Choosing Customer Service Channels: What Works Best for Your Industry?

Customer service channels represent touchpoints used by your business to provide customer support. Commonly, these include phone, email, chatbots, live chat, social media, video chat, and self-service options. By offering multiple channels, you can significantly improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Earlier, customer service used to be mainly over the phone. However, nowadays businesses help customers in many ways, such as email, chat, social media, and even text messages.

Please note that each way of communicating serves a different purpose. So, when deciding how to support your customers, think about:

• How do they already reach out?

• Where do you need to improve?

For example, maybe some of your customers prefer texting, but you only offer email. Adding a texting option could fill that gap. According to Zendesk, businesses that provide strong omnichannel support retain 89% of their customers, compared to 33% for those who don’t.

So, do you want to turn even your most unhappy customers into loyal fans? In this article, let’s understand what customer service channels are, their popular types, and how you can choose the best channel for your business.

What are Customer Service Channels?

Customer service channels are the different ways customers can contact your business for help. Popularly, these include:

• Phone calls
• Emails
• Your website
• Social media (like Facebook and Instagram)
• Messaging apps (like WhatsApp or live chat).

When businesses connect all these ways of communication into one smooth system, it’s called an omnichannel customer experience approach. This means no matter how a customer reaches out, they get the same good experience.

A Forrester study found that companies using omnichannel strategies achieve 91% increased customer retention. For CX leaders at consumer brands in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, building this consistency is critical for long-term loyalty.

9 Popular Types of Customer Service Channels

Gone are the days when businesses used only a single channel to communicate with customers! Today’s modern customers prefer omnichannel support and want their queries to be resolved quickly. 

Below are the nine best customer support channels, you can use:

1. Email Support

Email remains one of the most affordable and widely used customer service channels, preferred by 62% of customers. It is especially valuable for consumer brands that need to track and document interactions with customers.

One of the biggest advantages of email support outsourcing is that customers don’t have to wait on hold for a response. They can send their message at any time, and you can reply when ready. This is called “asynchronous communication”, which means both sides don’t have to be available at the same time.

Benefits include:

• Customers can explain problems in detail and attach files
• Clear, step-by-step solutions can be shared
• Past conversations can be tracked for better context

Also, as a business owner, you can use email to track past conversations. This makes it easier to understand customer history.

2. Live Chat Support

Live chat allows businesses to answer customer questions in real time. 79% of customers prefer live chat due to its quick responses (Zendesk 2024). For D2C brands with high website traffic, live chat improves conversions while reducing cart abandonment.

One of the biggest advantages of live web chat support​ is that it is proactive rather than reactive. This means customers don’t have to wait or send multiple messages back and forth. Instead, businesses can solve problems in one conversation (leads to faster solutions). It also has shorter wait times compared to email or phone calls.

3. Chatbots

Chatbots provide 24/7 instant answers for FAQs like product details or refund policies. Research shows 50% of consumers don’t mind if they’re talking to a bot or a human, as long as they get fast solutions. Chatbots reduce support volume and let human agents focus on high-value cases.

Most business owners use chatbots to answer frequently asked questions (FAQs), such as:

• Store hours
• Product details
• Refund policies

This reduces the number of support tickets and allows customer service agents to focus on more urgent issues. To benefit the most, use chatbots in the following manner:

• Let chatbots act as the first point of contact to assist customers.

• Predict customer needs and provide relevant answers based on past interactions.
• Reduce support requests by handling simple issues

4. Video Chat

Video chat allows face-to-face troubleshooting and builds trust. It gets a 73% customer satisfaction rate, outperforming phone and email support. This channel is especially effective in high-value industries like real estate, investment, or premium retail.

Let’s see why video chat is highly useful for businesses:

• Faster problem-solving: You can see the issue and resolve it right away. This reduces back-and-forth conversations.
• Better customer trust: Talking face-to-face makes customers feel more valued.
• Works well with live chat and co-browsing: If a customer is struggling with a website or product setup, you can guide them through the process in real time.

5. Social Media

Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter) are essential social media support channels. Customers expect fast, public responses. 67% of consumers have used a brand’s social media for customer service (Sprout Social 2024). Retail and D2C brands rely heavily on this for reputation management and engagement.

