With the ongoing rise of digital services, an inspiring service experience online is also becoming increasingly important. This is especially true for web stores, since the goal of every customer journey here is to check out with a digital shopping cart that is as full as possible. Today’s online customer service must therefore be able to do everything that is also possible in direct contact - from making an appointment online to providing comprehensive advice on the products or services on offer via live chats, co-browsing and video chat, right through to digital contract signing. But e-commerce companies quickly face the question of how to integrate all these digital services within their store system without incurring high costs and integration effort. Basically, two approaches are possible here: best-of-breed or all-in-one.
All-in-One versus Best-of-Breed
The all-in-one approach is, roughly speaking, the one Microsoft follows with its Office applications: All possible functions are already included in a comprehensive software package. Cutbacks in the functionality of the individual tools and a lack of integration options for products from other manufacturers are disadvantages often encountered with this approach. Advantages are usually the lower acquisition and operating costs, support from a single source, and less effort in rolling out and administering the complete solution.
In e-commerce, the trend has been toward best-of-breed for years.
In other words, e-commerce platforms that rely on an open ecosystem. Open source solutions or so-called headless commerce systems are often among them. The latter offer only the e-commerce backend and provide everything else, such as the storefront, via external plug-ins and APIs. The flexibility of this approach is unbeatable. Through an open and modular architecture combined with a RESTful Web API, store operators seamlessly integrate their business processes and applications into the e-commerce system. However, increased integration effort is inevitable here, and for small and medium-sized companies the costs can quickly get out of hand.
Most providers of e-commerce systems move between the two poles mentioned above.
Smartstore + TeamViewer: the best of both worlds
These are the fundamental questions for online store operators: How do we create a unique online experience that invites customers to buy? What should digital customer service look like that is on a par with a visit to the store? And how do we guide prospective customers seamlessly through the customer journey?
The integration of the TeamViewer Engage customer engagement solution into the Smartstore e-commerce platform is key to answering these questions.
The pure headless approach is certainly too ambitious and cost-intensive, especially for smaller operators. For them, it’s mainly about being able to get started quickly and set up visually appealing webshops simply by drag-and-drop and without coding.
Smartstore Page Builder, for example, makes it easy to create content from products, merchandise categories, images, videos and text, including responsive design and a variety of themes. Smartstore also offers a variety of plug-ins for almost any problem. When a service is seamlessly integrated with Smartstore, online merchants can work with it efficiently. Such services are easy to set up and manage with just one click through the user-friendly interface.
Among these services is the TeamViewer Engage customer engagement platform. Basic idea behind it: An individual customer experience that is not inferior to a face-to-face meeting can also be ensured on a web-based basis. The core element is the omnichannel approach: Initial contact with website visitors takes place, for example, with the individually configurable chatbot and is seamlessly passed on to employees who accompany the interaction holistically via video chat, co-browsing, and e-signing.
Next generation customer interaction
TeamViewer Engage is a customer engagement platform for online sales, digital customer service and video consulting. The solution is GDPR-compliant, ISO-certified and encrypted, which ensures that store operators can interact with customers digitally in a secure way.
Positive service experiences ensure customer loyalty. The numbers speak for themselves: With TeamViewer Engage, website operators increased lead conversion by up to 32% on average, customer satisfaction (CSAT) by up to 30%, and first-call resolution (FCR) in service by up to 93%. Store operators can integrate the solution directly into their webshop via the corresponding Smartstore plug-in and then benefit from the following features, among others:
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Co-Browsing: Co-browsing optimises communication between customers and support staff using advanced screen-sharing technology that works on any device or browser without the need for downloads or software installation.
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Chatbots: Automated chat dialogs help qualify leads or quickly answer frequently asked questions. If a question is too complex for the chatbot, an employee is notified who can seamlessly continue the conversation via live chat.
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Livechat: Links, documents, photos, or other files can be easily shared via live chat to engage more customers and provide personalized support. Chatbot flows and text templates make it easy to get started.
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Videochat: Video chats enable service personnel to advise customers online, conduct sales calls, provide technical support, or carry out inspections — directly within the online shop, the customer portal, or a mobile app.
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E-signature: Used together with document co-browsing, the legally binding e-signature feature brings an interactive element to quotations, forms, and documents. Users can sign documents faster and easier without additional software.
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Appointments: TeamViewer Engage makes managing appointments a breeze and supports synchronisation with your preferred calendar software. Customers receive an e-mail with the appointment invitation or can schedule the consultation session directly using the integrated Appointment Booker.
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Post-consultation feedback: A personalised feedback form lets customers rate their service experience (for example, after a chat session) to ensure continuous improvement of the customer journey.
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Archiving and auditing: Businesses can store their live chat and chatbot conversations for a specific period to comply with rules and regulations, or to analyse service interactions. You can also export the transcripts for use in audit management systems.
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Analytics and reporting: Chatbots and live chats provide data on the number of conversations processed by the chatbot, the average handle time (AHT), and the first response time (FRT).
Online customer interaction using the example of co-browsing
With co-browsing, consultants immediately see what customers see in the web store. In addition to chat or verbal communication, they can help find the right information in just a few clicks and provide guidance in online stores - without installations and downloads of additional software.
This is how a co-browsing session with TeamViewer Engage works:
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The co-browsing session can start right away, customers can first receive an invitation to participate, or the shop can embed a button on the website.
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During a session, the representative’s monitor shows exactly what a customer is viewing in the shop. This enables them to interact with the customer as if they were there in person.
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The representative sees only what is truly necessary. Privacy features automatically conceal sensitive information to ensure privacy and security.
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During a co-browsing interaction, a representative can display their cursor and highlight or circle important features, click on them, or draw on the screen. If this is not sufficient, they can also — with consent — take full control of the customer’s device.
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Using a personalised feedback form, customers can evaluate their experience afterward to help your business provide better service going forward.
Part of the secure TeamViewer software family
TeamViewer technology provides private individuals, independent operators, and companies remote access to a range of devices from any location at any time — easily, safely, and across all major operating systems. IT security is part of TeamViewer’s DNA. Working in collaboration with internationally renowned experts, an experienced cyber security team ensures the highest security standards for all solutions, including TeamViewer Engage. As a company based in Germany, TeamViewer complies with European data protection regulations and guidelines including the GDPR. Its data centres and quality management processes are ISO-certified. All connections use strong encryption to ensure advanced protection of customer and employee data.Contact:
Contact:
TeamViewer Germany GmbH
Bahnhofsplatz 2
73033 Göppingen, Germany
Fon: +49 7161 60692 50
E-Mail: contact@teamviewer.com