Customer Service

Shoppers Are Leaning Into AI: Here’s How Retailers Can Do the Same
August 26, 2025 at 5:59 pm

Shoppers are used to opening their wallets during Black Friday, Amazon Prime Day, and the annual or semi-annual sales they’ve come to know. However, amid looming tariffs and ongoing economic uncertainty, shoppers are making changes to their usual patterns. In fact, 83 percent expect to adjust their shopping habits due to tariffs, according to a…

It's the End of Customer Experience as We Know it. And That’s a Good Thing.
August 18, 2025 at 3:23 pm

How often do you answer a call from an unknown number? Or click on (yet another) promotional text from a brand you bought from once? I’d guess hardly ever. Digital communications may be the de facto medium for most industries, but when it comes to building customer relationships there’s a disconnect. In trying to pin…

Smart Service at Scale: How Contact Center Intelligence is Powering the Next Era of Retail
August 6, 2025 at 2:50 pm

Retailers today face relentless pressure to meet rising customer expectations while managing shrinking margins. In this environment, the contact center is a strategic engine for brand differentiation and loyalty where every interaction is compared with the customer’s last best conversation. And the key to unlocking its full potential lies in how retailers harness contact center…

How Customer Service Scripts Can Unintentionally Put Your Brand in Legal Trouble
June 25, 2025 at 12:43 pm

Most retail leaders don't expect their customer service scripts to carry legal consequences. After all, they're meant to be helpful, friendly and on-brand. However, beneath that friendly tone there may be risks hiding in plain sight — risks that could cost your company more than just a bad review. From minor misstatements to problematic phrasing,…

Natural Language and Zero UI Are Redefining Engagement Now
June 10, 2025 at 9:12 am

After years of rapid developments in artificial intelligence technology and customer experience, we’re entering an era when companies can finally redesign their digital interactions to be truly intuitive and transparent. Based on a recent report with observational data from design teams around the world, the most innovative brands will use natural language and zero user…

Retail’s Turning Point: Why Now is the Time to Start Listening to Customers in Real Time
June 2, 2025 at 8:54 am

If you're in retail, here’s a wake-up call you can’t afford to ignore: customer satisfaction peaks at 8 a.m. However, by 7 p.m., it’s in steep decline. Sundays, in particular, see the lowest sentiment across the board. These insights are grounded in over 57 million real-time customer feedback responses gathered globally, featured in HappyOrNot’s new…

15 Best Practices for Improving Call Center Customer Service
May 28, 2025 at 5:47 pm

A call center is vital to an organization’s relationship with its customers. For many businesses, it serves as the primary touchpoint for customer interactions. As such, optimizing your call center’s efficiency, accessibility and reliability is critical to delivering exceptional customer experiences. However, modern customer service extends far beyond traditional phone calls. While the term “call…

Smart Tariff Navigation: 5 Customer-Focused Tips for Retailers
May 20, 2025 at 6:59 pm

Retail is experiencing a spending surge as consumers shop ahead of the looming tariff enactment dates. While this provides a welcome sales boost, retailers need to prepare for potential spending slowdowns that will occur should prices simply get too high, particularly for specialty items consumers can do without. Here are five customer-focused strategies to navigate…

Transforming Retail: What to Consider Before Deploying AI Agents
May 19, 2025 at 1:35 pm

Imagine a customer support agent who never sleeps, learns faster than any employee, and can juggle dozens of complex tasks at once. Sounds like science fiction, right? It’s not. Welcome to the world of agentic artificial intelligence — a new frontier in retail innovation. AI was a major theme at the NRF Big Show this…

AI in Retail Support: A Consumer Confidence Story
May 6, 2025 at 1:48 pm

Just when retailers thought they knew what consumers wanted in their interactions with customer service, artificial intelligence (AI) has moved the goalposts. A survey by Vonage found that 75 percent of consumers are comfortable with AI-powered customer support in retail — among the highest acceptance rates across industries, second only to gaming (80 percent). This…