When businesses focus on operations, they are always looking forward to optimizing the costs of every single element. That’s totally logical, because essentially everything at the company revolves around the money-invested and its ROI (return on investment).
And when it comes to measuring the ROI of every department, the customer support division is no different.
In this article, I have measured the cost of an ecommerce customer support department, how outsourcing can reduce it and why HiredSupport is the best ecommerce customer support outsourcing company.
Perfect, let’s dive in.
Benefits of Ecommerce Customer Service Outsourcing
The primary benefit of outsourcing customer support is saving your cost while providing the best results.
However, there are many other benefits that come along. For example, you don’t need to focus on hiring, firing, human resource management, legal compliances and much more.
In the coming section, I have listed the detailed benefits of outsourcing your ecommerce customer support.
1. Saves Cost
Like I have said before, every business needs to optimize the cost of their department. And for an ecommerce store, a business owner first needs to measure the cost of an in-house team.
I have made it simplified to you by measuring it in the coming section:
In-House Ecommerce Customer Support Cost
According to the Ziprecruiter, an Online Agent in the US costs around $78,594 per annum.
Even if you are a small ecommerce business, handling few of the customers’ queries 24/7, you’d at least need to hire 3 agents who will rotate shifts.
Now, let’s measure the overall cost:
| Business Size | Agents Needed | In-House Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Small Medium Ecommerce | 3 | $235,782 |
Outsourced Ecommerce Customer Support Cost
Now, let’s look at the cost of outsourcing your ecommerce support to HiredSupport.
HiredSupport starts from $7/hour, if you are hiring 3 agents for 24/7 who will rotate shifts, the total cost will like this:
| Business Size | Agents Needed | Outsourcing to HiredSupport Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Small Medium Ecommerce | 3 | $43,200 |
In-House VS Outsourcing Cost
Now let’s make the comparison between in-house vs outsourcing to the HiredSupport
| Business Size | Small Medium Ecommerce |
| Agents Needed | 3 |
| In-House Cost | $235,782 Per Annum |
| Outsourcing to HiredSupport Cost | $43,200 Per Annum |
| You Save with HiredSupport | $192,582 Per Annum (81.65%) |
Our estimation shows that you are going to save 81.65% by outsourcing your ecommerce customer support to the HiredSupport.
2. Saves Time – No Management Needed
The best way to manage your business effectively comes with the following balance:
- Automate the repeated tasks.
- Prioritize what’s important to you.
- And focus on what produced the results aligned with the goals.
An in-house manager does not offer this balance in the management. It’s not a complex task to handle, yet if it’s burning your hours then you are making the wrong choice.
Time is definitely money while operating a company and being a business owner. You are a person with a lot of valuable skills, and focusing on the redundant may start to lessen your productivity.
You may want to focus on making your product better or finding new opportunities for revenue and should consider getting the redundant tasks outsourced.
3. Basic Salaries + Add-Ons
According to a report, the US paid more than $200 billion to commercial energy expenses. These are the expenses you, me and all of the business owners got accounted for.
These are the unknown costs that we never hold our teams accountable for.
I call this the “sitting cost of an employee”. For example, according to a study, if an employee based salary in the UK is £27,600, it can go up to £62,890 by the end of first year!
There’s more to the equation that you need to consider: full-time employee legal compliances, benefits, dinners, perks, memberships, medical, insurance and the list goes on.
Outsourcing literally saves you from all of these employees’ headaches – no sitting costs, less legal compliances, and fewer benefits.
You pay less, and expect better results. Simple!
4. Performance Driven
You need to account for many things beyond asking the performance issues. For example, an employer needs to account how many days a person took off, his health, and much more.
And to make it more simple, sometimes even finding the issue is in itself a big task. However, with the right ecommerce outsourcing solution, this isn’t an issue.
You just need to ask for the performance and that’s it!
How to Outsource an Ecommerce Business
Now that we have discussed how outsourcing can help you to achieve better results with low costs, let’s dive into how to outsource ecommerce business.
Following are the 5 steps you need to consider before outsourcing your ecommerce customer support department:
Step 1: Identify the Outsourcing Options
To outsource eCommerce customer service, you’ll have a few options. You can either hire an agency that specializes in eCommerce customer management or use an independent contractor who will work for you on an as-needed basis.
Before selecting your outsourcing partner, be sure to look at their sample works and see how they handle similar situations.
Step 2: Define your criteria
The best place to start is with your customer service expectations. How do you plan on training your outsourced staff (in-house or abroad)? What’s a good ratio of response time, resolution rate, and touchpoints per customer that you’ll accept?
For your remote associates to follow in-house procedures properly and give each customer an authentic experience, they need clearly defined guidelines.
Outsourcing your eCommerce customer service may be beneficial if you want another set of eyes monitoring online activity.
Step 3: Find a suitable provider
Once you’ve found your niche, it’s time to find a suitable provider.
There are many companies that provide outsourcing services for ecommerce customer support. I’d recommend choosing a provider that actually fits into your requirements.
I have also given a list of top 3 ecommerce customer support companies in the coming section, so you can choose the company that actually fits into your requirements.
Step 4: Determine ROI for your Ecommerce outsourcing solutions
In the above section, I have provided an estimation about how much you can save by outsourcing. However, these numbers are subject to change based on the requirements and needs of a business.
I’d suggest running a “value for money” analysis to measure the ROI. It will help you to make informed decisions.
Read More: How to Outsource Customer Support in 8 Simple Steps
Best Customer Service Outsourcing Companies for Ecommerce Store
Following are top 3 customer outsourcing companies for ecommerce store:
1. HiredSupport
At HiredSupport, they are are all about saving your cost while providing exceptional services. They have a history of more than 8+ years of serving clients and managed to help them score over 92% on satisfaction.
Whether you are a small medium ecommerce business, a startup, a dropshipper or any other type of business, you won’t find anyone better than HiredSupport.
Their features include:
- Amazon Store Support
- Data Entry
- eCommerce Support
- Email Support
- Help Desk Agents
- Live Chat Support
- Lead Generation
- Shopify Store Support
Check out their ecommerce success stories to see how they do it. They’re not just another company you outsource to – you’ll feel them your partner while working with them.
Free Trial
Luckily, HiredSupport offers a free trial that many companies do not offer. They will simply onboard you, run an audit, and will know how you can save you money and can boost customer satisfaction rate.
Zero cost, and you can set the right expectations out of outsourcing.
Pricing
HiredSupport pricing starts from $600/month (8 hours/day, 5 days/week). They provide a lot of customized packages as well.
2. Helpware
Helpware is a great option if you need help with customer support. They specialize in assisting eCommerce businesses and are really good at it.
Their team can handle everything from answering questions to managing orders, so your customers stay happy.
Free Trial
Unfortunately, Helpware does not provide a free trial.
Pricing
Helpware pricing starts from $1,800-$1,200 per month, that also depends upon your plan and needs.
3. Odondo
Ondondo is also an excellent choice for businesses seeking reliable customer support solutions.
Their dedicated team is skilled at handling customer inquiries, providing assistance, and ensuring customer satisfaction.
Whether you’re a small startup or a large corporation, Ondondo’s scalable solutions can accommodate your business needs effectively
Free Trial
Unfortunately, Helpware does not provide a free trial.
Pricing
Odondo starts from £18 per hour per agent for typical working hours.
Conclusion
Ecommerce customer support outsourcing results can be an incredibly effective way of delivering customer service at a lower cost. When done right, outsourcing can also provide you the opportunities to focus on your important tasks and avoiding any extra hassle.
