The holiday season is a challenging time for retail customer support and it’s never too early to prepare. But as a CX leader, what do you do when budget constraints make it difficult to scale your support team or add new technology?

The good news is that the right mix of strategy and people-first tactics can provide great retail customer support even on a budget. Here are some affordable ways for customer service leaders to expand contact center support this holiday season.

1. Use Flexible Scheduling, Not More Staff, to Extend Hours

It’s not always possible or necessary to hire more agents. Instead, think about how you can use your current team in new ways.

With flexible shift scheduling, you can cover more hours of support during busy holiday times, evenings, and weekends. During the holidays, many retail customer support agents are willing to give up their regular 9-to-5 hours for shorter, part-time, or remote evening shifts. Using a “split-shift” model can enable agents to work in 2 to 4 hour blocks, offering additional flexibility for remote workers, students, and part-timers. Flexibility provides a win-win for both the company management and front-line workers.

Split shifts can also be beneficial for employees who are motivated to earn extra money during the holidays because it allows them to pick up additional part-time shifts in addition to their full-time hours. If you’re on a tight budget, just be aware of potential wage premiums for overtime.

2. Make Self-Service More Important (and Make It Holiday-Specific)

During the holidays, frequently asked customer questions are easy to guess, such as “Where’s my order?,” “What’s your return policy?” and “How do I send this as a gift?” Instead of sending common FAQs to live agents, create a new, holiday-themed self-service experience that includes:

• A seasonal FAQ page or chatbot that works well on mobile devices
• Tools for tracking orders in real time
• A holiday return and shipping policy that is easy to understand and follow

3. Use “Tier 0” AI to Take Care of Everyday Tasks

AI doesn’t have to mean that all jobs will be replaced or that everything will be done automatically. Instead, think of Tier 0 automation as an inexpensive barrier that sorts and handles simple tasks before they make it to a human agent.

For instance, a smart IVR system can use natural language processing to route calls based on what the caller wants to do, such as track orders, initiate returns, or change an address.

• Chat widgets that use AI can show answers from your knowledge base or provide links to the right page on your site.
• Basic AI ticket deflection tools can automatically reply to emails with links to helpful articles based on the words in the email.

4. Hire On-Demand Retail Customer Support Partners to Handle Certain Channels

Consider outsourcing a portion of your contact volume to a nearshore contact center partner with experience supporting retailers. Use cases for holiday season contact center outsourcing could include after-hours chat or Tier 1 contacts, including password resets, address changes, and basic product information.

While it may be tempting to outsource your most problematic channel, it’s important to recognize that the busy holiday season may not be the right time to undertake drastic process revamps. Instead, outsourcing discrete and relatively simple channels or lines of business is the best way to ensure the outsourcing initiative is successful. Once the outsourcing partner has proven its ability to handle one simple line of business, you’ll have more confidence in working with them on a plan to address more complex and challenging work.

When working with a contact center outsourcing partner, remember to write clear SOPs, keep brand voice guidelines up to date, and regularly audit performance. Ensure that your outsourcing partner offers a governance model that provides frequent communication and transparency.

Scale Smartly, Not Expensively

When you scale retail customer support during the holidays, it’s not just about hiring more agents; it’s also about creating system-wide models that can handle extra work without hurting the customer experience or the health of your team.

Flexible schedules and cross-training, adding AI and automation when it makes sense; offering self-help tools, and outsourcing overflow channels strategically, sets up a flexible, customer-focused support operation that outperforms during the holidays without going over budget.

Remember that managing the busy Q4 holiday season doesn’t have to be expensive. Contact Advensus for a free consultation to help you with a holiday season strategy that keeps current customers happy and turns new ones into loyal fans.