Sydney: January 16, 2022: Online marketplaces and ecommerce sites have enjoyed unparallelled growth during the pandemic. With this surge in demand comes a rise in customer service and swamped retailers are turning to outsource partners for help.
Sharon Melamed, Founder of Matchboard, says her matching site has received a higher than ever number of outsourcing requests from retailers across diverse categories – from apparel and nutritional supplements to mowing supplies and groceries. “The common theme is that these online businesses need assistance answering an unexpected volume of customer inquiries about product, shipping, and return policies, and they’re after both quality and cost-effective solutions. They can’t seem to find the staff locally. One country we’ve suggested clients look at is Fiji – they have a surplus of trained customer service staff from the tourism industry who are now more than happy to switch careers into business process outsourcing. The accent is neutral, the cost is on a par with the Philippines, and consumers love it when they hear the service is being delivered from Fiji!”
Matchboard has a community of outsource partners around the world, from Fiji and the Philippines to New Zealand, the UK and South Africa. “For online businesses looking to outsource and develop a global workforce, the world is truly their oyster.”
Melamed, who in a previous role helped big US retailers like Saks and Victoria’s Secret set up contact centres and return merchandise facilities in Japan, said that Australian retailers should also consider offering in-language customer service to take full advantage of the potential international markets have to offer.