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Retail call volume doesn't follow a calendar. It can surge during a flash sale, spike after a product launch or climb when a delivery problem affects thousands of customers at once.
Whether it’s securing the perfect gift for the holiday season, taking advantage of a flash sale, or seeking information on a delayed or missing package, consumers want personalized and fast transactions. Despite greater adoption of emerging platforms, phone calls remain a vital communication channel to address those very needs.
The sound of a voice on the other end of a conversation can conjure feelings of reliability, control, and trust at a time when consumers are increasingly wary of authenticity and potential scams. But the venerable, time-tested mode of communication is not without its perils for retailers. Consumers are tired of seemingly nonstop spam calls, suspicious of unknown numbers, and frustrated by poor connections and dropped calls during important and often emotional discussions about service.
Retailers need to have a flexible, secure voice foundation that scales instantly, embeds directly into apps and support tools. Plus, every call—be it for offering support, answering delivery questions, or making exclusive and personalized offers—is an opportunity to build the relationship instead of straining it.
Scaling for Retail's Unpredictable Peaks
If all is going well for a retailer, they will experience strong sales and an increased number of shoppers during Black Friday—the top shopping day for both in-store and online, according to the National Retail Federation—or when a new product launches.
The challenge is pinpointing exactly when the high volume of calls will occur. Fixed-capacity, legacy phone lines can buckle under the pressure with disastrous results. The stakes of each call are high, as evidenced by these statistics:
- 86% of customers will leave a brand after just two bad experiences
- 1 in 3 customers will switch to a competitor after a single poor service experience
- 67% of customer churn is preventable if the issue is resolved on the first call
With so many channels available, savvy retailers will try to meet consumers where they already are. Older shoppers, who typically have discretionary funds and may have children and grandchildren to shop for, rely on a call over other mediums. Forrester’s May 2025 Consumer Pulse Survey found 61% of Baby Boomers prefer a voice call, followed by email (47%), and text message (26%). Generation Z members also gravitate toward traditional channels for immediate needs, with 86% using the phone for retail service needs, according to Forbes.
If there is a problem with voice interactions, your network is likely to blame. Retailers need to prepare themselves by investing in platforms with on-demand flexible capacity and a geo-redundant network that adds resiliency during high-traffic events. Pay-as-you-go solutions also cut down on the costs supporting voice—the average inbound customer service call costs between $8 and $15 to handle, and doubles if the customer has to call back.
Turning Calls into Conversions and Loyalty
More than 70% of U.S. consumers say speed, convenience, and friendly service matter most to their shopping experience. This remains a pain point for shoppers, 54% of whom say customer service at most companies needs improvement. From a platform perspective, you can ill-afford to have jittery audio or dropped calls, which frustrate consumers and drain your operational budget.
A smooth transaction is just a starting point. Voice can also become part of the digital customer journey, allowing retailers to add click-to-call support, automated order updates, or intelligent routing directly into apps and websites.
Retailers need to ensure consumers feel valued throughout the entire purchasing process, and technological malfunctions can sabotage the best efforts of sales and customer service associates. Each interaction is a chance to reinforce customer confidence and loyalty.
The record-setting 2025 holiday shopping season reinforces the importance of being ready at the right moment. Consumers spent more than $4 billion every single day for 25 days between November 1 and December 31, up from 18 days in 2024, according to Adobe. Of note, the majority of online transactions (56.4%) took place through a smartphone and consumers spent $44.2 billion during Cyber Week. The reliance on smartphones speaks to the importance of enabling voice capabilities for apps and websites to support an omnichannel approach that also features SMS, RCS, WhatsApp and other platforms.
[Black Friday 2025] showed that rich AI-powered, conversational experiences are no longer optional, they are the new standard. RCS gained real traction as brands look for ways to stand out in crowded markets, while SMS, email, and voice continued to provide the trust and reliability that peak-season commerce demands,” said Daniel Morris, Chief Product Officer at Sinch, a leading cloud-based customer communications provider. “The strong increases we saw were driven by earlier promotions, longer campaigns, and the growing expectation for real-time delivery updates, order tracking, and customer support.
Protecting Trust Without Adding Friction
Security and compliance are at the core of every call. Today’s consumers are wary of fraud and robocalls, which can erode trust. To that point, 74% of consumers say they do not answer calls from unknown numbers out of fear they might be scams.
When you have a customer on the line, it’s a chance to demonstrate you are a brand that can be trusted to conduct business. But at the same time, security measures that slow down service can also prevent sales. Finding the sweet spot allowing for easy transactions while ensuring consumers’ privacy and information is safe helps build long-term confidence.
Retailers evaluating voice infrastructure should look for security and compliance capabilities that operate in the background, rather than adding friction to the customer experience. Brands taking the lead on customer security rather than adding steps for the customer will be rewarded with loyalty.
Fitting into the Systems You Already Run
Retailers rarely have the luxury of replacing their entire communications stack. Legacy PBXs, contact-center platforms and other communications systems from providers such as Genesys, Five9, NiCE, 3CX and Avaya often need to work together.
For greater efficiency, retailers should invest in tools that coordinate existing systems rather than adding another disconnected layer to the technology stack. Reducing the number of steps required to move between technologies frees time to address consumers, who expect immediate responses.
While most retailers are working toward integration, there’s still uneven maturity. Today, 59% of retailers say their customer communications are fully integrated with their tech stacks, while 31% say they’re only somewhat integrated. For consumers, that shows up as broken handoffs and repeated questions.
Phone calls are an important piece of that puzzle because they offer a chance to show the customer how valuable they are through personalization and fast, high-quality service. Savvy companies are relying on the basics to win over consumers, with 47% of retailers saying their top priority is improving how they answer and manage phone calls for business growth and efficiency.
Future-Proofing Retail Voice
Successful retail voice can be summed up in a few words: elastic, embedded, reliable, secure, and interoperable. Adding another phone line won’t give you the support you need to handle a surge of callers on make-or-break days. You need a system that will rise to the moment, or customers will look for another retailer ready to take their business.
A network built right does more than connect calls. It protects your brand and powers retail growth.
Set up a call today to evaluate your current voice setup and explore how Sinch solutions like SIP Trunking and Voice API can put you in a position to capitalize on your highest volume days.
