Is there a word to describe the retail customer version of “road rage?” There should be! Customers often get stressed out by long checkout lines, many product choices, and unclear product information.
This article shows how retailers use community management, content creation, advertising, and in-app shopping on social media to turn customers’ frustration into calm—and transform roadblocks into sales.
(Discover why thousands of retailers use Agorapulse to reduce customer stress right away. Just sign up for a free trial.)
Helpful Interactions Through Social Media
Retailers can relieve stress related to products by answering questions and engaging with customers on social media. A retail brand’s regular interaction and timely responses can reduce holiday stress and increase customer loyalty.
This section will explore building a stress-free environment by responding to incoming messages and sending outgoing content about a product.
Direct customer interactions
If you’re a busy retailer, chances are you have many more incoming messages than outgoing messages on social media.
How regularly do you check those incoming messages? How quickly do you respond to messages that have questions about your product or service?
Responding to your posts’ comments
Establishing a habit of regularly checking and quickly responding to questions will make customers feel valued and taken care of. Here are examples of retail brands that respond regularly to customers who leave comments on the brand’s TikTok posts.
The footwear company Bombas answers this TikTok user’s question about a product coming back in stock.
Bombas TikTok response screenshot
Sustainable apparel retailer Pact answers customers’ questions about material and sizing.
The Agorapulse inbox makes finding and responding to pressing customer questions easy.
Many retailers rely on Agorapulse’s Inbox Assistant to:
- Spot messages with specific words, phrases, or punctuation like a question mark
- Automatically label those messages (ex. “urgent,” “sizing”)
- Instantly assign those messages to teammates suited to give the best reply (ex. “legal,” “LATAM”)
- Allow their teams to provide quicker customer service on social media channels.
Agorapulse inbox automation rules screenshot
Users of Agorapulse can quickly answer frequently asked questions with saved replies. Just a little legwork is needed to set up these vetted responses. Then, they’re ready to send as is or with any needed customization.
Here’s how easy it is to use saved replies.
Responding comments to customers on their posts
Many people on social media don’t take the time to go to a brand’s page to complain about their products or services. Those folks simply take to their own social media accounts to say what they want.
Don’t miss an opportunity to quench the flames ignited by those social media users. Through social media listening, you can detect these customer freak-outs.
Agorapulse provides one of the most affordable listening features in the market. For just $40/search/month, retailers can get a running feed of people talking about them on social media.
Agorapulse listening for Glossier terms screenshot
With automated listening features like this, retailers can stop a thread of negative reviews and comments and make the original poster feel heard and appreciated.
Transparent, outgoing communication
You don’t have to wait for questions to appear to address issues about product availability, shipping delays, or policy changes.
Post about these possible concerns to get in front of any questions. Customers will appreciate your transparency and no longer hold onto any angst they had over the issue you address. It will also help them plan their shopping more effectively.
Savory protein bar company Afar Foods took to Instagram to announce that a popular flavor is once again available.
View this post on Instagram
Last year, at the height of the holiday season, Uniqlo listed shipping deadlines on Facebook for customers to get their products in time for Christmas.
Hat brand DadGang combined a shipping update with a behind-the-scenes Instagram Reel for those hoping to gift their dad a hat on Father’s Day.
View this post on Instagram
Using a healthy mix of proactive and thoughtful reactive strategies can alleviate customer stress and allow customers to make more educated purchases.
Personalized Shopping Experiences
In times of stress, consumers can suffer from “analysis paralysis.” With too many choices, they can’t make a decision.
To save consumers from such paralysis, retailers rely on methods to personalize users’ shopping experiences. These retailers often take user data to offer a narrow range of shopping options so customers can quickly find what they want (or like) and make a purchase.
Two popular ways retailers curate experiences for customers are through social ads and in-app shopping experiences.
Tailored ads and promotions
Tailoring social media ads based on users’ profiles helps create highly personalized and engaging advertisements.
Some longstanding methods of getting the right customers to see the right ads with the right products include:
- Loading consumer demographics, interests, and behaviors into the ad platform.
- Uploading your customer database to social media platforms to create custom audiences. With custom audiences, you can run ads that speak directly to those customers, offering personalized deals or updates.
- Using your custom audiences to create lookalike audiences. The ad platform will target those who share similar “lookalike” attributes and behaviors with your existing audience.
More recent ways that retailers use personalization to streamline customers’ decision-making processes include:
- Flexible ads. Use flexible ad formats (similar to the almost-sunsetted dynamic ads) that automatically personalize the creative based on user data. For example, showcase products a user has recently viewed on your website.
- Advantage+ shopping campaigns. Many retailers have gained access to Meta’s AI-backed Advantage+ shopping campaigns. These campaigns require less manual input, simplify audience choices, and streamline creative processes. This means you don’t have to run many different campaigns, allowing the ad system to target potential buyers.
