Zavvi improves website tech for Christmas

High street chain Zavvi is getting ready for the Christmas rush by improving its online offering with self-service technology.

The entertainment chain, which replaced Virgin Megastores last year, is implementing a solution from eService company Transversal, which will allow users to the get their online queries answered more efficiently.

The self-service website technology has already helped double the number of customers finding answers to questions about Zavvi through the site since the beginning of October.

Abandonment rates after visiting customer service has halved, with conversion rates - the number of people who visit casually and perform a desired action - doubling.

Melvin Simpson, head of e-commerce operations at Zavvi entertainment group, said that the implementation was vital as it built Zavvi's reputation for customer satisfaction, with customer service its top goal.

He said: "If you look at the type of business we are, we are selling largely the same product at often the same prices as our competitors. We think about the ways that we can differentiate ourselves."

Simpson said that online retail was growing significantly as part of the Zavvi business, which had taken time encouraging customer business as a brand.

"We've invested a lot of time and energy through looking at every aspect of the user experience and worked very hard to get the basics right to ensure that every time a customer visits Zavvi they get what they want and have a satisfying experience."

The ask Zavvi a question' technology provides answers to a range of customer queries, and now currently has responses to over 150 questions, which was claimed to increase at 10 per cent each week.

Simpson said it was reducing the workload for existing customer service employees: "For a start it's reducing the number of contacts that are coming through to our customer service agents.

"It is meaning that when these contacts are getting through there is context around that and we've already been able to eliminate some of the issues that they might have had before."