Improving Store Conversion Rates with a Right Managed Support Team

In these times, when digital commerce is a must for retail businesses, having only an online presence is not enough. Online retailers must ensure their eCommerce operations offer a secure, smooth, and uniform experience for customers along every step of their journey.

Given that eCommerce businesses require consistent IT support for different facets of their ecosystem, having a source of IT support is a must.

While in-house technology supports, outsourcing, and managed IT support are among the possible approaches, having a managed team can bring fortunes in.

Let’s first understand what managed services are, their benefits for eCommerce, and how they differ from other engagement models.

An eCommerce managed support team is a service provider that offers assistance to clients that are running an online business. They provide technical, administration, and customer service support as needed. This includes things such as setting up an eCommerce website, troubleshooting issues, optimizing user experience, handling customer inquiries, implementing security features, and providing after-sales support.

These services can be tailored according to the size of the business and the resources available to them. As a result, it helps businesses to increase their efficiency and effectiveness when it comes to managing their online operations.

Let’s put some more light on the benefits of a managed support team for eCommerce.

Here are the most common perks:

Hiring a managed technical support team can help e-commerce businesses improve their efficiency by saving them time and energy that would have otherwise gone into identifying, diagnosing, and resolving technical issues. As opposed to the time taken to resolve a technical issue autonomously, a qualified, managed technical support team can usually resolve issues in a fraction of the time.

Additionally, because the team is already familiar with your system setup, they can develop strategies to address potential issues or devise ways to prevent them altogether.

The experienced technicians from these services can also provide advice that allows business owners and decision-makers to make informed decisions quickly, helping them to stay one step ahead of competitors in reacting and addressing internal problems.

By leveraging an expert managed technical support team instead of in-house IT staff or individual contractors, e-commerce businesses can reduce operational costs. This is because hiring a managed technical support team eliminates overhead costs associated with traditional in-house IT staff, such as recruitment, holiday pay, administration costs, etc.’ Instead, it allows for the company to pay only for when its services are needed.

Additionally, having access to ongoing troubleshooting guidance for prolonged periods of time without potentially incurring extra costs over time – results in significant savings for businesses.

A managed technical support service will typically consist of individuals who are experienced in providing quality customer service and resolving customer queries quickly and efficiently – oftentimes providing customers with multiple layered solutions depending on their individual needs. Further, they can also identify any system issues that could arise during operations, allowing companies to take action before any serious malfunctions occur, thereby preventing downtime.

Therefore e-commerce businesses benefit from increased system reliability as well as higher levels of customer satisfaction since they don’t have to wait long periods of time while simple requests are resolved swiftly.

Managed technical support services have the potential to save businesses time and effort by providing custom-tailored solutions that can scale seamlessly with the company’s growth. By investing in such a service, an online business can grow without having to worry about increasing service demands or resources as the need for technical support grows with its success. This allows eCommerce businesses to remain agile and efficient.

In an ever-changing digital age, businesses must keep up with the latest technology trends to remain competitive. Moreover, many of these technologies also require extra human resources and time investment in order to be effectively implemented.

Managed technical services help alleviate this burden while ensuring that the business remains up-to-date with industry standards and customer expectations. Through managed technical services, businesses can reduce overheads such as training costs related to new technologies that would otherwise be invested in updating its back end infrastructure and operations systems.

Managed technical support services come equipped with the latest security tools and techniques, which enable them to secure online assets from malicious attacks or disruptions caused by hackers or other cyber criminals. As a result, this helps eCommerce businesses protect their sensitive data, such as customer information, from external threats or competitors seeking to gain an edge over them through unethical means.

Furthermore, managed technical support services like ours even offer automated updates for system software which further reinforces the security framework of any business’s IT systems, thereby reducing the risk posed by outdated programs while also minimizing downtime due to troubleshooting sessions triggered by bugs in old versions of applications used within their networks.

Managed technical support services can provide businesses with additional resources by supplementing their IT departments, allowing them to allocate personnel more efficiently in order to manage the increasing complexity of their internal infrastructure. This is especially beneficial for smaller organizations with limited staff and financial resources as these extra resources can help keep the organization’s online presence secure by regularly patching system and software vulnerabilities before they become a security issue.

