What Are Customer Portals? Why Are They Important? (2025)

Most customers would rather not talk to you. But don’t take offense: In the threedecades since the internetbecame publicly available, customers have grown accustomed to handling their own needs, fromanswering a question ortracking an order to updating account preferences and more. In fact, most people prefertaking care of tasksindependently because it saves them the time and effort of having to contact customersupport for every small task.

Successful businesses have answered this call (pun intended) by implementing customer portalschock-full ofself-service capabilities and access to myriad resources and information related to thecompany’s offerings.Not only can these portals improve the customer experience, but, as a result, they also payoff for businesses interms of long-term customerretention, brand loyalty and lower operationalcosts.

What Is a Customer Portal?

A customer portal is a secure website or mobile application that companies use to deliverself-service capabilitiesto their customers — many of whom would rather resolve their own queries than have toreach out to a callcenter. Research backs this up as a strong customer preference, including onereport (opens in a new tab) thatfound that more than two-thirds of respondents said theypreferred self-service over speaking to a company representative, and another (opens in a newtab) report in which 81% of respondents said they wantedbusinesses to provide them with more self-service options. These options often include theability for customers tomanage their accounts, track orders, pay bills, access product guides and video tutorials,and interact with othercustomers.

Key Takeaways

• Positive customer service engagements are a key driver of repeat business.
• A customer portal can improve operational efficiencies and yield higher customersatisfaction.
• Customer portals reduce or eliminate the amount of time employees must spend resolvinginquiries.
• Through integrations and advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, a customerportal can include veryrobust and intelligent features.

Customer Portals Explained

A portal, as defined by Gartner, “acts as a value-added middleman by selecting contentsources and assemblingthem in a simple-to-navigate-and-customize interface for presentation to the enduser.” A portal can beintended for employees, partners, vendors or customers. A customer portal is a platform thatprovides acompany’s customers with a self-service means of retrieving the information they seek.By providing a centralplatform for the delivery of customer services, a customer portal can be a strategic elementin how a companyinteracts with its customers.

Make no mistake: The customer services stakes are high. A positive customer experience is nowa baseline expectationand competitive differentiator. Keeping customers happy is also smart business. For example,according to Bain &Co. (opens in a new tab), a 5% increase incustomerretention in the financial services industry yields more than a 25% increase in profit.That’s becausereturning customers tend to buy more over time, refer new customers and pay a premium tostick with the businessthey know, rather than leave for an unfamiliar competitor.

Why Are Customer Portals Important?

Customer portals bring technological innovation to the age-old practice of customer service,improving on the dayswhen people had to call a company to accomplish what they needed to do, be it getting theanswer to a simpleinquiry, resolving a billing issue or troubleshooting a technical problem. For their part,businesses used to haveto make sure they were equipped with sufficient staff to answer calls, send emails andprovide other forms ofsupport promptly to resolve support tickets as quickly as possible. Growing businesses, inparticular, faced thechallenge of scaling quickly enough to support an increasing number of customers andrequests, while keeping holdtimes on calls to a minimum.

These days, customers are increasingly tech-savvy and, with the internet at their fingertips,have grown accustomedto seeking out what they need without assistance. Customer portals enable them toself-serve, leading to feelings ofaccomplishment and empowerment that keep customers returning. At the same time, portals canboost a company’sproductivity level by reducing or eliminating the amount of time employees must spend onresolving inquiries —savings that go right to the business’s bottom line. Customer portals also helpcompanies understand theircustomers better — why they visit the site, their behaviors, their preferences —which leads them toimproving their offerings, thereby creating a virtuous cycle.

