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Checklist · E-commerce

10 contact reasons that shouldn’t exist

Good self-service exists for every one of these reasons today. Your customers still write and call. In 15 minutes you’ll see where your money sits.

~20%

of enquiries in e-commerce are “Where is my order?”, in peak season even one in three. With tracking and notifications, case studies mostly show these enquiries dropping by 40 to 50 percent.Sources: market studies and practice reports from the industry, details at the end of the checklist.

1 · TickCan your customers already handle this themselves, without asking?
2 · Enter the shareHow many of your enquiries are about this? From your ticket system, or one week of tally marks in the team.
3 · CalculateBelow, your ticks and shares turn into a range in euros.

	Contact reason	How it works without an enquiry	Can your customers already do this themselves?			Share of your enquiries
	Contact reason	How it works without an enquiry	Yes	Partly	No	Share of your enquiries
1	Where is my order?Tracking with notifications	Tracking with notifications	YesWhere is my order?: Yes	PartlyWhere is my order?: Partly	NoWhere is my order?: No	%
2	Register a returnReturns portal with print-your-own label	Returns portal with print-your-own label	YesRegister a return: Yes	PartlyRegister a return: Partly	NoRegister a return: No	%
3	Where is my refund?Refund status in the customer account	Refund status in the customer account	YesWhere is my refund?: Yes	PartlyWhere is my refund?: Partly	NoWhere is my refund?: No	%
4	Change or cancel an orderIn the customer account until shipped	In the customer account until shipped	YesChange or cancel an order: Yes	PartlyChange or cancel an order: Partly	NoChange or cancel an order: No	%
5	Change delivery address or dateRedirect with the parcel carrier	Redirect with the parcel carrier	YesChange delivery address or date: Yes	PartlyChange delivery address or date: Partly	NoChange delivery address or date: No	%
6	Invoice, paymentInvoice and payment status in the customer account	Invoice and payment status in the customer account	YesInvoice, payment: Yes	PartlyInvoice, payment: Partly	NoInvoice, payment: No	%
7	Voucher doesn’t workClear terms, understandable error message	Clear terms, understandable error message	YesVoucher doesn’t work: Yes	PartlyVoucher doesn’t work: Partly	NoVoucher doesn’t work: No	%
8	Availability, delivery timeShown in the shop, back-in-stock alert	Shown in the shop, back-in-stock alert	YesAvailability, delivery time: Yes	PartlyAvailability, delivery time: Partly	NoAvailability, delivery time: No	%
9	Size, dimensions, product questionsSize advisor, FAQs on the product page	Size advisor, FAQs on the product page	YesSize, dimensions, product questions: Yes	PartlySize, dimensions, product questions: Partly	NoSize, dimensions, product questions: No	%
10	Customer account, passwordReset it yourself	Reset it yourself	YesCustomer account, password: Yes	PartlyCustomer account, password: Partly	NoCustomer account, password: No	%

The order is typical but not measured. In peak season the picture shifts strongly towards “Where is my order?”. Your own numbers are the best yardstick.

Your most common contact reason isn’t on the list? Bring it to the results check and we’ll work it out with your numbers.

Checklist · E-commerce

What these enquiries cost you

Your tick	Sum of your shares	of which realistically shiftable	cautious	optimistic
Yesself-service exists	%	30–40%	%	%
Partlyexists, but snags	%	20–30%	%	%
Nostill needs building	%	10–20%	%	%
= Shiftable share of all enquiries			%	%

Enquiries per yearphone, email and chat togetherNo call numbers at hand? Work it out roughly with your service FTE →

×Shiftable sharefrom the table aboveMore than 20% of all enquiries? Then take a closer look: that’s the ceiling McKinsey publicly names for reducing contact volume.% to %

×Cost per enquiryservice costs per year divided by enquiries per yearNot at hand? Service costs per year: €€

= Your lever per year

€ to €

Tick above, enter shares, then enquiries and costs here. A first order of magnitude, not a business case. We calculate on the cautious side: where self-service already exists, a bigger part of your enquiries counts as shiftable. Where it still needs building, a smaller part. What building it costs and what it brings, we work out in the lever analysis on site.

Worked example, all assumptions open: 100 service FTE × €50,000 fully loaded cost = €5m a year. At 720,000 enquiries a year that’s around €6.90 per enquiry. Say your ticks split like this: yes 20%, partly 15%, no 10% of enquiries. Then a cautious 10% can be shifted (6 + 3 + 1), an optimistic 14.5% (8 + 4.5 + 2). That’s 72,000–104,400 enquiries, so around €500,000–720,000 a year.

Why customers still get in touch

Can’t find it. The self-service exists, but the invoice, website and IVR don’t point to it.
Drop out. Forgotten login, form too long, photo not recognised. In the end there’s an enquiry.
No confirmation. Customers don’t know if it worked and ask to be sure.
The team doesn’t redirect. Agents who handle everything themselves don’t bring customers to self-service.

Somewhere between the call and the invoice, your money is slipping away.

We’ll show you where, and how much. In unnecessary contacts, in the conversation or in your contract with the provider. Often a bit of each.

One figure in euros. The three biggest levers. One action for Monday.

30 minutes · free · confidential · directly with Matthias Werlich · Your checklist figures go straight into the booking.30 minutes · free · confidential · directly with Matthias Werlich · Just bring this checklist along.

Book a results check calendly.com/dstraticx/30min

Sources

DigitalGenius, “What is a normal WISMO rate?”, 17.04.2023 (21 percent on average, 36 percent in peak season).
Case studies by parcelLab and Narvar on reducing order-status enquiries, various years.
Worked example and assumptions: DStratiCX. 20% ceiling for avoidable contact volume based on public statements by McKinsey.