Welcome to this issue of The DTC Insider newsletter. ๐
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In this newsletter, you'll find:
๐ Shopify's New Game-Changing Features (Part 1)
๐ CX Holiday Prep: Tips for a Smooth Peak Season
๐ Shopify's New Game-Changing Features (Part 2)
๐ How Pura Vida Leverages CX for Business Growth
Shopify's New Game-Changing Features (Part 1)
Shopify has recently announced some game-changing features for e-commerce brands.
Here we go!
Shopify Bundles:
Finally! ๏ปฟ๐๏ปฟ
A native solution for building bundles that won't give you headaches.
This app allows you to create product bundles natively.
You can create custom bundles from existing products in your catalog.
And when customers purchase them, the inventory of bundled products is automatically adjusted.
Shopify Subscriptions:
Subscription-based businesses are really popular in e-commerce.
There are lots of third-party subscription solutions available on the App Store.
However, a lot of them are paid.
But here's some good news!
The new Shopify Subscriptions app lets you offer your customers free product subscriptions.
And it's super easy for them to manage their subscriptions - they can cancel, pause, or update their payment details right from their customer account.
The app is not publicly released yet, but you can sign up for early access.
Shopify Flow available for Basic plans:
Shopify Flow is an app that allows store owners set up powerful automations.
Like sending a welcome email or delisting a sold-out product.
Initially, the app was available only to Shopify Plus merchants.
But gradually became available for the rest of the plans.
Starting today, it can be used by Shopify Basic stores for free as well.
CX Holiday Prep: Tips for a Smooth Peak Season
Written by Dan Brady.
Now that weโre into August, many people are starting to think about fall -- back to school, fall sports, pumpkin spiced lattes, cozy sweaters and shorter days.ย ย
For CX leaders & teams, this time of year is when Q4 preparation really begins to ramp up.ย
Q4 for retailers is the most crucial time of the year. For many brands, Q4 is what can make or break what would be considered a โsuccessfulโ year.ย ย
Seasonal spikes in sales and volume can be a challenge for brands. You need to make sure youโre staffed to handle the volume, or else you run the risk of a poor customer experience and losing potential repeat business.ย
From a CX perspective, here are some tips to make sure youโre prepared for Q4:ย
Analyze previous data: You should review your โarrival patternโ from the past 3-5 years to determine when customers are reaching out, and on which channels. This should help you determine appropriate staffing to make sure you can deliver response times within your SLA (Service Level Agreement). If there are spikes in volume, try to determine why there were spikes and what you can do to prevent these spikes from occurring again.ย
Determine staffing needs: Based on your arrival pattern of volume from prior years, you should determine how many people you need to add, and on which channels of communication. Someone internally should be able to provide you with an expected sales forecast. From there, consider your โService Ratioโ. For example, maybe 1 of out of every 10 customers who purchase contact you at some point. This formula helps you determine how many people may reach out.ย ย
Hire seasonal representatives: Similar to above, most likely, you will need to hire seasonal agents to get through the busiest months. Itโs good to find providers who can offer month-to-month or short term service agreements. Your finance dept. should be able to provide you with a budget for how many people you can add, or how much OT you can offer. ย
Implement work force monitoring: If you donโt already have work force monitoring, this is a great time to consider adding it. WFM is important to have in real time in case any channel is getting backed up and you need to make adjustments on the fly. ย
Review self-service options: Now is a great time to review FAQโs, knowledgebases, chatbots, AI, etc. and make sure that everything is functioning as intended and up to date with the most updated information. Specifically, make sure your Holiday related content is applicable in case anything has changed from prior years. Often times, policies can change during Q4, and make sure your information is up to date. ย
Communication is key: During this time of the year, you should be in constant contact with relevant stakeholders including: Your CX team, marketing, finance, operations, supply chain, external vendors, etc.ย
Shopify's New Game-Changing Features (Part 2)
Shopify Marketplace Connect:
Using the Shopify Marketplace Connect app, you can easily upload your products to marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, or Walmart.
Inventory, orders, descriptions, customers, and pricing are automatically synchronized.
You can even set up custom pricing for a specific marketplace.
Flex sections in the Online Store Editor:
"Flex sections" are improved sections that enable merchants to make changes to them.
Such as adjusting alignment, adding elements, and resizing.
This feature is coming later this year.
New Checkout features:
Shopify announced new features exclusive to the Plus plan.
They introduced 17 new APIs for developers and a very compelling product roadmap for Checkout Functions.
Some minor updates include:
๐๏ปฟ ย Address validation
๐๏ปฟ ย Custom fonts
๐๏ปฟ ย Upselling subscription
๐๏ปฟ ย Offering pre-orders
๐๏ปฟ ย Enhanced checkout editor, including preview.
B2B on Shopify:
These features are only for the Shopify Plus plan.
They give businesses more tools to fulfill their specific needs.
Some of the key new B2B features are:
๐๏ปฟ ย Native volume pricing
๐๏ปฟ ย Storing B2B customers' credit cards
๐๏ปฟ ย PayPal support for B2B
๐๏ปฟ ย Quick order lists
๐๏ปฟ ย Storefront customizations in theme editor for B2B clients
How Pura Vida Leverages CX for Business Growth
Your customers won't shop again if they don't know how to use your products correctly.
And that's a problem.
Isn't it?
That's why a great CX department is key to making sure this doesn't happen.
If you find yourself asking questions like:
"Do I need a CX department? Why?"
"How's CX different from Customer Support?"
"How can I leverage it to grow my business?"
Then listen to this episode of The DTC Insider podcast, featuringย Dan Brady, former Customer Success Manager at Pura Vida.
In this episode ofย The DTC Insiderย podcast, we discussed:
๐ The Winning Culture: Sport & Business
๐ Advocating for Outsourcing CX
๐ The Shifting Perspective on CX
๐ Leveraging CX for Business Growth
๐ Customer Success vs. Customer Support
๐ The Impact of Subscription Models on CX
๐ง Tune in to our latest episode: https://thedtcinsider.com/
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