Tips to help consumers tap into better customer service

— -- With the economy in turmoil, retailers are working harder to get your business. They're making it easier to shop, or at least do your research, online. And they're stepping up customer service in stores.

While stores are designed to get you to spend more, retailers are also making it easier to get in and out quickly. They know many purchases are made impulsively, but also worry that belt-tightening makes people stay home.

"Price will be a crucial component in retail marketing efforts across the board this holiday season, but retailers will also need to think about other factors — like customer service — that will help their companies stand out," said Mike Gatti, executive director of the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association.

Five ways to get customer-service help that will pay off online or in stores:

1. Use in-store pickup for online purchases.

This service, greatly improved in recent months and years, allows consumers to order and buy products online and pick them up in stores. It saves money in shipping and the time it would take to browse in stores, where the potential for impulse buys is higher. Sears will even send an e-mail and/or text message when the item is ready at stores that have in-store pickup. A recent survey by Harris Interactive for the e-commerce company Shopatron found 80% of people who have used in-store pickup are considering doing it again this holiday season. An anonymous survey of in-store pickup at major retailers in the Chicago area by consulting firm The E-tailing Group found the overall wait time was down to an average of 2.58 minutes vs. 3.21 minutes last year and 3.64 in 2006. Products were ready when the company's representatives arrived at the store 94% of the time, up from 83% in 2007.

"They have a lot of the kinks worked out of that, so it doesn't require standing at the customer-service desk like it used to," says e-commerce consultant David Fry of Fry Inc. That's a far cry from Fry's visit to Circuit City about two years ago when he waited so long for his pickup that he went to get it off the shelf for himself — and bumped into the clerk trying to pull it for him.