Omnichannel support in ecommerce means customers can contact a store on any channel it offers (email, live chat, social messaging, SMS or phone) while every conversation lands in one shared customer history. Agents see past orders and messages, so shoppers never repeat themselves. To use it, pick the channels your customers already use, connect them to one helpdesk, integrate order data, and automate routine questions.
Key Takeaways
- Omnichannel is not “more channels”: it is fewer, well-chosen channels tied to a single customer record.
- In Salesforce’s State of the Connected Customer survey (5th edition, fieldwork December 2021 to February 2022), 78% of customers said they had used multiple channels to start and complete a transaction.
- The same survey found 83% of customers are more loyal to companies that provide consistency across departments, yet 60% said it generally feels like they are communicating with separate departments, not one company.
- A 2017 Harvard Business Review study of more than 46,000 shoppers found omnichannel customers spent 4% more per store visit and 10% more online than single-channel customers.
- The core stack is a unified helpdesk inbox, an ecommerce platform integration (order lookup), automation for repeat questions, and a trained human team.
E-commerce businesses thrive on good customer service. Customer service is a very important aspect in the success of your business.
You can use customer service to find out what your customer needs, their reaction and level of satisfaction with your products, and you can use it to resolve and check-up on any problems that they might be experiencing.
Research suggests service quality strongly affects loyalty: in Salesforce’s State of the Connected Customer report (5th edition, 2022), 83% of customers said they are more loyal to companies that provide consistency across departments. Ensuring that your customers are satisfied should always be a priority to you.
As there are technological advances being made every day, there are numerous ways in which you can keep your customers satisfied. There are many customer service options you can use to ensure that your customers have the best-quality experience as far as your company is concerned.
There are many channels of customer service being used nowadays and deciding between the many channels that exist today can be troublesome and confusing. Luckily, you can opt to use an omnichannel approach instead of settling for just a single channel.
By using an omnichannel helpdesk, you can deliver consistent customer service on all of your chosen channels. Some tools have a free tier (HubSpot says select help desk functionality is free, and the Shopify Inbox app is listed as free), while others such as Freshdesk offer a free trial, so compare current plans before committing. This also ensures that your customers get the information and help that they need.
What exactly is omnichannel support?
By using omnichannel support, you give your clients an opportunity to use any number of methods to contact the company, while also tying all their interactions together. For example, if a customer communicates to the business via email as well as social media, an omnichannel ties all these experiences together.
This way, you will be aware of the customer’s previous interactions with the business and they would not have to repeat themselves. Using the best helpdesk is not only effective but also highly efficient for both the business as well as the client. Here are a few tips you can keep in mind while using omnichannel support in e-commerce.
1] Weigh your options when choosing support channels and select wisely.
Omnichannel support systems can make the lives of your customers as well as your employees a lot easier. However, you’ll need to think about what channels to include very carefully. You don’t need to have every possible option.
That’s completely unnecessary and could turn out to be confusing in the long run. Omnichannel support is never about choosing as many channels as you can. It’s about choosing the right ones. Evaluate your options. Which channel would best suit your customers’ needs? Which channels are most accessible?
Answer these questions and pick your channels. Then provide the best customer service you can on those channels. That’s how omnichannel support works.
Don’t view omnichannel support as something you can add more and unnecessary channels onto. Use your existing channels, and better your service on those channels by tying together all your customer’s previous interactions with the company. While you’re choosing, make sure that a few of the channels on your list are mobile-friendly.
2] Similarly, choose the best support platform.
Once you’ve chosen your channels, it’s time to choose a platform to manage them on. You’ll need to choose a platform that enables seamless communication between each channel.
Good communication between channels is integral in accessing your customer’s information and records of previous interactions. Before committing to a platform, make sure that the channels you’ve opted for are supported on your chosen platform.
3] Build a strong and capable support team – it’s worth it.
Never forget that customer service is always ultimately about people. Technological advancements have made interaction and feedback much easier. Despite all the applications available to us, we must never dehumanize a client.
The most important thing about customer service is to make the client feel as though they are talking to another human being as opposed to an organization. Send personalized messages, address them by name, check-up on them every now and then, ask for their feedback etc.
All these are integral aspects of maintaining good customer relationships. You can efficiently keep track of and implement all these important aspects with a capable support team.
Don’t skimp on this part of your business thinking you’ll rely on only canned messages as responses to your customers’ queries. Instead of using omnichannel support as a solution for all your needs that are customer service related, see it as a tool which your support team can use to do their jobs more efficiently.
4] Use automation.
Efficiency is one of the most important aspects of customer service. Customers don’t like to wait. This makes them feel as though they’re an afterthought. You need to show your customers how important they are to you and the business.
In order to do this, your team will need to work on quick replies. There are some queries that are frequently asked. For these specific queries, you could have well thought out automated responses so that you’ll have more time for the more complex issues.
Providing excellent customer service isn’t always as easy as it may seem. There’s a lot of time and hard work that’s required to keep your customers satisfied and loyal to your business. Omnichannel support services can help you in this department.
Omnichannel vs. Multichannel Support: What Is the Difference?
