The future of work... in eCommerce

"How many people will I need to hire in customer sales and support in the Q4 holiday period this year?"

This is the question that appears to be top of mind for eCommerce customer operations leaders right now. With the rapid adoption of AI within customer sales and service teams, many eCommerce businesses are already achieving significant efficiencies and are realising that peak season hiring plans may need to be adjusted as a result.

Since mid-2023, customer operations teams have been gradually integrating AI into their work practices and seeing almost instant benefits. We're seeing early adopters achieve up to 4x efficiency gains; ranging from handling 4 times more queries, reducing response times by 75%, to reducing messages per query from 4.1 to 1.2 on average. In effect, they're able to achieve a lot more with much less.

Where is AI helping?

As operations leaders look ahead to peak season '24, the key question is what all this means for resource planning. It also opens up the bigger question of the shape of CX teams in 2025 and beyond. All indications are that there will be less people working in customer support in eCommerce over the next 18-24 months. There are 2 ways this is happening.

1. AI is helping sales and support teams to be more effective. With wide-ranging assistance capabilities, from interpreting, summarizing, categorizing and providing suggested responses and actions; AI working in co-pilot mode is relieving customers teams of huge swathes of heavy lift.
2. AI agents are complementing human members of customer teams. AI agents are picking up triage, first-level query management and detailed information and data retrieval. These are they types of tasks that AI is capable of doing independently and is often "better" at than humans.

So, we're getting to the nub of it. What work are humans better at and what would should humans seek to do in future? As Barry Schwartz (Ted speaker and author of 'Why We Work') says, "Ninety percent of adults spend half their waking lives doing things they would rather not be doing at places they would rather not be" and "to be satisfied with our work, we typically need a belief in the purpose of what we do".

What work should humans do?

We sometimes call this 'meaningful' work. And there is plenty of it in eCommerce. I am passionate about eCommerce as I grew up with two self-employed parents running their own small local retail outfits. eCommerce is the ultimate opportunity for self-realisation of millions of people across the globe.

In customer service, many aspects of the work can be particularly meaningful, both to the employees and in terms of the broader impact on the business and its customers:

• Problem Solving: People who work in the support team derive a sense of accomplishment from helping customers resolve issues effectively. Whether it's addressing a shipping problem, troubleshooting a product issue, or clarifying billing questions, solving these problems can be immensely satisfying.
• Building Relationships: Providing personalized service to customers can build loyalty and trust. Exceptional customer service representatives typically remember repeat customers, and go on to customize interactions, and go beyond basic expectations can significantly influence customer satisfaction and retention.
• Empathy and Support: Being able to empathize with customers and offer support during their shopping experience is meaningful. This can be especially true in situations where customers might be frustrated or upset. Turning a negative experience into a positive one can be rewarding and impactful.
• Driving Business Improvement: Feedback gathered by customer service teams can lead to improvements in products, services, and processes. Employees who see their feedback lead to real changes may feel more connected to the success of the business.
• Supporting Purchase Decisions: Educating customers about products or services can enhance their shopping experience and decision-making process. Providing useful information and guidance can be fulfilling, particularly when it helps customers make choices that they are satisfied with.
• Crisis Management: Managing and resolving crises, such as navigating supply chain disruptions or addressing widespread technical issues, adds significant value to a company and its customer base. Successfully handling such events can provide a deep sense of achievement and reinforce the importance of the customer service role.

These meaningful aspects not only enhance job satisfaction among customer service representatives but also contribute to a positive customer experience and the overall success of the eCommerce business.

Is AI replacing humans?

This is the broader question across society. It is a question that often comes laden with anxiety about what the future might hold for us humans. People instantly jump to visions of a dystopian future where humans have no jobs because robots are doing everything. To put context on this, Amazon was founded just 30 years ago in 1994. Prior to that, there were very few people working in eCommerce at all... so it's not quite an end game scenario for humankind that the work people do is going to change.

eCommerce business are highly process-oriented and in companies with high transaction volume, highly data driven. Handling and scaling data-driven processes is where AI can really help businesses to perform at a higher level. In addition, freeing up humans from routine and mundane tasks, means that people can focus on those more meaningful jobs, that only humans can do, or moreover that we prefer humans to do.

The future of work in eCommerce is not about AI replacing humans but about AI empowering them to focus on what they do best—creating meaningful interactions and solving complex problems that require a human touch. By leveraging AI to handle routine and data-driven tasks, we enable customer service professionals to dedicate more time to providing empathetic support, building lasting relationships, and driving strategic improvements that benefit both the business and its customers. Ultimately, the blend of human creativity and AI efficiency presents a promising vision for the future.