Outsourcing vs. eCommerce Managed Support is an ongoing debate among business owners.

Cost: Outsourcing can be seen as a more cost-effective solution for businesses due to lower labor costs and no need to invest in additional resources. However, managed support teams usually offer services tailored to particular business needs and thus produce better results and higher ROI in the long run.

Flexibility: Since managed support teams provide eCommerce support, they can be more responsive to customers’ requests than an outsourced team, who may lack expertise in the industry or specific technology. This can result in faster resolution times and a better store conversion rate.

Experience: With managed service providers, businesses benefit from access to experienced professionals with expertise across multiple areas, including legal, payment processing, customer service, online marketing, etc. Outsourced service providers may not have specialized knowledge or skills that could be beneficial in certain scenarios, like eCommerce internationalization projects or complex integrations between systems and platforms.

Expertise: By using managed support teams instead of outsourced talent, one can ensure that all aspects of the project are covered by experts who understand the full scope of technology used for any given business’s operations which goes beyond basic web hosting tasks.

When a business in eCommerce is of a smaller or medium scale, it usually has a limited number of IT-support staff. The world of eCommerce technology is complicated, and these workers may not be able to handle complex issues.

Additionally, employing someone with more profound IT knowledge will add up to the operational costs. Sometimes, the cost of hiring personnel or getting IT assistance from an outside vendor could be more expensive than an MSP. Moreover, the in-house support team will only work during business hours, while MSPs can offer round-the-clock support – all year round.

Cost: In-house IT teams can be costly due to the need to hire and train staff, whereas a managed support team is typically more cost-effective as the vendor will provide qualified personnel and handle all of the training.

Availability: An in-house team may only be available during regular business hours, whereas a managed support team may offer 24/7 coverage.

Scalability: Managed support teams can scale quickly to meet your business needs, while an in-house team would require more time to find and train additional personnel if needed.

Expertise: An in-house IT team may have different technical expertise than a managed support team that specializes in IT services for businesses of your size and industry.

Efficiency: With access to advanced tools and systems, a managed support team can be more efficient than an in-house IT staff who may not have access to or experience with certain technology solutions.

Flexibility: With a managed support team, you can choose the specific services that you need, while an in-house IT staff will require you to provide resources for all IT-related tasks regardless of whether they are necessary or not for your business operations.

Here is how you can get started:

Create a plan: Before starting the process of picking an eCommerce managed team, it is important to build a strategic plan that clearly outlines the project objectives, budget, timeline, and requirements.

Research: Research different managed service providers who have successfully delivered on similar projects before to review their available resources, expertise, and capabilities.

Interview: After narrowing down a list of potential vendors, companies should conduct interviews or ask questions to assess the managed team’s understanding of eCommerce technology and their ability to address complex issues in a timely manner.

Cost evaluation: Once you have found the right eCommerce managed team for your project, consider both short-term costs associated with the initial setup and offer discounts for long-term contracts.

Make sure you are comfortable with their working process: Ask the vendor about things like their communication process, what methodology they use for tracking progress, and how often updates will be provided, which will help you better understand if they will be able to manage the level of collaboration needed for the success of the project.

Furthermore, here are some traits you should look for in your eCommerce managed service provider.

Industry expertise: A high-quality eCommerce managed service provider should have a strong understanding of the industry and trends, as well as expertise in the technologies used to build an online store.

Staff competency: The vendor should be able to provide highly skilled engineers, designers, and developers with both technical and marketing experience.

Flexibility: The eCommerce managed service provider should be able to quickly adapt to changes in customer demands and requirements while delivering quality results on time.

Excellent Communication: The company should have clear communication channels to ensure all stakeholders are on the same page throughout the project lifecycle for more efficient decision-making.

Comprehensive Approach: An effectively managed service vendor should strive for a comprehensive approach that includes data management, customer experience optimization, and other aspects for successful result delivery in eCommerce projects.

Having a highly-skilled and dedicated technical team for your eCommerce store definitely gives you an edge over your competition. With tech support always available, your marketing and sales teams can experiment with practices like A/B testing, abandoned cart promotions, etc., to improve conversions and drive more sales for your eCommerce business.