Customer Portal Benefits

A customer portal should be thought of as an extension of a company. Though one of the goalsof a portal is to helpcustomers help themselves — thereby decreasing the number of live interactions withthe company — whendone well, it can actually build trust and deepen relationships, despite that lack of humantouch. The businessbenefits of a customer portal include:

• Increased operational efficiency: Customers log into a company’sportal for a host ofreasons— to access product-related content, recover a forgotten password or schedule anappointment, to name afew.The more easily customers can find and resolve the issue on their own, the fewer supporttickets customersupportemployees will have to address, saving time and reducing support costs. Additional efficienciesresultfrom customers’ ability to input their information directly, select options frommenus and complete tasksindependently.
• 24/7 representation: Customer portals don’t follow typicalbusiness hours. They can beaccessed around the clock, across locations and time zones, and without additionalstaff. With the assistance ofchatbots, companies can provide robust service-service capabilities wherever theircustomers may be.
• Staff productivity boost: When customers self-serve, staff can devotetheir time to morecomplex orurgent issues and strategic initiatives — including making the portal an evenbetter experience. Customerportals can further boost worker productivity by handling some tasks so humans no longerhave to. For example,theportal can automatically generate customer invoices, send notifications about ordersthat have left thewarehouse,or provide other forms of “personalized” outreach.
• Detailed customer insight: By tracking customer-portal activity, thecompany can gain valuableinsights about their customers, such as who they are, why they’re there, and theirengagement and purchasepatterns. For example, a sudden spike in similar queries might indicate that customersare experiencing problemswith a recent service upgrade, or it could also shed light on an untapped opportunity.Analysis and reporting ofportal information can help the business better tailor its offerings, inform marketingcampaigns, improve theuserexperience and, overall, enable data-driven decision-making that drives growth.
• Stronger customer relationships: “Customer experience” hasbeen a catchphrase foryears,and for good reason: Satisfied customers spend more, are more brand loyal and tellothers about their greatexperiences. In fact, the most important aspect of a good customer experience iscompanies that valuecustomers’ time, according to nearly 66% of respondents surveyed bycustomer-engagement firm Khoros. Forallof the previously stated reasons, self-serve customer portals play a critical role.

Features of Customer Portals

At a bare minimum, a customer portal should allow customers to manage their own basic accountinformation andpreferences. But if viewed through the must-see lens of competitive differentiation, acustomer portal’sfeatures should by no means stop there. And, it’s also worthwhile to restate: All ofthe advantages of aportal for customers have equal advantages for businesses, in terms of the benefitsdescribed in the previoussection.

Top-notch portals should include:

• Security and privacy: The most comprehensive customer portal meanslittle without the propermeasures in place to protect customers’ sensitive information. In fact, using theportal could bedownrightdangerous otherwise. Among the ways businesses can secure their customer portals: usingstrong authenticationmethods, such as multifactor authentication, to confirm that customers are who they saythey are; encryptingdataduring transmission and “at rest” so unauthorized parties can’t readit; limiting staff accesstoand around the portal, based on their roles; and collecting proper consent fromcustomers regarding datacollection,sharing and use.
• Personalization: Personalization has become a tried-and-true way ofbuilding customer affinity.Atits most basic level, the customer portal can greet a person by name, which serves as asubtle reminder thatthey’re not just an anonymous user in the eyes of the company. Other forms ofpersonalization — asinformed by customer portal analytics — include product recommendations, contenttailored to thecustomer’s needs and interests, and tailored promotions.
• Customer forums: Enabling customers to interact with their peers buildscommunity, which isanotherpowerful way to help customers solve their own problems, even as they engage withothers. It’s also usefulinterms of receiving feedback that can lead to all sorts of improvements — either tothe portal itself orevento the business’s product or service. And when customers feel heard and valued, itpositively affectstheirbrand loyalty, according to an annual Forrester study about customer experience.
• Chatbots: Chatbots provide real-time responses to frequently askedquestions; they can alsotroubleshoot and resolve technical issues (and otherwise assist customers) without theneed for the customer tospeak to a live agent. Chatbots also can assist in completing routine tasks, such asprocessing a payment; cansearch the portal for requested information; and can retrieve information from otherback-end systems (more onthatsoon).
• Mobile accessibility: According to the World Economic Forum, the numberof mobile subscriptionsnowexceeds the number of people worldwide. That means that a customer portal must beoptimized for mobile use, intermsof security and authentication, adaptability to different screen sizes, easy andintuitive navigation, simplelayout, clear and readable content, fast page and image loading and performance, andmobile-friendlyforms.
• Order management: From order placement and tracking to fulfillment and returns or exchanges, acustomer portal providescustomers with a centralized hub to independently manage the various steps involved inthe purchasing process.Thesame goes for keeping tabs on a project, such as in manufacturing and construction. Theportal should also storeanarchive of past purchases and projects for easy reference.
• Invoice and payment management: Hand in hand with ease of ordermanagement, a customer portalmakesit easy for customers to access, review and download their invoices and manage theirpayment status. Paymentscan bemade directly through the portal, which records the customer’s every transactionand can providenotificationsautomatically at specific milestones, such as when payment is near due or when a paymenthas been received.
• Communications: A customer portal offers a direct line of communicationbetween a company anditscustomers. It supports proactive engagement by having at the ready the documents andfunctionality, such as asupport ticketing system, that customers need to self-serve — which, in turn,improves customerexperience. Aportal facilitates real-time support by empowering customers to initiate conversationsvia chatbot and othermessaging features. It can also alert customers to timely information that might impactuse of their accounts,suchas a software update that will halt access for a few hours, and offer ways for them toshare their feedback.
• Tech stack integration: Tech stack integration enables seamlesscommunication between thecustomerportal and other key back-end systems — such as enterprise resource management (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) andinventory management — inorder to take advantage of each of those technologies to offer a multitude of featuresand capabilities.Importantly, integration ensures that systems are in sync so that customers areaccessing consistent, accurateinformation from a single interface. For example, integration with the inventorymanagement system canautomaticallyupdate product availability on the portal, while integration with payment gateways letscustomers pay theirbills atthe portal, both of which increase operational efficiencies and customer satisfaction.

