Manchester-based challenger telecoms provider, CircleLoop, has joined forces with leading e-commerce platform EKM to become its preferred telephony partner.

As the largest e-commerce platform in the UK, EKM (also based in the North West) hosts a fifth of Britain’s online shops and through its partnership with cloud-based telco, CircleLoop, is now able to offer professional business telephony to its 25,000 customers.

Using CircleLoop’s simple online phone system, EKM customers that sign up to the service will instantly be able to make and receive calls through Desktop and Mobile Apps, using the devices they already own such as their computers and mobile phones. This will allow EKM’s online retailers to handle sales enquiries and customer service issues professionally, eliminating the problems and frustrations that many small businesses face in dealing with traditional telecoms vendors.

Damian Hanson, co-founder of CircleLoop, said: “E-commerce in the UK grew by almost 18 per cent last year, and with this comes increased competition and a need for retailers to provide great customer service to stand out from the crowd.

“We’re delighted to be joining forces with EKM; not only will their customers have the option of becoming more easily accessible to shoppers, thanks to the improved levels of professionalism afforded by our online telephony service, it is very likely they’ll see increased sales conversions.”

In just over a month, CircleLoop has received over 500 sign-ups with EKM customers, who are already seeing the significant benefits of the partnership.

Marc McKeown, Head of Partnerships and Business Development at EKM, concluded: “Our customers rely on us to provide the tools they need to run their e-commerce business effectively and profitably. From our heritage in enabling business owners to build and create their own websites and take payments, we’re thrilled to have expanded our remit to include business telephony services.

“By teaming up with CircleLoop, we’re now able to provide our e-commerce partners with a service that will not only improve customer relations but help them to win more business and increase profitability.”