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The Intershop engine and the Caliber Design
Application
The Intershop ecommerce engine is an excellent product that
allows customers to place orders for themselves on the Internet.
However, the engine does not allow for one person to take
an order for another person as would happen at a call center
nor does it provide other key features that a call center
needs in order to function. We took the Intershop engine and
rewrote key pieces to provide our clients with all the tools
they need to run a sophisticated call center in addition to
their web storefront. Our technology optimizes Intershop,
and makes it functional for the call center environment.
A single-page order form
for use by the call center
Agents input all information about a customer's order on
a single order form. They confirm the order on the following
page and they take the credit card data on a secure third
page. Everything about the interface has been designed to
minimize the number of clicks, keystrokes, and page loads
required of the agent.
Easy access to complete
customer history
With one click, an agent can access a customer's entire
order history. This history outlines all purchases, refunds,
discounts and employee comments. If a customer does not have
his or her order number, the agent can still access the customer
history by querying the database with the customer's name,
phone number, or any other piece of personal data.
Comprehensive order summaries
Many things can go wrong with an order. International orders
can be held up in customs, there may have been a picking error
at the warehouse, the customer may decide he or she wants
to cancel all or part of the order before it is shipped. Any
number of things can and do crop up between payment and the
actual delivery. Our order summary view provides a complete
list of all attempted credit card transactions (including
refunds and failed authorizations), all employee comments
specific to this order and, of course, information about the
order itself (ship-to, bill-to, the line-items, and discounts).
From this page it is possible to see the exact moment that
the fulfillment center received the order and the UPS tracking
number for that order.
Complete UPS integration
Complete UPS tracking is integrated into the Call Center
Application. When an order is shipped, the UPS tracking number
is automatically emailed to customers. This essentially outsources
the “Where’s my package?” questions to 1-800-PICK-UPS instead
of the call center. For customers without email, the call
center agents can track an order with just one click. With
access to this data an agent is equipped to handle just about
any support request. Furthermore, we are working on a feature
to analyze the difference in time between the fulfillment
center receiving an order and that order being shipped.. (e.g.
Last month, our warehouse took 48 hours to pick, pack, and
ship an order, but now we are down to only 24-hour turn-around.
Knowledge base of comments
and preferences
Agents can build a knowledge base of comments associated
with a specific customer or order. These comments help track
the history of an order and give the agents information to
provide a more personalized level of customer support to their
callers. (e.g. Comment used for upselling: “John is a great
customer and always orders a tie when he buys a new dress
shirt – he is a size 16 1/2 33” Agent: “And what tie are you
interested in today to go with that shirt?” e.g. Comment used
for special instructions to warehouse: “This order is a gift.
Please add a gift card with the message, Happy Birthday Mom!”
Controlled access to critical data and features
Agents can be granted access to information
and features on an individual basis. For example, entry-level
agents do not need access to complete credit card numbers
or to marketing reports. Our software allows agents to be
given access to only those features they need. Matador logs
which call agent registered a customer and log the agent that
placed each order.
Accountability
When an agent takes an order, inputs a comment or enters
a refund, the system remembers who initiated the action. This
feature is valuable for determining which agents are the most
productive – measured in both total dollars and total orders.
This feature also makes it easy to retrain agents that are
not performing as well and to track mistakes.
Functional refunds
Our complete integration with the Cybersource payment-processing
system allows agents--those with the appropriate level of
access--to issue full or partial refunds on any order. Surprisingly,
the official Cybersource cartridge that Intershop wrote does
not allow partial refunds as is required by VISA. This was
one of the reasons we chose to write our own, much improved
implementation. Our application provides a great deal of customer
service empowerment designed to increase customer retention.
Clean and simple interface
to process "failed orders"
Occasionally, an order is not billed when it is placed due
to failed credit card address verification, suspected fraud,
insufficient funds or even a technical problem within the
credit card processing network (e.g. construction workers
cut a cable). In any of these cases, the order is "queued"
for further review. Agents with access to the queued orders
can easily see the conditions surrounding the failed transaction,
examine the order itself, look at the customer's history and
then decide to either accept or reject the order with a single
click. The “accept” button re-attempts to bill the customer's
card. The "reject" button emails the customer a
polite notice asking him or her to mail in a check or money
order. Included in this email is an URL to a web page that
will display the complete order in a printable form.
