Car and bicycle parts and accessories retailer Halfords is looking to enhance its customer journey with a new tech partner
The company is teaming up with 8x8 to use its voice, video, chat, contact centre and enterprise-class API solutions powered by one global cloud communications platform.
Until now, Halfords had multiple legacy communications and customer support systems in place across its customer support operations making it difficult for the retailer to deliver a consistent service experience.
With 8x8 X Series, Halfords will benefit from a single unified communications and contact centre solution.
The system will be used across all of the Group’s customer service teams, including Boardman Bikes, Cycle Republic and Halfords Autocentres.
Prior to implementing 8x8 X Series, retail store team members would often receive calls that were better handled by a dedicated customer service team.
The new system will automatically route inbound calls to the relevant customer contact centre, allowing retail team members to spend more time engaging with customers in-person.
Inbound calls will be directed to the most appropriate expert, to improve first call resolution and deliver an outstanding customer experience.
Call experiences
When the new technology is fully in place, Halfords will utilise 8x8’s rich reporting and interaction analytics features, enabling the company to continuously improve actual call experiences.
8x8 X Series also gives Halfords employees the tools they need to dial in from any location, anywhere in the world, with uniformly excellent call quality.
Later this year, Halfords will also deploy 8x8 Contact Centre’s chat capabilities to better support customers in their channel of choice.
Gareth Brophy, head of Halfords customer support, said: “Having all of our customer support technology in one place, with advanced reporting and analytics capabilities, will be pivotal for us, especially during peak retail moments such as Black Friday, Easter and MOT season. 8x8 is the right provider to meet our needs both today and as we grow.”