Best Customer Service Outsourcing Companies for an Ecommerce Store — Expert Guide

Why ecommerce stores outsource customer service

Outsourcing ecommerce customer service is a strategic move to scale support quickly while controlling costs. Typical reasons include handling seasonality (Black Friday/Cyber Monday spikes of 200–400% traffic), accessing 24/7 coverage without hiring thousands of full-time employees, and gaining specialty channels such as live chat, email, social media, and marketplace messaging (Amazon, eBay). Leading merchants report reducing time-to-resolution by 25–60% after moving to specialized BPO partners because those partners optimize routing, tooling, and workforce planning.

Outsourcing also brings access to trained agents familiar with ecommerce workflows — returns, refunds, order tracking, payment disputes, and chargebacks — plus integrations to platforms such as Shopify, Magento, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and Zendesk. For growth-stage stores, outsourcing avoids the fixed-cost burden of a large in-house ops team and converts labor into a variable cost aligned with order volume.

Top customer service outsourcing companies for ecommerce

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  Teleperformance

  Founded 1978; global leader with ~380,000 employees across 80+ countries. Strengths: massive scale for peak-season continuity, multilingual coverage (100+ languages), and integration capabilities with enterprise CRMs. Typical ecommerce work: omnichannel support, fraud review, and back-office returns processing. Website: https://www.teleperformance.com.

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  Alorica

  Founded 1999; headquartered in the U.S. with a large footprint in the Philippines and Latin America. Strengths: ecommerce-centric programs for mid-market to enterprise merchants, returns and RMA workflows, and experience with DTC brands. Known for fast ramp-up in 4–8 weeks for standard chat/email programs. Website: https://www.alorica.com.

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  TTEC

  Founded 1982; provides cloud-native CX and contact center delivery. Strengths: strong digital transformation practice (chatbots + human handoff), analytics-driven quality coaching, and PCI/GDPR compliance support for payments. Works well for brands needing technology-led service. Website: https://www.ttec.com.

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  TaskUs

  Established 2008; specialist in digital-native companies and high-growth ecommerce. Strengths: modern agent experience, rapid scaling for US and APAC markets, and a reputation for supporting subscription and marketplace models. Often used by DTC brands that require tight cultural fit and high CSAT. Website: https://www.taskus.com.

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  HGS (Hinduja Global Solutions)

  Founded 1995; balanced presence across India, the Philippines, and the Americas. Strengths: BPO economics, omnichannel order support, and integrated back-office services (fulfillment support, payment reconciliation). Offers packaged ecommerce programs for retailers and marketplaces. Website: https://www.hgs.cx.

How to choose the right provider

Selecting a vendor is not just price comparison — it’s matching capability to business risk and brand experience. Start by mapping your support volume by channel and peak factor (e.g., baseline orders 10,000/mo with 4x peak). Determine must-have integrations (ERP, WMS, Shopify, Amazon Seller Central) and whether you need marketplace escalation workflows. Ask for case studies that show results: CSAT improvements, FCR (first contact resolution) increases, and SLA attainment.

Run a focused RFP and include a 30–90 day paid pilot: specify a ramp plan, QA criteria, and data security requirements. Ask for concrete KPIs, onboarding timelines, training curriculum, and sample agent profiles (language, average tenure). Require evidence of compliance (PCI DSS, SOC 2 Type II, GDPR processes) and request site tours or secure virtual walkthroughs where feasible.

• Evaluation checklist: ramp time (weeks), multilingual coverage (languages and FTEs), technology stack (integrations/APIs), QA scoring methodology, security certifications, pilot cost and terms, average CSR tenure, and turnover rate.

Pricing, contracts, and commercial terms

Pricing models vary: per-minute voice, per-chat session, per-ticket (email/SM), or per-FTE monthly. Typical hourly rates by delivery geography (2024 market averages): Philippines/India $6–$12/hr, Latin America $12–$22/hr, North America/Europe $28–$60+/hr for fully onshore. Per-ticket pricing often ranges $1–$6 per email, $3–$15 per chat, and $6–$30 per voice interaction depending on complexity and SLA.

Contracts commonly include a minimum term of 12–24 months with a 30–90 day ramp/termination window. Negotiate caps on annual price increases, clear definitions of included training hours, and success-based milestones (e.g., CSAT ≥ 85% or FCR ≥ 70% triggers retention bonus). Expect setup fees for integrations and training: $5,000–$50,000 depending on complexity, plus one-time seat provisioning and tooling costs.