They can comment, message, or tag your business when they need help, and you can respond quickly. A good example is KLM Airlines. It uses Facebook Messenger to send:

• Customers flight details
• Boarding passes
• Latest updates

This makes customer conversations faster and easier. 

6. Messaging Apps

WhatsApp, Messenger, and Telegram allow instant, on-the-go communication. With 2B+ users globally, WhatsApp is now one of the fastest-growing support channels. Businesses can send order updates, confirmations, and reminders directly to customers.

Such messaging apps are helpful for businesses because they:

• Let customers message businesses anytime without waiting on hold.
• Provide instant responses with chatbots or live agents.
• Show when messages are delivered and read so customers know their request is being handled.

7. Phone Support

Phone remains a vital channel, especially for sensitive industries like banking and healthcare. Features such as IVR and call routing streamline support while keeping interactions human.

• Understand customer emotions better
• Reduce confusion and frustration
• Solve complex problems that may be difficult to explain through chat or email.

To make phone support even better, businesses can now use advanced call management systems such as:

• Automatic Call Distribution (ACD): Helps route customer calls to the right agent.
• Interactive Voice Response (IVR): Allows customers to select options (e.g., “Press 1 for Billing, Press 2 for Support”) to connect with the right department.
• Call Recording: Let businesses review calls for quality and training purposes.

8. Knowledge Base (Self-Service Support)

A knowledge base is a collection of:

• Articles
• FAQs,
• Guides

67% of consumers prefer self-service first. Knowledge bases, FAQs and help articles empower customers to solve problems anytime, which is a major advantage for small teams of 5+ employees.

A perfect knowledge base allows businesses to provide 24/7 customer support, even with a small team. That’s because customers can search for solutions to their problems anytime (without waiting for a response from a support agent).

9. Forms

Forms provide structured ways to collect inquiries. They reduce cluttered communication and ensure your team has the information needed upfront to resolve issues effectively.

• Collect information
• Receive requests
• Offer customer support

A good example is contact forms found on company websites. Customers fill out the form with their name, email, and message, and the business responds later. Some major benefits of using forms are:

• Organised communication: Instead of handling random emails, businesses receive structured requests.
• Better data collection: Businesses can gather customer details for follow-ups.
• Easy customer interaction: Visitors can quickly submit their inquiries without searching for contact details.

Which Customer Service Channel Works Best for Your Industry?

The best channel depends on your business model, customer expectations, and support needs.

Tip for CX leaders: Many consumer brands benefit from blending chatbots for FAQs, live chat for real-time help and phone for escalations. This hybrid approach balances efficiency with personalization.

Give Your Customers The Best Service! Opt for Atidiv’s Omnichannel Support

Ideally, businesses should combine multiple channels for the best customer experience. A strong strategy might include:

• Phone Support for urgent issues
• Live Chat and Chatbots for instant answers
• Social Media and Messaging Apps for engagement
• Knowledge Base for self-service

Atidiv partners with consumer and D2C brands across the U.S., U.K. & Australia to design CX channel strategies that improve loyalty and reduce churn. With a 98% QA score and data-driven processes, our teams help CX leaders deliver fast, personalized and scalable support across every channel.

Partner with Atidiv today to future-proof your customer service channels.

FAQs On Omnichannel Customer Service

1. What is omnichannel customer service, and why does my business need it?

Omnichannel customer service means offering support across multiple customer service channels (phone, email, chat, social media, etc.) while keeping customer data connected.

This helps you to provide more personalised support. It leads to higher customer satisfaction, loyalty, and sales.

2. How can I choose the right customer service channels for my business in 2025?

To start with, try to understand where your customers prefer to communicate. For example, 

• Retail may need live chat and social media
• Healthcare relies on phone support

Also, consider your team size and budget. Begin with key channels and keep adding new ones as your business grows.

3. How do I handle customer support efficiently without a big team?

You can use automation tools to handle common queries like:

• Chatbots
• Self-service FAQs
• AI-powered ticketing systems 

Also, train your team to prioritise urgent issues and use integrated software to manage customer interactions in one place.

4. What are the biggest mistakes businesses make in customer service?

Some common mistakes are:

• Slow response times
• Inconsistent service across channels
• Poor communication

Always remember that customers hate repeating themselves. Thus, use a centralised system to track conversations. Ignoring feedback and failing to train staff properly also hurt customer trust. To improve CX, you can also associate with leading customer support agencies like Atidiv.