Business Requirements Specification (BRS) for

eCommerce Customer Support Features

1. Introduction

1.1 Purpose

The purpose of this document is to outline the

business requirements for Customer Support
Features for an eCommerce platform. These
features aim to provide an effective and
streamlined customer support experience,
enabling customers to resolve issues, get
assistance, and access self-help resources,
ensuring enhanced customer satisfaction and
loyalty.

1.2 Scope

This document covers the requirements for

customer support functionalities within the
eCommerce platform, including:

 Multiple support channels (live chat, email,

phone support).
 A comprehensive ticketing system for tracking
and managing customer queries and issues.
 A knowledge base for self-service support.
 Order and account-related support for
customer service teams.
 Support team management features for
handling and escalating customer inquiries.
 Reporting and analytics for monitoring
customer support performance.
1.3 Audience

This document is intended for:

 Business stakeholders (product owners,

customer service managers, support team).
 Technical stakeholders (developers, IT team,
system integrators).
 Project managers.
 Quality assurance team.

2. System Overview

2.1 System Description

The Customer Support System in the eCommerce

platform provides customers with various
communication channels (live chat, email, phone)
to request assistance, resolve issues, or track
orders. It integrates with the order management
system to provide support agents with relevant
order data, enabling efficient issue resolution. A
ticketing system ensures that all customer
inquiries are tracked and managed, and a
knowledge base offers self-service support
options.

2.2 Functional Areas

 Support Channels: Various communication

methods, including live chat, email, and phone.
 Ticketing System: Manage, track, and resolve
customer support tickets.
  Knowledge Base: A library of frequently asked
questions (FAQs), tutorials, and articles for
self-help.
 Customer Service Dashboard: A unified
dashboard for agents to view, prioritize, and
respond to customer issues.
 Order Integration: Access to customer order
history and details for better resolution of
order-related issues.
 Reporting and Analytics: Performance tracking
for customer support metrics like response
times, resolution times, and customer
satisfaction.

3. Business Requirements

3.1 Customer Requirements

 Support Channels:
o Customers should have multiple ways to
contact customer support, including:
 Live Chat: Immediate, real-time
assistance for customers.
 Email Support: For non-urgent queries
and support requests.
 Phone Support: For issues that require
more in-depth assistance.
 Response Time:
o Customers should receive responses to
their inquiries within specified time limits
(e.g., live chat: within 2 minutes, email:
within 24 hours, phone support: during
business hours).
 Order and Account-Related Support:
 o Customers should be able to inquire about
order status, shipping details, returns,
refunds, and account-related questions.
Support agents should be able to quickly
access order history and customer data to
provide accurate answers.
 Ticketing System:
o Each customer interaction must be
recorded in a ticketing system to track the
inquiry and resolution process.
o Customers should receive updates on the
status of their support request, such as
when the ticket is created, assigned, or
closed.
 Knowledge Base:
o Customers should have access to a self-
service knowledge base, including FAQs,
product guides, troubleshooting steps, and
order-related information to resolve
common issues without contacting
support.
 Customer Satisfaction:
o After each support interaction, customers
should be able to rate their experience and
provide feedback.

3.2 Support Team Requirements

 Ticket Management:
o Support agents must have a user-friendly
interface to view, manage, and respond to
support tickets.
o Tickets should be automatically assigned
to the most appropriate agent or
 department based on the nature of the
inquiry.
 Ticket Prioritization:
o Tickets should be prioritized based on
urgency and customer impact (e.g.,
product defects, shipment issues should be
prioritized).
 Escalation Management:
o Support tickets that cannot be resolved by
the first-level support agents must be
escalated to higher-level support teams or
management.
 Communication History:
o Agents should have access to the complete
communication history with customers,
including emails, chat logs, and ticket
notes.
 Collaboration:
o Support agents should be able to
collaborate on tickets by tagging
colleagues, leaving notes, and sharing
relevant information to ensure faster
resolution.
 Knowledge Base Management:
o Customer service agents should have the
ability to add new articles or update
existing ones in the knowledge base based
on frequently asked questions or new
product information.

3.3 Admin Requirements

 Reporting and Analytics:

o Admins should be able to generate reports
on key support metrics, such as:
  Number of tickets raised.
 Response and resolution times.
 First-time resolution rate.
 Customer satisfaction scores.
o The system should track the performance
of support agents and the overall efficiency
of the customer support process.
 Support Team Performance Tracking:
o Admins should be able to monitor the
performance of individual agents and
departments, including response time,
resolution time, and customer feedback
scores.
 Customizable SLAs:
o Admins should have the ability to configure
Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for
different types of inquiries (e.g., urgent
issues must be resolved within 4 hours,
general inquiries within 24 hours).
 Ticket Dashboard:
o Admins should have a dashboard to
monitor all open and closed tickets, agent
workloads, and pending escalations.

