5 Ways Live Chat Can Increase Online Sales

Online retail is an industry constantly changing to keep up with growing consumer demands for convenience. Customer service is one of the last areas that physical stores has previously held the advantage over online stores, but that advantage is quickly eroding as technologies such as live chat are becoming more prevalent (and trusted).

Live Chat Highest Rated in Customer Satisfaction

According to Forrester Research, 44% of online consumers say that having questions answered by a live person while in the middle of an online purchase is one of the most important features a website can offer.

And live chat boasts the highest satisfaction level of any customer service channel according to Econsultancy.com, with 73% noting that they were happy with their experience with live chat compared with 61% for email and 44% for phone. Zendesk had similar findings, noting that live chat had the highest rated customer satisfaction delivering a whopping 92% for live chat over voice, web forms, email and Facebook.

Live Chat Also Drives Sales

Not only does live chat result in customer satisfaction, but it can also lead to sales. Leading web-based shipping solution ShipStation shared that one of their customer’s, Paleo Treats estimates that as much as 20% of their sales occur after a live chat conversation. And others, such as Vita Student, are seeing more than 42% conversion with people they are chatting with on their website.

5 Ways Live Chat Can Increase Your Online Sales

Here are 5 ways you can leverage live chat to benefit both both your customers and your business.

1. Be available when your visitors need you.​ Sounds obvious, but how many companies focus only on the working hours in their own time zone? When you’re at work, chances are so are your customers. To really maximize your online sales, make sure your live chat is on and available when your customers are looking to buy from you. If you don’t know when that is, invest in keeping your live chat live for 24 hours a day for 1 to 2 weeks and then measure your peak hours.
2. Give help quickly. Seconds count when you’re looking to help a customer and close a sale. When visitors enter their concerns into your live chat window, respond immediately. One of the main reasons people use live chat is to avoid telephone hold times or wait hours (days?) for an email response. They want answers, and they want them now. Your fast response time will increase your close rate and your bottom line.
3. Provide typing indicators. Our iPhones have conditioned us to get instant feedback — even when someone is working on a response. If your customers don’t see that someone is typing, they have no indication that someone is working on a response to their inquiry. Many live chat providers give businesses the option of showing customers a typing indicator when the live chat representative is typing a response. Make sure this feature is turned on, as it lets customers know that someone is helping them, rather than seeing a blank screen and not being sure if there is someone on the other end.
4. Tread lightly. The line between creepy and helpful is very thin. If you and your agents are doing your jobs correctly, you know a hell of a lot more about the customer asking questions than you want to acknowledge. Your customers value their privacy. Give them some space, and don’t reveal information that shows you’ve been monitoring their interactions with your site. Offering general help is fine, but too much detail will likely feel invasive.
5. Strategically choose how you show yourself. Your live chat provider may give you the option of “popping up” during a customer’s website visit or using a small “live chat” button placed strategically on the site. Either way, make sure that customers who are interested in chatting will know they can click and request help and those who aren’t interested will be able to ignore it. Your button shouldn’t distract from the products and services you’re selling. In retail, we call this an “approach zone.” You don’t want to get jumped on by a sales associate the minute you walk through the door. Be helpful and available, but using aggressive pop-ups or lightbox technology, for example, to take over the page and force someone to click yes or no to your offer to engage is bad for business.

Use these 5 insights to increase your customer satisfaction and profits on your site. By implementing live chat on to your own online store you can help keep your customers happy and increase your conversation rates. For more on ecommerce best practices, check out my related article on the Top 5 Ecommerce Platforms of 2017.