Sporting Goods Retailers: How to Apply Black Friday Best Practices to All Seasons
Simplr’s 2023 State of Online CX: Sporting Goods Retailers report reveals how today’s leading sporting goods brands are engaging (or neglecting) customers during one of their busiest seasons of the year.
Despite record-setting consumer spending during Black Friday, many of today’s leading sporting goods brands left quite a bit of money on the table. We believe that ineffective customer experience channels are to blame.
Simplr set out to find out whether or not sporting goods retail brands are using their digital channels at their fullest potential in order to reel in more conversions. In the process, we uncovered some exceptional performers as well as opportunities to improve chatbot, live chat, and email experiences so these brands can be sure to hit a home run during the next big shopping rush.
Where are Sporting Goods retailers falling short (or going the extra mile) with online customer service?
We identified one particular “problem area” and one area of opportunity for sporting goods retailers to consider when considering ways to optimize the customer experience:
- Problem area: live chat availability
- Opportunity: ways to add even more value with every customer interaction
Live Chat Availability: Who flipped the switch on Black Friday?
Based on two separate analyses, we found that nearly 18% of sporting goods brands switched off their live chat during the busiest time of the year (Black Friday through Cyber Monday).
For many businesses, deploying live chat during Black Friday can be a tall order: short-staff it and you run the risk of customer neglect. Turn it off, and you miss a sizable revenue opportunity.
Download the full report to see how some brands in this study were able to keep their live chat ON and still generate high CSAT scores.
Many brands are offering additional resources to their customers
Is your team going the extra mile to build customer loyalty? Over 33% of sporting goods retailers offered additional resources to customers during their shopping experience, which helped build better brand loyalty and retention.
By taking it one step further, sporting goods retailers like ASICS, Decathlon, and On Running were able to help customers perceive more value in the products and services provided—not just solve customers’ immediate problems.
How to hit a customer service grand slam in 2023
Every touchpoint throughout the buying process is an opportunity to build customer loyalty and maximize revenue—a chance to hit a grand slam, if you will.
For today’s sports enthusiasts, this means having easy access to information, fast response times, and quick resolutions, whether they’re troubleshooting an issue with their new bicycle, completing a baseball glove return, or tracking their recent golf equipment order.
Check out the full report to better understand why sporting goods brands need to eradicate customer neglect once and for all—and how to do it!