Case Study: Micro Center achieves 30% faster handling times and improved support efficiency with Zendesk

Zendesk omnichannel support brings major efficiency gains for Micro Center

Micro Center is a specialty electronics retailer founded in 1979 with 25 stores and more than 22 million customers, known for DIY PC building, a customer-first culture and services like an 18-minute in-store pickup guarantee and free 90-day tech support. High and spiking contact volumes (thousands of calls daily, much higher on peaks like Cyber Monday) exposed limitations in an outdated call‑center system that couldn’t be updated or produce useful data, creating friction for technically savvy customers and agents.

Micro Center implemented Zendesk Support, Chat and Guide, integrating Zendesk with its Cisco phone system and SMS tools to automate workflows, improve reporting and enable proactive and multichannel support. Since the rollout, chats tripled and overall support volume rose double digits while headcount dropped by three FTEs; average handling and after-call times fell about 30% (from ~10 to ~7 minutes AHT and from 60s to ~47s after-call). The platform also improved ticket deflection via SMS and self-service, increased revenue visibility through custom fields/APIs, and boosted agent morale and SLA adherence.

Micro Center

Beth Held

Director of Call Center Operations