One of the first things customers look for when visiting an e-commerce website is the customer service or business contact information.  It is very important that a customer looking to purchase product or services from an e-commerce website can clearly see how to contact customer service if they have a pre-sales or post-sales question or problem.

If a potential customer cannot locate with little effort a contact phone number and contact us form then it is very likely they will not be on that website long and the opportunity to sale to that potential customer will have disappeared quicker than you can finish reading this post.

• Display your customer service or business phone number in your website header so it is visible from every page on the website.  Make sure to have a voice mail system so a customer can leave a message if there is no one available to answer the phone.
• Provide a contact us form where the customer can input their name, phone number, email address, best time to call if they should request a call back, and a message field so they can explain their reason for contacting you.
• Use auto-respond emails for the contact us form.  Send an auto-respond email to acknowledge receipt of their message and include in the auto-respond email a time frame of when they can expect to receive a response to their inquiry.  Of course, make sure to respond within the time frame you promise.
• On the contact us page also include all your contact phone numbers and your business address.  A business address also helps potential customers to feel more comfortable when ordering if they know where your business is located.

Many e-commerce websites that do not display their contact information may offer great products, services, and customer service. However, customers want to feel comfortable when they order from an e-commerce website.  They want to know they can trust that if they have any questions or problems at all they can get a hold of someone to assist them.  If provided various ways to get a hold of customer service then it will go a long way towards building that trust so potential customers will order without hesitation.