How to Decide Whether Your Business Needs a Customer Portal

Businesses of all sizes, across all industries and with any intention of growth stand tobenefit from having acustomer portal. Generally speaking, the earlier the implementation — i.e., when thebusiness is still small— the more manageable its launch and gradual expansion. Following are a dozen-plusquestions to consider whendetermining whether a customer portal is right for your business.

1. How many live customer interactions does your business have now?
2. Why are customers calling and how much time does each call take, on average?
3. What challenges do customers face in their interactions with you?
4. How do you gather and respond to customer feedback?
5. How complex or technical is your product or service?
6. How much are you selling now, in terms of volume, and what are your projections? Do youplan to expand yourproductor service line?
7. How many employees are currently fielding customer inquiries?
8. What does that process look like? For example, how many times does the call gettransferred to another agent?
9. What would happen if there was a sudden influx of calls?
10. Do customers expect you to have a customer portal?
11. Do your competitors offer a customer portal?
12. From a business standpoint, what would be the return on investment? What resources,infrastructure and expertiseareneeded for implementation and maintenance?

How to Choose the Right Customer Portal

Like any technology purchase, selecting the right customer portal requires thoughtfulplanning and vetting. After athorough assessment of the business’s needs, an understanding of what customers expectand a knowledge of whatcompetitors are offering, decision-makers — with these requirements in hand —should consider thefollowing in their search for a solution:

1. User experience: The user interface is the first thing a customer willsee when accessing theportal. What does it look like? Is it easy to navigate? Does the design make sense? Iseverything clearlylabeled?Can the interface be customized and/or personalized?
2. Scalability: Create a customer portal that not only meets thebusiness’s needs in theshortterm but can grow along with the business, in terms of new functionality and the numberof customers and staffwhocan use it simultaneously.
3. Integration: Can the customer portal be integrated into your existing(or planned) tech stack,thereby increasing its functionality? For example, if the portal is going to be used forhelp desk support, willitintegrate with the existing ticketing system?
4. Data security and privacy: By its very nature, the customer portal willbe brimming withsensitivecustomer data — bank account details, legal documents, tax information, medicalrecords, etc. — sosecurity and privacy can’t be overlooked. Data encryption and airtightauthentication to access the portalarekey features.
5. Mobile design: Today more than half of all website traffic comes frommobile devices, accordingtomultiple sources. Be sure to review each vendor’s mobile version of its customerportal solution, as thelimited screen size will affect user experience. Does the portal respond and adapt todifferent screen sizes,orientation and resolutions across smartphones, tablets and laptops? Do images loadquickly?
6. TCO and ROI: Assess the customer portal’s total cost of ownership(TCO). The evaluationshouldinclude total up-front costs, licensing fees, implementations costs, ongoing maintenanceand support fees. Thencalculate the potential cost savings derived from more efficient operational processesand reduced manualeffort, aswell as happier customers who could very well buy more, to gauge the return oninvestment (ROI).
7. Vendor support: Review each vendor’s service-level agreement toascertain guaranteedresponseand resolution times, particularly in the event of a critical issue or disruption. Isthe vendor available 24/7?Through which channels? Even more important, how much industry and technical experiencedo they have? Do theyprovide ongoing training? Be sure to also understand how each vendor handles softwareupdates — are theydelivered from the cloud or on premises?

