Mastering the Post-Holiday Season Rush: Strategies for Retail Businesses to Excel

The months after the holiday season can be chaotic due to a flurry of returns, accompanied with the pressure to meet new sales goals and start the year off strong. This year, retailers anticipate an approximate $25 billion in fraudulent return claims, representing approximately 16.5 percent of the total returns during this period.

For retailers and customer experience (CX) teams, this period serves as a pivotal time for businesses to reflect on the overall performance during the holiday season and identify areas for improvement, especially when their systems are under intense pressure. Failing to engage in this reflection can result in contact centers repeatedly struggling to manage the surge in customer inquiries. This, in turn, leads to long wait times, frustrated customers, and a decline in overall satisfaction. Given the heightened expectations of customers, contact centers play a pivotal role in ensuring strong CX and maintaining the retailer's reputation during this critical period.

Fortunately, by taking proactive steps, contact centers can better navigate the post-holiday rush and prepare for future busy seasons. Here are four essential steps to prepare your contact center and ensure exceptional performance and customer service.

4 Strategies to Elevate Contact Center Performance

1. Adapt to increased demands.

In the aftermath of the holiday season, the surge in customer inquiries necessitates an escalation in operations. Leveraging chatbots and artificial intelligence-powered systems helps in managing a higher volume of queries, enabling human agents to concentrate on intricate and empathy-driven customer needs. Utilizing historical data for forecasting call volumes can aid in better scheduling high agent availability during peak hours. This ensures a well-equipped team is always available to efficiently handle customer demands.

2. Ensure technology readiness.

Strong contact center operations hinge on two pillars: consistently updated systems and thorough quality assurance. This applies across all communication channels, from phone lines and chatbots to video calls and social media. With the rise of remote work, understanding and analyzing each agent's home network performance has become crucial. By implementing effective solutions, contact centers can empower their agents to deliver more seamless customer service on any platform.

3. Prioritize seamless customer experience.

In today's interconnected, digital world, offering omnichannel support is imperative, not a luxury. Integrating callback functionalities allows customers the flexibility to request callbacks at their convenience, alleviating the frustration of prolonged hold times and ensuring a more streamlined experience. Consistent and uninterrupted support across all channels is paramount in catering to a diverse range of customer preferences.

4. Optimize call quality.

Maintaining optimal audio quality amid heightened traffic is crucial for preserving the customer-agent interaction quality. Advanced call testing tools can accurately replicate real-world call conditions, guaranteeing adherence to service-level agreements and eliminating the risk of unauthorized audio compression, which can compromise the overall call experience.

Post-Event Evaluations and Customer Feedback for Success

Research shows that after just one negative chatbot interaction, approximately 30 percent of customers are willing to switch brands. Meanwhile, a positive chatbot experience leads to 56 percent of customers being more inclined to seek out chatbots in the future. They're also more likely to recommend the brand to others.

That’s why post-holiday shopping season evaluations are vital for contact centers to preempt and mitigate future challenges. Collecting customer feedback through surveys and other means is instrumental in refining future strategies based on real experiences. Implementing these strategies alongside essential performance testing capabilities equips contact centers to navigate high-traffic days effectively, enhancing the overall customer experience.

Exceeding expectations and leaving a positive imprint on customers goes beyond simply meeting demands — it's about fostering enduring relationships. By employing the right strategies, contact centers can seize the bustling post-holiday season to elevate their performance, fortify brand reputation, and nurture long-term and valuable customer connections.

Christoph Bӧrner is the senior director of digital at Cyara, an AI-powered CX assurance platform provider.