Improved sales and marketing
reports
Currently our software allows administrators and agents
that have been specifically granted access, the ability to
run the following reports:
- Point of sale: This report shows the origins of all the
orders in a date range. e.g. 200 orders from the web storefront,
500 from the call center, 50 by mail, 40 by fax, etc.
- Agent performance: How many orders has each agent taken
during a given period? How large were those orders?
- Product velocity: How quickly are products selling? Great
for managing inventory and analyzing the performance of
product-specific marketing.
- Credit card report: Break down by card type (Visa, MasterCard,
AmEx, Discover) of all transactions. This is used for credit
card reconciliation.
- Sales tax report: How much tax is owed to which states?
- Warehouse efficiency report: What is the lag between
when a warehouse receives an order and when it actually
ships. This report should analyze the difference in time
from when the fulfillment center receives an order to the
time that it ship and generates a report that analyzes warehouse
efficiency. (e.g. Last month, our warehouse took 48 hours
to pick, pack, and ship an order, but now we are down to
only 24-hour turn-around.) It should be possible to produce
a list of non-shipped orders over a certain age.
- Advertising analysis report: Used to track advertising
effectiveness. Answers the question, “How did my customers
hear about me?” 50% from the holiday catalog, 20% from the
web, 10% from the ad in the January issue of People, 10%
from QVC, 10% from the infomercial. (in progress)
All of the reports provide real time access to data--i.e.
today's data is available now. The Intershop product offers
none of these reports. We are still expanding this portion
of our software.
Programmable discounts
Every company has different promotional sales. Our software
allows the most flexible discounts possible. Using a well-known
scripting language (Perl) we can provide companies with the
ability to offer almost any imaginable discount. e.g. "Buy
two prints and one frame, get a second frame free", "All
customers with over 1000 affinity points get $10 off any purchase
over $100", "Free domestic ground shipping on every
third Tuesday"... if a marketer can imagine it, our software
can be used to implement it.
Return Merchandise Authorization
codes
Some companies require an RMA to process a refund. Our software
allows agents to easily issue new RMAs associated with a particular
order with just one click. In this way, when an order is returned,
agents can verify that the return has been approved before
granting a refund. The RMA can be used to query the transaction
and issue the refund.
Superior refund interface
To enter a refund, agents bring up a simple interface that
lists the products ordered, the price of each product, the
sales tax associated with each line item, and the shipping
charges. The agent has only to enter the number of returned
units and the software automatically calculates the total
amount to be refunded, incorporating sales tax into the calculation
where appropriate. In addition, "Frequent Buyer Affinity
points" are automatically deducted from the customer's
account when a refund is processed--although the agent has
the option to override this feature if necessary. In cases
where a product was delivered late, it may be appropriate
to refund shipping; this can be done with two clicks of the
mouse. Agents can, of course, enter more detailed comments
explaining any special circumstances surrounding the refund.
Perhaps the most important feature of the refund interface
is the ability to specify, in detail, why the refund is being
issued. By categorizing and tracking refunds, companies can
get a better handle on how to minimize revenue loss.
Gift Certificates / E Coupons
This is an electronic gift certificate or coupon that can
be redeemed online. Perfect for the last minute shopper. A
unique or non-unique code could be mailed to a customer who
would redeem its value by pasting it in a “gift certificate”
or “promotion code” box at checkout.
Live Chat
This allows customers visiting the website to talk directly
to sales and support personnel to resolve issues quickly and
effectively. This will allow customers visiting the website
to talk directly to sales and support personnel to resolve
issues quickly and effectively. As such, the left side navigation
bar is customizable to a degree. For example, the email mailing
list capture form does not need to be part of the product.
But, a company has the option to add such things in.
The ability to add scripting
to the order pages.
Many call centers script all call agent dialogue. IE “Hello
Mrs. Jones, thank you for call XYZ Company. We are having
a special today on …” With Matador, Call Center dialogue scripting
is possible.
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