Big data? Whatever you do, I’m sure it only helps with you business when customers can buy more.
Second of all, Offer Help. When you cannot avoid errors, take action and offer options to your customers. Honestly explain, hey something went wrong with your order, but we have several options for you, would you like to take action A or B? Think beyond the regular steps into further scenarios, and help your customers gain a better experience. Do not ever leave your customer in the darkness, wondering what’s going on here.
Lastly, A Consistent Voice. As a customer, every single interaction with your brand adds up to the whole experience. This includes online or offline, in store or over the phone, E-Commerce or Health Service. Anything that goes wrong also would be considered as a failure for the brand.