6 key factors retailers should consider when choosing the best contact center

If you’re in retail, your contact center does more than answer questions. It’s where first impressions are made, loyalty is earned, and revenue either grows—or customers walk away before checkout. That’s why choosing the best contact center platform isn’t just an IT decision. It’s a customer experience power move.

At 8x8, we work with some of the world’s most customer-obsessed retailers. And what we’ve learned is this: delivering a standout customer experience—across every touchpoint—comes down to getting six key things right. Here's what you should expect from a modern contact center platform—and how 8x8 Contact Center helps you nail it.

1. Be where your shoppers are.link to this section

Shoppers jump between channels all day long. Phone, web chat, SMS, WhatsApp, social messaging—you name it. With 8x8, your agents can manage conversations across all of them from one unified interface. No tab-hopping. No dropped context.

Need to switch from chat to video when a high-value customer has a product issue? Do it with a single click using 8x8 Video Elevation.

Want to reduce contact volume? Let 8x8 Intelligent Customer Assistant handle common questions using AI-powered self-service across voice and digital.

And with our smart routing engine, customers always get connected to the right person—or virtual agent—the first time.

2. Empower the agents behind the screens.link to this section

Customer experience starts with agent experience. That’s why we built the 8x8 Agent Workspace to be fast, clean, and intuitive—because struggling with clunky tech should never be part of the job.

Agents get real-time support from 8x8 Agent Assist, which suggests knowledge base articles and next-best actions while conversations are still happening. After the call, AI-generated summaries drop straight into your CRM, so agents can move on to the next customer faster.

Want to coach better, without micromanaging? 8x8 Analytics help supervisors identify coaching moments, performance trends, customer sentiment and high-impact conversations—so you can develop your team with data, not guesswork.

3. Know what’s really happening (and fix it fast).link to this section

You can't fix what you can’t see. That’s why 8x8 gives supervisors real-time dashboards to monitor queues, agent performance, and customer sentiment on the fly.

Need to drill down into a specific call or trend? Use 8x8 Conversation IQ to review transcripts, search by keyword or emotion, and surface opportunities to improve workflows. And because we unify data from voice, digital, and CRM systems, you get a full view of the customer journey in one place—no more pulling reports from five different tools.

4. Connect the dots across teams.link to this section

Customer experience doesn’t stop at the contact center. Whether it’s a store associate, a warehouse picker, or a loyalty program manager—everyone plays a role in shaping how your brand shows up.

8x8 Engage gives customer-facing employees outside the contact center the tools and context to respond faster and smarter. Need a product expert from HQ to jump in on a return issue? Ping them instantly via chat, voice, or video—all on the same platform.

And with our open APIs, you can weave communications directly into your retail stack—from CRM to order management—so no one operates in a silo.

5. Scale when you need to.link to this section

Retail doesn’t stand still. That’s why your contact center platform has to be flexible. 8x8 supports elastic scaling across licenses, regions, and features—so you can launch a new campaign or scale for peak season without breaking a sweat.

Start with core channels, then add capabilities like AI-powered self-service, Secure Pay, or Proactive Outreach as needed. Our global voice and messaging infrastructure covers 59 countries with native PSTN replacement, meaning you can launch or support anywhere, fast.

Need omnichannel capabilities now but want to add workforce management later? No problem. 8x8 grows with you.

6. Don’t compromise on trustlink to this section

In retail, trust drives conversions. Customers expect their personal and payment data to be protected at every step.

With 8x8 Secure Pay, your agents can process PCI-compliant payments via IVR, DTMF, or digital channels—no special hardware, no redaction software, and no risk of data exposure. We also offer Silent Mobile Authentication and One-Time Password APIs to prevent fraud without slowing down the experience.

On the backend, we’re covered where it counts—SOC 2, GDPR, and more. And with 99.999% uptime SLAs, we don’t just promise reliability—we guarantee it.

Ready to choose the best contact center for retail?link to this section

The best contact center solution doesn’t just connect calls. It connects people, insights, and channels—so you can turn every interaction into a revenue-driving, loyalty-building moment.

Download 8x8’s Contact Center Buyer's Checklist for Retailers to benchmark important features against your own requirements.