How ICT has changed customer service
Definition
ICT: information and communication technology, the computers, networks and software a business uses to store information and communicate with its customers.
- ICT lets a business inform, sell to and support customers without a counter, a phone queue or a member of staff being free at that moment.
- The three developments to know are the website, e-commerce and social media, with apps, live chat, email and order tracking built on top of them.
Note
The wider effects of technology on production and on business costs belong to the technology topic in Unit 2; here the focus is service to the customer.
Websites and order tracking
- Answers at any hour: product pages, size guides, opening hours, stock checks and frequently asked questions deal with routine queries at eleven at night, when the shop is shut.
- Customers can serve themselves. Booking an appointment, moving a delivery slot, printing a returns label or downloading a manual all happen without contacting anybody.
- Order tracking removes the uncertainty. The customer can see where the item is and when it will arrive, so they do not have to ring up and ask where their parcel has got to.
- One website serves thousands at once. The cost of answering each question is tiny compared with staffing a phone line, and no customer is left holding on.
Example
- Argos lets a customer check that a named store has an item in stock and reserve it before leaving the house.
- Nobody queues for something that was never there, so the website prevents the complaint rather than handling it afterwards.
E-commerce and apps
Definition
E-commerce: buying and selling goods and services over the internet.
- Customers can buy at any hour from anywhere, so the business is no longer limited to people who can reach its premises while it is open.
- Saved addresses, card details and past orders make reordering quick, which is why an Ocado grocery order takes minutes rather than an hour in the aisles.
- Apps add order updates, loyalty rewards and one-tap reordering, which keeps the business in contact between purchases.
- Clear online returns, with a printed label and a nearby drop-off point, remove the risk the customer feels when buying something they cannot try first.
Example
- The Domino's app shows the order being made and then out for delivery, with the driver's progress on screen.
- Customers stop wondering whether the order was received, so the shop answers far fewer chasing calls on a Friday night.
Social media, live chat and email
- Replies are fast and often public. A question answered on Instagram or X within minutes is seen by everyone else following the business, so helpful service doubles as advertising.
- Live chat gives help while the customer is still deciding. A chat window handles simple queries instantly and passes the unusual ones to a member of staff, which saves the sale before the customer closes the page.
- Email leaves a written record. Confirmations, quotes and delivery dates in writing settle later arguments about what was promised, which matters most on warranty claims.
- Comments and reviews are feedback the business can act on. When the same complaint appears repeatedly, the business can change the delivery window or the sizing guide instead of guessing at what is wrong.
Example
- When a train is cancelled, a Northern Rail account that replies within minutes with the next service and how to claim looks helpful to everybody reading the thread.
- The same complaint left unanswered all day is what other passengers see instead, and they judge the whole company by it.
Common Mistake
- Moving service onto social media makes every complaint public, so a criticism now sits underneath the business's own posts where future customers read it.
- Customers who are not confident online, or who have no reliable internet, still need a phone number or a counter, so the website cannot be the only way in.
Exam technique
- A common wording is explain how advances in ICT have improved customer service at this business, so name one tool, say what the customer can now do, then give the effect on the business.
- Use the tool the case study actually mentions: tracked delivery matters to a mail-order firm, live chat to a bank, and reviews to a restaurant.
- Keep the three named developments distinct, because a website that only shows information is not e-commerce until the customer can buy through it.
- Avoid listing tools with no effect attached, because "they have a website and social media" describes the business and explains nothing.
Self review
- Name the three ICT developments this topic covers.
- How does order tracking cut the number of calls a business receives?
- Give one way an app keeps a business in contact with a customer between purchases.
- Why is a complaint on social media riskier for a business than the same complaint made at the counter?
- Which customers can be left out when service moves online, and what should the business keep for them?
