An unread email saying the frozen shrimp is shipping two days early could be a disaster, but one easily averted with a phone call. Although there are some commerce sites getting better at this one, we couldn t find an example that really excels at this level of personal choice. But it s coming, and when it does, the site that treats customers exactly how each wants to be treated will have the real advantage. The customer is always right. Okay, the customer isn t always right, but find a way to make the person right.
Clients do make mistakes.
They mis-type orders, read quantities wrong, ignore terms and conditions. You can choose to insist customers take the blame for their errors, but e-commerce is new, every site is different, and even the most experienced online shoppers are still figuring it out. So give them a break. Happily refund, replace, reship whatever it takes to make a customer feel good about doing business with you. Let the customer save face.