3.4 Knowledge Base and Self-Help Requirements

 Search Functionality:
o Customers and support agents should be
able to search the knowledge base by
keywords, categories, and topics.
 Content Categories:
o The knowledge base should be organized
into logical categories such as:
 Shipping and delivery.
  Product support (size guides,
features).
 Returns and refunds.
 Order status.
 Content Creation and Management:
o Support agents should be able to create,
update, or delete knowledge base articles.
 Multilingual Support:
o The knowledge base should be available in
multiple languages if the eCommerce
platform serves global customers.

4. Functional Requirements

4.1 Support Channels Integration

 Live Chat:
o The platform must support real-time chat
between customers and support agents.
o Customers should be able to initiate chat
sessions from various pages on the
website, including product pages, cart, and
checkout.
 Email Support:
o Support requests made via email should be
automatically converted into support
tickets and assigned to agents.
o Customers should receive automatic
responses acknowledging receipt of their
inquiry.
 Phone Support:
o The platform should allow customers to
contact customer support via phone.
 Agents must have access to customer
details and order history during the call.

4.2 Ticketing System

 Ticket Creation:
o Tickets can be created automatically
through customer interactions (chat, email,
phone), or manually by support agents.
 Ticket Assignment:
o Tickets should be automatically assigned
to the appropriate support agents based
on predefined rules (e.g., by category,
severity, agent expertise).
 Ticket Tracking:
o Customers should be able to view the
status of their open tickets via a self-
service portal or through email
notifications.
 Ticket Closure:
o Tickets should be closed only after the
issue is resolved, and customers should
receive a confirmation email with the
resolution details.

4.3 Knowledge Base

 Article Creation:
o New articles can be created by support
agents or administrators, providing
solutions to common customer issues.
 Search Functionality:
o A robust search feature must be available
to find knowledge base articles based on
keywords, categories, or topics.
  Article Feedback:
o Customers can rate articles as helpful or
not helpful to ensure quality control.

4.4 Reporting and Analytics

 Support Performance Metrics:

o Admins should have access to detailed
reports and dashboards, tracking metrics
such as:
 Average response time.
 First-contact resolution rate.
 Customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores.
 Ticket volume by category.
 Real-Time Data:
o The system should provide real-time data
on ticket status, active agents, and
pending tickets for operational
transparency.

5. Non-Functional Requirements

5.1 Usability

 The customer support interface should be easy

to navigate for both customers and agents.
The system should require minimal training for
new agents to use effectively.

5.2 Performance

 The system should handle a high volume of

customer inquiries, supporting peak periods
(e.g., sales events, holiday seasons) without
significant performance degradation.
5.3 Security

 The platform must ensure that customer data

is protected in compliance with data privacy
regulations (e.g., GDPR).
 Customer support agents should have role-
based access control (RBAC) to ensure they
can only access necessary customer
information.

5.4 Availability

 The system should be available 24/7 to

accommodate customers across different time
zones.

5.5 Scalability

 The system should scale to handle increasing

volumes of customer support requests as the
business grows.

6. User Interface (UI) Requirements

6.1 Customer Support Interface

 Customers should be able to easily contact

support via live chat, email, or phone with
clear call-to-action buttons on the website.
 A simple and intuitive ticket submission form
should be provided for customers to describe
their issues.

6.2 Agent Dashboard

  Support agents should have access to a
dashboard displaying all open tickets, their
priority, and customer information to facilitate
quick responses.

6.3 Knowledge Base Interface

 A clean and easy-to-use interface for

customers to search for and read articles in the
knowledge base.

7. System Integration

7.1 CRM Integration

 The system should integrate with the CRM to

provide agents with customer profiles and
order history to assist in resolving issues.

7.2 Order Management Integration

 The support system should be able to access

order data for customers when dealing with
order-related inquiries, such as status,
shipping, returns, and refunds.

8. Data Requirements

 Customer Support Tickets: Ticket ID, customer

ID, ticket status, assigned agent, ticket
priority, issue description, resolution status,
resolution date.
 Knowledge Base: Article ID, category, article
title, article content, feedback score.
  Customer Interaction Data: Communication
logs, chat transcripts, email exchanges.

9. Acceptance Criteria

9.1 Functional Acceptance

 The system should be able to handle support

requests through live chat, email, and phone.
 Tickets should be generated and tracked
effectively, and issues should be resolved in a
timely manner.

9.2 Non-Functional Acceptance

 The system should be secure, performant, and

scalable.
 The knowledge base should be easily
accessible, and customers should be able to
find relevant answers.

10. Glossary

 SLA: Service Level Agreement, the expected

response and resolution times for support
issues.
 CRM: Customer Relationship Management, a
system used to manage customer data and
interactions.
 CSAT: Customer Satisfaction Score, a metric
used to measure customer satisfaction after a
support interaction.
 RBAC: Role-Based Access Control, a method for
restricting system access to authorized users
based on their role.