How helpful is live chat?
Businesses offering e-commerce services have a present challenge to tackle. How do you help an online shopper deal with their confusion and questions while trying to make a purchase? Live chat is the simple and effective answer to that question. Live chat allows shoppers to interact with customer service reps to get answers to the questions they might have in real time.
It can also provide help with items bought. For instance, there could be some features of the product that are not listed on the website. A customer may show some hesitation because they are not sure of what to expect. Live chat bridges the gap between customers and businesses to increase the number of conversions the company gets and also create a satisfied customer.
In a study conducted by Bold360 among online buyers in the US, it was found that those who use live chat purchased items online more frequently (weekly) than those who didn’t. 36% of those who never used live chat purchased less than once in a month in comparison to the 18% of those who are online chatters.
Online buyers who actively used live chat were found to make more of their holiday shopping online. 20% of these chatters made more than 75% of their shopping online. Those who didn’t chat did just about 14% online purchase. It is all a matter of trust. Live chat creates that trust in customers who doubt.
For live chatters, there is a higher degree of satisfaction they get from the products as a result of the live chat services. A satisfied customer dovetails with increase in profits because they will come again. And they are likely to bring their friends with them. 63% of the respondents who chatted said they will visit again while 62% promised to make a purchase when they visit. Live chat has helped create loyalty in the customers.
While live chat cannot solve all ecommerce problems, it has proven useful over the years in tackling issues relating to order status, promotional information, shipping options or cheaper services. If you want to get customers to make a purchase and return to the website after their first visit, you should give live chat some serious consideration.
