Cases: what outsourcing customer service delivered
Results from Shopify stores that outsourced their customer service to Backbone Customer Service. For every client we measure customer satisfaction (CSAT), first response time and the share of tickets AI resolves directly, and here we share what changed.
From 63% to 91% customer satisfaction in four months
The situation
A Shopify store ran its own customer service, next to buying, marketing and logistics. The inbox was cleared in blocks, usually only at the end of the day. Customers asking about their parcel waited. Anyone wanting to start a return got an answer a day later. Customer satisfaction stood at 63%.
What changed
In the first days we configured the Zendesk Enterprise environment, connected every Shopify order and wrote the macros in the brand's tone of voice, based on the store's return and delivery policies. Questions about order status, delivery time and returns then went straight to AI, with the team watching. That freed up time for the conversations that genuinely need attention.
The store also got a fixed team with an agreed response time: the same agents, every day, available from 07:00 to 23:00 CET Monday to Saturday, with an SLA measured per ticket. Every week we looked at the CSAT responses, the questions that kept coming back and the macros that could be better. Small adjustments, week after week. Meanwhile the owner watched the scores and response times shift in the ticket dashboard and the ticket portal.
The result
After four months customer satisfaction stood at 91%. No single measure did that on its own. It came from fast answers, consistent answers in the brand's own voice and a team that adjusted every week.
"I got a super fast answer, even in the evening, and everything was sorted for me right away. That is what I call great service! Very friendly and helpful contact."
The numbers we track for every client
Every store gets the same four real-time dashboards. These are the numbers we open the monthly conversation with, with the averages across our clients for illustration.
| Number | What it tells you | For illustration |
|---|---|---|
| Customer satisfaction (CSAT) | The share of customers who are satisfied after resolution. The most direct measure of answer quality. | In the case above: from 63% to 91% in four months. |
| First response time | How long a customer waits for the first answer. The strongest predictor of complaints and disputes. | Store without outsourcing around 24 hours, with BCS around 8 hours (standard SLA) or around 3 hours (premium SLA). |
| Share resolved directly by AI | Which part of the tickets AI handles correctly, with an agent watching. Decides how much time is left for complex conversations. | On average around 64% by AI and 36% by our people, varying per store and season. |
| Dispute rate | The share of orders that end in a dispute, per store and per payment provider. An early warning for delivery problems and unclear policies. | Tracked automatically in the disputes overview, for Shopify Payments, PayPal, Stripe, Klarna, Whop, Ocean Payments and more. |
| Contact reasons | Why customers get in touch, per period. Shows which volume you can prevent instead of answer. | Automatic reporting from Zendesk, discussed in the monthly review. |
On top of that we look every month at disputes and refunds: which products, carriers or texts cause them, and what you can do about it. This is how we handle disputes.
Who we work for
We work for e-commerce brands and stores on Shopify of every size: online-only, with local stock and fast delivery, or with physical shops alongside. We also work with e-commerce agencies and communities that refer their members through our partner program. Clients and partners include StrapForWatch, Service Points, SolitSocks, Hornbad, PayWhale and MarketingStorm.
On Trustpilot our clients rate us with a TrustScore of 4.6 out of 5. Read the reviews on Trustpilot.
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