Onboarding, KPIs and operational playbook

Effective onboarding is typically 4–12 weeks: week 1–2 for knowledge transfer and tooling access, week 3–6 for supervised training and shadowing, and week 6–12 for independent handling with QA. Require a runbook that covers escalation matrices (seller escalation, chargeback disputes, product safety), scripted flows for returns/refunds, and templated responses for marketplace messages. Ensure agents can access order/fulfillment data via secure API connectors.

Standard KPIs to include in SLAs: CSAT (target 85–95%), AHT (average handle time—phone 4–8 minutes, chat 6–15 minutes), FCR ≥ 65–80%, response time for email <8–24 hours, and chat response <30–120 seconds. Include SLA credits or penalties for chronic breaches and monthly business-review cadences with root-cause action items. Add quality audits (internal + client audits) with at least 4–8% of interactions reviewed weekly during the first 3 months.

Security, compliance and technology integrations

Ecommerce support touches payment and personal data; insist on SOC 2 Type II and PCI DSS scope for any provider handling cardholder data. For EU customers, require GDPR data processing agreements and clear data residency or deletion policies. Confirm vendor encryption standards (TLS 1.2+/AES-256 at rest), multi-factor authentication for portal access, and segmented production/test environments for integrations.

On the technology side, prioritize partners that provide native or pre-built connectors to your stack: Shopify/Shopify Plus, Magento, BigCommerce, Amazon Seller/Vendor Central, Zendesk, Salesforce Service Cloud, and common ERPs. Ask about chatbot + human hybrid configurations, AI-assisted agent desktops (CRO and knowledge retrieval), and analytics dashboards with daily/weekly reports and CSV exports for reconciliation.

Who benefits the most from outsourcing?

The finance and accounting sector is one of the industries that benefit most from outsourcing. Managing financial processes efficiently is crucial for any business, regardless of its size. However, these tasks can be time-consuming and require specialized expertise.

What are the best companies for customer service?

• Apple. Apple is the brainchild of the man who epitomized excellent customer service, Steve Jobs.
• Publix. Publix the supermarket chain has a reputation for acing customer service in its own right.
• Zappos.
• Ritz Carlton.
• Amazon.
• Disney.
• Lexus.
• Starbucks.

What is outsourcing in e-commerce?

eCommerce outsourcing refers to the process of hiring a third-party service provider to handle some or all of the tasks associated with running an online store. These tasks may include anything from product sourcing and fulfilment to website development and customer service.

Is outsourcing good for an E-business?

Outsourcing e-commerce development offers significant advantages: cost savings of up to 70% compared to US hiring, access to specialized development teams with proven experience, and the ability to scale resources up or down based on project needs.

Does Amazon outsource their customer service?

Amazon’s customer service outsourcing model has become a benchmark for companies seeking to optimize their support operations while maintaining quality standards. This approach allows Amazon to handle millions of customer inquiries daily across multiple channels including phone, email, and chat.

What should you not outsource?

An AI Overview is not available for this searchCan’t generate an AI overview right now. Try again later.AI Overview It seems like the answer options are missing from your query. Generally, anything considered a core competency or crucial to a company’s competitive advantage should not be outsourced. This can include: 

• Strategic decision-making: These functions require close oversight and control to ensure alignment with the company’s overall goals. 
• Top-level management: This includes hiring, firing, and partnering with key individuals. These decisions have a significant impact on the company’s direction and should be made internally. 
• Core business functions: These are the activities that are essential to the company’s core operations and unique value proposition. This can vary depending on the industry, but might include things like product development, marketing, or customer service. 
• Sensitive HR functions: This can include conflict resolution, performance reviews, termination decisions, and employee development. These areas require a deep understanding of the company culture and employee dynamics, which is best handled internally. 
• Physical presence: Certain tasks require physical interaction with customers, products, or facilities. Examples include healthcare services, repairs, delivery, and legal representation. 

Outsourcing can be beneficial for optimizing costs and efficiency, but it’s important to carefully consider what functions are suitable for outsourcing and what should remain in-house to maintain control and protect the company’s core competencies.  For the most accurate answers to multiple choice questions, try including the answer options in your search. 

AI responses may include mistakes. Learn more[FREE] Which of the following should not be outsourced? A. Accounting B …Aug 17, 2023 — In regards to the question of which of the following should not be outsourced, typically the answer would be the firm’BrainlyHR Functions That Should Not Be Outsourced – G&A PartnersJun 28, 2024 — What HR functions should not be outsourced? Personnel matters—such as conflict resolution, performance reviews, and de…G&A Partners(function(){
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