Like organic posts, paid ads spur social media users to react, comment, and complain. Retailers efficiently address customers’ pain points using the ads comment monitoring feature with Agorapulse.
With a simple filter setting in the inbox, retailers can view, respond, or assign comments left on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok ads. Agorapulse users can feel good knowing their brands can help customers wherever they ask for help or reassurance.
In-app shopping
Customers don’t have to leave social to make a purchase. And that benefits customers and retailers.
For customers, shopping in-app offers convenience, saves time, and delivers personalized shopping experiences in one platform.
For retailers, this feature boosts customer engagement and provides insights into shopping behavior for more tailored marketing (including the ad types we just reviewed). Here’s how one retailer makes the most of the in-app experience on Instagram for customers.
Productivity planner company Stil Classics has nailed the in-app shopping experience for customers. (After all, the brand is all about time efficiency!)
Stil set up its profile page with the “Shop” button.
The company also features shoppable posts so that customers can access the Instagram shop directly from their feed. Leopard binder, anyone?
Upon arrival at the shop, customers are immediately greeted with a message about how the shop is curated just for them.
Stil’s Instagram shop alleviates customer concerns in a few notable ways. First, it explains its stress-free return policy upfront.
It then curates its items according to price range, allowing customers to find what’s reasonable for their budget.
For users in countries with access to create Instagram shoppable posts, Agorapulse provides product tagging abilities.
This functionality gives users a seamless shopping experience, often translating into higher user satisfaction and conversion rates.
Stress-Free Shopping Support
Sharing video tutorials and demos is a great way to answer questions or concerns about how products work. A helpful run-through reduces customers’ anxiety and boosts confidence that they’ve made a great purchase.
Outdoor gear brand Columbia Sportswear takes the mystery out of its 3-in-1 jacket. For those new to its longstanding product, Columbia recently posted several choppy Instagram videos to demonstrate how this flexible jacket works.
View this post on Instagram
Silverts Adaptive, an adaptive clothing maker, explains how their magnetic buttons make dressing easier. This demo comforts those purchasing adaptive clothing for the first time.
View this post on Instagram
Two insulated coffee mug brands of note use social media to explain the most frustrating part of their products—the dang tops. Often, these tops must be cleaned by hand, sometimes requiring users to disassemble all the bits and bobs that keep the tops leak-resistant.
To educate customers who visit its Instagram profile page, Klean Kanteen pinned this post showing how to clear its tumbler cap.
I’ve often referred to this YouTube video — on .5 speed — to remind myself how to put my Frank Green cap together after cleaning it. Read the video comments to learn how much this tutorial is appreciated.
Agorapulse makes it easy for retailers to schedule helpful content for current and potential customers through bulk publishing and publishing queues.
Bulk publishing lets users upload a CSV of up to 200 posts to Agorapulse to be scheduled later. Publishing queues line up content with a specific theme to be scheduled regularly at a specific time. Here’s how it works.
Retailers can create a “Calm Customers” queue and fill it with content that will regularly set customers’ minds at ease.
A Content Strategy with Support in Mind
Including supportive content in your marketing strategy helps create a welcoming and stress-free environment. By addressing everyday stressors and offering helpful solutions, brands can build trust and loyalty.
This helps customers feel appreciated and understood and enhances their overall shopping experience, encouraging repeat business and positive word-of-mouth.
For example, pet supply retailer Chewy uses its Instagram pinned posts to allay pet owners’ fears.
The first post shows owners how their new Vet Care centers work. No one likes going to the doctor for the first time, so this gently introduces pet owners to how the vet practice operates.
The second post assures owners of disabled dogs that with Chewy, they can find everything they need to care for their (most likely) furry companions.
Target‘s social media channels provide hungry, harried caregivers, off-campus college students, and professionals with practical “dinner-in-minutes” ideas. After a long day, simple meal ideas allow these customers to enjoy a home-cooked dinner without hassle.
Furniture retailer Wayfair created a “cheat-sheet to destressing” for achieving calm during last year’s holiday season.
Indeed, Target and Wayfair were not entirely selfless in these posts. But these retailers understand that creating content to make customers feel supported and understood can help transform stress into positive brand experiences and sales.
Retailers can use social media reporting tools like Agorapulse to analyze when their audience will most likely engage with content.
This data allows them to schedule stress-relieving posts at optimal times, reaching and assisting the maximum number of people.
How Will Your Retail Brand Use Social to Create Customer Calm?
Retailers can use social media to reduce customer stress through personalized interactions, supportive content, and customized shopping experiences. With just a little effort in creating calm, brands can create a mutually rewarding experience — after all, happy customers are more likely to make more purchases, and more purchases make retailers happy!
See how Agorapulse can help your retail brand create happy customers. Start your free trial today.
