The holiday season, particularly Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM), is a goldmine for e-commerce brands. With millions of customers eager to snag deals, it’s the perfect opportunity to boost sales, attract new customers, and grow your brand. In 2023 alone, Black Friday online sales surged by 7.5% to reach $9.8 billion, while Cyber Monday hit $12.4 billion, according to Adobe Analytics.

But with great sales comes great responsibility. As orders skyrocket, so do customer inquiries. If your customer service team isn’t ready for the flood of requests, you’ll quickly find yourself overwhelmed. A key driver of cart and checkout abandonment is poor customer service or a lack of timely support. In fact, data shows that the global cart abandonment rate averages 69.57%, with many customers citing unanswered questions or poor support as a reason for leaving mid-purchase.

This is why forecasting customer service volume during peak seasons is crucial. Accurately predicting the demand for support allows your team to be well-prepared, ensuring smooth operations while enhancing the customer experience. Inaccurate forecasting can lead to unmanageable backlogs, long wait times, and frustrated customers—issues that can cripple your brand’s reputation.

At HelpFlow, we’ve helped more than 100 eCommerce brands handle customer service surges, especially during BFCM. In this post, we’ll share actionable insights on how to prepare for the inevitable spike in customer service volume so that you can thrive this holiday season.  Let’s get started.

Forecasting Customer Service Volume by Understanding Peak Season Trends

Before you can predict future demand, you need to understand past patterns. Reviewing historical data is the first step in creating an accurate forecast. Trends from previous BFCM periods offer invaluable insights into customer behavior and service needs during the holiday rush.

Start by analyzing data from customer service platforms such as live chat software, Helpdesk tickets, and phone support systems. These sources will provide a clear picture of the volume of inquiries, the types of issues customers faced, and how quickly your team responded.

Common patterns during BFCM include:

• Increased inquiries about shipping and delivery times: With many customers eager to get their purchases before the holidays, queries about expected delivery dates spike.
• Returns and exchanges: The high volume of orders during BFCM also means a rise in return requests, which can overwhelm a team unprepared for the surge.
• Payment and checkout issues: As traffic spikes, so do issues related to payment methods and checkout bugs, often leading to increased customer frustration.

Actionable Tip: Use this data to determine which areas saw the highest volume of inquiries and the average resolution times. Create an action plan that allocates extra resources—whether additional agents or more automated responses—to these areas. For instance, if shipping queries overwhelmed your team last year, ensure your FAQ pages and automated responses are updated with relevant information this season.

Tools and Technology for Effective Forecasting

While reviewing past data is key, leveraging advanced tools can help make the forecasting process easier and more accurate. Predictive analytics software and AI-powered tools can provide real-time insights into how customer inquiries might evolve as sales rise.

• Predictive Analytics and AI Tools
  These technologies allow you to analyze customer trends from previous years and predict future customer service needs. AI can sift through large datasets and identify patterns, providing a more accurate forecast than manual analysis alone. For instance, tools like Zendesk Explore or IBM Watson Analytics offer AI-driven insights into customer behavior and future inquiry volumes.
• CRM and Data Analysis Tools
  Tools such as Salesforce or HubSpot provide real-time insights, helping you understand how customer behavior changes during peak seasons. These platforms allow you to track live sales and customer interactions, giving your team the ability to adjust forecasts as the holiday season unfolds.
• Metrics to Monitor

• Ticket volume trends: Look at daily ticket volume increases as BFCM approaches and predict surges during the key shopping days.
• First response time: How quickly is your team responding? Fast response times are critical to keeping customers satisfied.
• Average resolution time: Measure how long it takes to resolve common issues, like order status inquiries or return requests.

‍

Actionable Tip: Start using AI-powered predictive tools now to get a head start on forecasting. Automate routine inquiries with AI chatbots and set clear response time benchmarks to ensure your team can handle the expected surge efficiently.

Collaborating Across Departments

Once you’ve forecasted your customer service needs, it’s essential to get every department involved. BFCM success requires an “all hands on deck” approach where sales, marketing, operations, and customer service work in unison to handle the spike in volume.

• Sales and Marketing Alignment
  Your sales and marketing teams should work closely with customer service to ensure alignment on upcoming promotions, deals, and expected traffic surges. This allows customer service agents to be fully briefed and ready to handle inquiries related to promotions or special offers.
• Operations and Training Collaboration
  Operations teams, including your customer service agents, workforce management, and training departments, must work together to ensure adequate staffing and training. Use your forecast to schedule extra staff during peak hours and train agents on specific issues likely to arise during BFCM, such as handling high volumes of returns or order status inquiries.
• Tech and Automation Implementation
  Your tech team plays a critical role in implementing AI and automation to streamline workflows. By automating simple customer service tasks—such as answering FAQs or processing return requests—you can free up your human agents to handle more complex inquiries. This ensures that your team is both efficient and scalable, ready to handle the highest volumes without compromising quality.

Actionable Tip: Set up cross-departmental meetings weekly during the run-up to BFCM to ensure everyone is aligned. This helps you identify gaps in customer service and develop contingency plans for unexpected spikes.

Ready to Prepare for Peak Season Volume?

‍

Proactive planning is the key to delivering exceptional customer service during peak seasons like BFCM. While a surge in customer inquiries is inevitable, brands are still expected to maintain a high standard of service, ensuring a seamless customer experience despite the chaos. Accurately forecasting your customer service needs and getting every department aligned on a strategy will allow you to tackle the holiday rush with confidence.

At HelpFlow, we’ve guided over 100 eCommerce brands through BFCM and holiday seasons, helping them predict and manage customer service volume spikes effectively. Whether or not you decide to work with us, scheduling a strategy call can provide you with actionable insights that will significantly enhance your customer service infrastructure. Let’s talk about how to make your BFCM a success—book your strategy call today!

‍