Contact Center Solutions Featured Article

Wal-Mart shoppers should be warned that they will no longer have an online service desk to call for assistance with orders placed at walmart.com. Wal-Mart has decided that recent improvements to its online portal make the Web service desk unnecessary, and have shut it down. However, according to a New York Times report, the general 1-800-WALMART service number will continue to be active for in-store purchase questions.

 

Industry critics are hardly impressed; most think closing down the walmart.com call center is a reckless act of cost-cutting that is destined to adversely affect the company in the long run.

 

Daniel Obregon, marketing communications manager for eStara, a vendor that sells click-to-call and click-to-chat services, questions the decision. He cites another online shopping giant that simply hid the phone numbers of its call center until buyers were into many layers of purchase on the web site. Until then, the company relied on its Web site to provide all the “Frequently Asked Questions” users were expected to seek answers to. The company, of course, is Amazon.com.  

 

Wal-Mart spokesperson Amy Colella feels that most of the questions asked by online shoppers refer to order tracking. The company has a well developed online tracking system in place, which is why it feels call center assistance is no longer necessary for those customers.

 

Still, analysts view the move as an obvious cost cutting measure, suggesting the company looks at the call center as a cost center and not and an opportunity center. They feel the company has not given enough consideration to its customers who may have different needs and may require actually speaking to a call center assistant to answer questions.

 

So, for all you walmart.com shoppers, be sure you know what you’re doing when you place your order — if you don’t there may be nobody for you to call with your concerns.