Hit and miss customer service from Twittering internet retailers

Twitter is developing as a platform for customer relations. It is an incredibly efficient and cost effective means to communicate with customers.

In the last 48 hours I’ve polled internet retailers to find out whether they have contingency plans in place for the national postal strike.

I asked a dozen brands using Twitter IDs sourced directly or via e-consultancy: @amazon; @CDWOWUK; @espares; @figleaveshome; @firebox; @grazedotcom; @Hotel_Chocolat; @lovefilm; @maplintweet; @overheardatmoo; @playcom; and @waterstonesltd.

I’ve had four responses from @espares, @figleaveshome, @firebox and @lovefilm. @mat_henton from espares deserves special praise. He responded within minutes.

It’s hardly exhaustive or scientific survey (a bit like real life) but it shows that a handful of internet retailers are making extraordinary efforts to use Twitter as a channel and tackle the impending postal strike.

Equally others are using Twitter as a broadcast channel or have work to do to put contingency plans in place for the postal strike.

5 Responses to “Hit and miss customer service from Twittering internet retailers”

1. Robin Grant, We Are Social says:

   October 19, 2009 at 10:37 pm

   What on earth makes you think it’s cost effective?
2. Wadds says:

   October 19, 2009 at 10:58 pm

   Hi Robin – Fair point. It has the potential to be cost effect for those businesses that are able to integrate it into their business process. Its the same issues that businesses faced in the late 90s re-engineering their businesses around email and web as a customer channel.
3. Valuable Internet Information » Hit and miss customer service from Twittering internet retailers … says:

   October 20, 2009 at 4:32 am

   [...] See more here: Hit and miss customer service from Twittering internet retailers … [...]
4. Mike Exon says:

   October 20, 2009 at 9:01 am

   Great idea, poor turn out, surely it proves just how far things need to go…
5. Twitter customer conversations: Leon case study | Wadds' PR Blog says:

   October 25, 2009 at 6:50 pm

   [...] week I bemoaned online retailers that are using Twitter as a one way channel to broadcast to [...]

Additional comments powered by BackType