Future of Customer Portals

The future of customer portals is very much tied to advancements in adjacent technologiesthat make life easier forcustomers and businesses alike. Already, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning(ML) are gainingfootholds by supercharging chatbots and virtual assistants, enhancing personalizedexperiences, powering voicerecognition, analyzing customer data to predict trends, detecting fraud and plenty more.Knowledge bases, too, couldbe improved by AI and ML: When customers query a chatbot, for example, the technologies arenot only able to answertheir questions, but they can also automatically update and improve existing articles anddocumentation.

In addition, a portal’s integration with Internet of Things devices, such as those usedin manufacturing plantsand warehouses to track production and product whereabouts, also helps to ensure thatcustomers are provided withthe most accurate information in real or near-real time. And as cloud computing continues to gain traction amongbusinesses of all sizes— for example, 53% of small and midsize businesses surveyed by Flexera spent over $1.2billion on the publiccloud in 2022, up from 38% in 2021 — its scalability, cost-effectiveness andaccessibility won’t be loston companies of all sizes and industries that are deciding how to deploy their customerportals.

Expand Customer Self-Service With NetSuite

Improving the customer experience while reducing operational costs are just a click away withNetSuite SuiteCommerce MyAccount.This self-servicecustomer-portal solution provides your customers with easy access to manage their accountsonline. It also reducesthe number of support staff necessary by providing self-service resources, removes steps inthe billing process tohasten payment, and shortens the path from quote to sale. In addition, SuiteCommerceMyAccount providesdrag-and-drop tools for managing content, such as how-to guides and frequently askedquestions, and allows customersto manage their subscriptions. The more your customers can do on their own, the happier theywill be and the morelikely they will become loyal to your business. That’s good news for your bottom line.

As part of NetSuite’s commerce solutions, SuiteCommerceMyAccount integratesseamlessly with other NetSuite solutions, such as the inventory management, order managementand CRM modules thatare part of NetSuite ERP.And through the NetSuite Connector, SuiteCommerce MyAccount can also be connected toecommerce storefronts, onlinemarketplaces and other third-party utilities.

A little empowerment can go a long way. By providing customers with the resources andfunctionality to answer theirown questions without requiring the assistance of live support, customer portals help thembuild long-term affinitywith a company, which also benefits from significant operational efficiencies and savings.In addition, analyzinghow customers use the portal can help a business better understand who their customers areand what they want, allof which can inform a wide breadth of decision-making.

Customer Portal FAQs

What is the use of a customer portal?

Customer portals provide a secure way for companies to connect with their customers andenable them to self-serve.Customers use these portals to manage their accounts, retrieve and pay invoices, trackorders, access technicalsupport and documentation, and much more.

What should be in a customer portal?

The contents of a customer portal vary depending on the nature of the business, of course,but common elementsinclude frequently asked questions, knowledge base articles, video tutorials andtroubleshooting guides. Theytypically allow customers to manage their accounts, submit support tickets and trackshipments, among othercapabilities.

What is a customer portal in CRM?

A customer portal is often integrated with a customer relationship management (CRM) system,which manages customerinteractions with a business and is typically used by the sales and customer servicedepartments.

How do you create a customer portal?

Creating a customer portal from scratch is a complex undertaking best left to the expertiseand experience of theright vendor. Conducting a thorough assessment of your business’s objectives andrequirements is an importantfirst step before reaching out to vendors.