Multichannel support means a business offers several contact channels, but each one works on its own, with separate inboxes and no shared history. Omnichannel support connects those channels so that one customer record follows the shopper everywhere. The analyst firm Frost & Sullivan defines omnichannel as seamless and effortless, high-quality customer experiences that occur within and between contact channels, according to Wikipedia’s summary of the term.
| Aspect | Multichannel support | Omnichannel support |
|---|---|---|
| Channels | Several, managed separately | Several, connected in one system |
| Customer history | Split across tools | One shared timeline per customer |
| Switching channels | Customer usually starts over | Conversation continues where it stopped |
| Order data | Agent looks it up in another tool | Shown next to the conversation |
| Reporting | Per channel | Across the whole customer journey |
Why Omnichannel Support Matters for Online Stores
Online shoppers rarely stay on one channel. Salesforce’s State of the Connected Customer report (5th edition), based on a survey of 13,020 consumers and 3,916 business buyers in 29 countries conducted from December 8, 2021, to February 1, 2022, found that customers turn to an average of nine different channels to communicate with companies, and 83% expect to interact with someone immediately when they contact a company.
Connected channels also affect spending. A study published in Harvard Business Review in January 2017 by Emma Sopadjieva, Utpal M. Dholakia and Beth Benjamin followed more than 46,000 shoppers of a large US retailer from June 2015 to August 2016. Of those shoppers, 7% were online-only, 20% were store-only and 73% used multiple channels. The multichannel customers spent an average of 4% more per store visit and 10% more online, and within six months they logged 23% more repeat shopping trips to the retailer’s stores.
How to Set Up Omnichannel Support Step by Step
- Map where customers already reach you. Count incoming messages per channel (email, site chat, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, SMS, phone) for a few weeks before adding anything new.
- Choose two to four core channels. Keep the channels with real volume and at least one that works well on mobile, and state response times for each on your contact page.
- Pick a helpdesk that unifies them. Confirm it supports every chosen channel and your store platform before signing up.
- Connect order data. Integrating the helpdesk with the store (for example Shopify) lets agents see orders, tracking and refunds beside each message.
- Build a shared customer profile. Merge contacts so an email address, a phone number and a social handle point to one person.
- Automate the repetitive questions. Order status, return policy and shipping times suit chatbots, macros and a help center; hand anything complex to a person with the full history attached.
- Write routing and escalation rules. Decide which team owns returns, payments and damaged goods, and how a chat becomes a ticket without losing context.
- Train the team on one tone and one policy. The answer to a refund question should be the same on Instagram as on email.
- Measure and adjust. Review the metrics below monthly and drop channels that add work without helping customers.
Examples of Omnichannel Helpdesk Tools
The table lists several widely used tools and what their own pages say they connect, as of September 2026. Features and prices change often, so check each vendor’s current plan before buying.
| Tool | What it is | Channels and integrations (per the vendor) | Free option |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zendesk | Customer service software founded in 2007, headquartered in San Francisco; taken private in 2022 by Hellman & Friedman and Permira | Email, live chat, social media and messaging in unified ticketing | Check current plans |
| Gorgias | Helpdesk built for ecommerce, with native Shopify data | Email, chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook in one inbox, plus voice | Check current plans |
| HubSpot Service Hub | Help desk within the HubSpot CRM | Email, live chat, phone, SMS, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger | Select functionality free |
| Freshdesk (Freshworks) | Ticketing helpdesk with AI features, sold in Growth, Pro and Enterprise plans | Channels vary by plan; check the vendor’s plan details | 14-day trial of the Enterprise plan |
| Shopify Inbox | Shopify app that adds an AI-assisted chat to the storefront | Online store chat, Shopify admin, Shop app | Listed as free |
A CRM system often sits behind the helpdesk and holds the long-term customer record, while the helpdesk handles day-to-day conversations. Stores that take many phone calls can also look at virtual numbers for customer support.
Metrics to Track
- First response time: how long a customer waits for the first human or useful automated reply, measured per channel.
- Resolution time: time from the first message to a solved issue, across all channels combined.
- Channel switches per case: how often a customer has to move from chat to email or phone to get an answer.
- Repeat contact rate: the share of customers who contact you again about the same issue.
- Customer satisfaction (CSAT): a short survey after each resolved conversation.
- Automation deflection: the share of questions answered by self-service or bots without an agent.
These numbers tie service quality to sales; our guide to conversion rate optimization in ecommerce covers the sales side, and customer service standards covers how to set service targets.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Opening a channel (such as WhatsApp) without staff to answer it quickly.
- Keeping social media messages in a separate tool that support agents cannot see.
- Giving bots no clear route to a human.
- Answering the same policy question differently on different channels.
- Collecting customer data across channels without a clear privacy notice and consent where the law requires it.
For a broader view of launching a store, see the steps to starting an ecommerce business.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is omnichannel support in ecommerce?
Omnichannel support in ecommerce is a customer service setup in which every contact channel a store offers, such as email, chat, social messaging and phone, feeds into one shared customer history, so agents see previous conversations and orders and customers do not have to repeat themselves.
Is omnichannel the same as multichannel?
No. Multichannel support offers several channels that work separately. Omnichannel support connects those channels so that context and order data follow the customer from one channel to another.
Which channels should a small online store start with?
A small store usually starts with the channels customers already use most, commonly email and website chat, then adds a social messaging channel only if messages arrive there and someone can answer them promptly.
Do customers really use more than one channel?
Yes. In Salesforce’s State of the Connected Customer survey (5th edition, 2022), 78% of customers said they had used multiple channels to start and complete a transaction, and customers used an average of nine channels to communicate with companies.
Can omnichannel support be free?
Partly. As of September 2026, HubSpot offers select help desk functionality for free and the Shopify Inbox app is listed as free, while other helpdesks such as Freshdesk charge per agent after a trial. Costs grow with the number of agents and advanced features.
