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As expected, e-commerce is reaching new heights, as more and more customers are turning to online shopping.

According to Statista’s data predictions, global e-commerce sales will hit $4.2 billion and comprise 16% of total retail sales. Data also suggests that the numbers are going up as we continue into the ‘20s.

That means more e-commerce businesses are joining the race, and thus more competition will enter the market.

You may be ready to face upcoming challenges with strategic planning, a skilled workforce, and competitive marketing. But how advanced is your technology? This has a huge impact on the e-commerce sector. Technology is transforming the way users connect with brands and meet their purchasing needs, and, as a result, this empowers them to shop more.

One such technology that will help you win the race in the e-commerce industry is VoIP. Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a key element to determine how brands grow sales, remain efficient while increasing their revenue, engage customers, and improve the overall customer experience.

In today’s article, we are going to discuss the four ways VoIP can enhance your e-commerce business.

1. Elevate Your Customer Service Quality

Until now, your e-commerce brand has used landline numbers, online software, and email inquiries to communicate with customers. If the line was busy, your customers had to wait a long time to receive a live person to answer their inquiry. In the case of emails and voicemails, customers had to wait for up to 1-3 days to receive a response, which is not good news for your business.

Research shows that customers are impatient and do not want to wait. Rather than waiting, they hang up, which means you may have lost a potential customer—or even a loyal one!

Image Source: Comparison between cloud and on premise phone systems

Thanks to VoIP, you can put a permanent end to your customers’ wait time.

VoIP comes with built-in features, including: IVR (i.e., reroutes the call to an available operator); anywhere voicemail access (i.e., voicemails sent as emails for a quick response); on-hold music (i.e., offers a pleasurable wait time); all-inclusive communication modes (i.e., customers can contact you in any preferred way, such as calls, chats, video calls, etc.); and CRM (i.e., maintains all data in a central location).

Now, you can emulate a big e-commerce business and offer a seamless customer experience with the help of VoIP!

2. Enable 24-hour Availability from Anywhere

The beauty of e-commerce is that customers can purchase products round-the-clock. But are you available to answer their queries 24/7? After all, no executive can work 24/7.

No worries! VoIP is here to route calls to remote offices, where customer care executives can receive them.

VoIP breaks your international landline boundaries and area-specific phone number limitations by giving you a common number to use for customer support. No matter where you are, customers can call you from any location using this common number. Your entire staff—even remote workers—can work from anywhere, using any convenient internet-connected platform, and they can answer calls from multiple IP addresses.

In short, after VoIP, you’ll never miss a client again!

3. Auto-Upsell Your Products or Services

The goal of any e-commerce business is to build a relationship with customers using any opportunity you can get your hands on. One such underrated opportunity is taking advantage of customers’ on-hold time while they wait to connect with a staff member. Instead of using silence or some boring music during their wait time, you can use an effective on-brand message, furnished with irresistible offers to auto-upsell your products or services.

VoIP helps you record an on-brand message easily and deliver it to customers during their waiting period, thereby turning a boring process into a pleasing one.

Tip: Keep the on-brand message small, sweet, and simple, as no customer enjoys hearing long offers.

4. Slash Your Overhead Costs

One of the surest benefits of VoIP is that it cuts the cost of telephone service.

Landline service providers charge on a minute-by-minute basis, not including the extra costs that it consumes for line installations, hardware requirements, and cable repairs. Since customer service lies at the heart of your e-commerce business, this ultimately leads to higher monthly bills.

On the other hand, VoIP works via the internet, so calls are transmitted over the broadband network, which equals big savings on overhead costs. Moreover, physical lines and cables are completely eliminated, and the entire setup takes very little time and investment to keep your e-commerce business running 24/7/365.

Plus, charges for international calls are the same as charges for local calls, since everything is working via the Internet.

You just need to make sure that your given bandwidth is enough to take care of your number of calls and your audio quality. Or, you can always switch to a higher bandwidth without worrying about installation charges.

VoIP Benefits E-commerce Businesses of All Sizes

Incorporating VoIP will enable you to offer better and cheaper customer service with better quality and functionality. If you are planning to grow your e-commerce business and stay competitive, then it’s time to consider calling your VoIP service provider and make the small investment in VoIP configuration.