Effective communication is one of the cornerstones of successful ecommerce brands. This is true whether you’re running a fully formed ecommerce organization, a small start-up, or even an informal side hustle. That’s why live chat functionality has quickly become a standard feature among online retailers. Let’s look at the key benefits of live chat for ecommerce success.
What is live chat functionality?
If you spend much time online (particularly on ecommerce sites), then you’ve almost certainly come across live chat functions at some point. It might be a pop-up appearing shortly after you’ve navigated to a given website. On the other hand, it may be something you have to seek out on an ecommerce site’s customer support page.
Live chat team members have a few responsibilities: conducting sales, resolving problems, and answering common questions customers may have. This work is enabled by chat software connected to your website or app.
As we’ll soon explain in more detail, even the best call center phone systems can frustrate potential customers. Live chat services are designed to address these issues. But how do they work?
In practice, live chat works more or less like any other instant messaging service. The main difference is that a customer’s initial message gets queued up to be received by a team member. Once that initial connection is made, however, it’s basically a direct conversation.
For the most part, live customer service chats are run by real people, aka chat agents. That said, many companies have at least started to use AI-run live chats to streamline their contact centers. That said, a human agent is generally preferable.
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Live chat versus other methods
This approach to sales and support has quickly grown in popularity among businesses seeking to build a brand for the modern consumer and increase customer engagement. But, to truly understand the benefits of live chat for ecommerce platforms, it’s essential to look at what came before.
Before live chat functionality became common, customers with problems or queries generally had three options:
- Visiting a physical location and speaking to someone.
- Calling a customer service phone number.
- Messaging a customer support email.
Let’s start by looking at the drawbacks of these methods. Going to a physical location is a high barrier to effort, especially if the product was purchased online. Phone lines and emails create similar issues but for different reasons.
Call any customer service number, and you’ll likely have to go through a phone queue and an automated tree full of canned responses before you reach a real person. This is time-consuming and frustrating, especially if you make a mistake and have to start your call all over again.
With emails, your query will likely be assigned a ticket number and added to a queue. You’re stuck ambiguously waiting hours, days, or even weeks for an email response. Then, if you have follow-up questions, the whole wait starts over again.
In theory, chat software circumvents wait times and legwork. To understand how it achieves this, however, we need to examine the specific benefits of live chat for ecommerce businesses. So, let’s dive in.
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The 6 benefits of live chat for ecommerce businesses
These days, the best contact management software packages typically offer some form of live chat feature. Let’s break down the various ways offering a chat feature stands to benefit your business. Some of these will be obvious, but others less so.
Focusing on these advantages will ensure your chat agents help people and ensure both customer loyalty and customer satisfaction.
1. Faster response times
Whether they want quick answers or to explore complex issues, the biggest customer draw of live chat for ecommerce is that it cuts through the barriers posed by more traditional customer support channels. Instead of waiting for an email or being stuck on hold, you can have what is effectively a real-time conversation.
When resolving issues with a product or service is too much of a hassle, it can feel easier to chalk up the loss and disengage from the brand in question. An instant response time limits the number of people giving up on their queries, which means a satisfactory customer experience becomes more common.
2. A sense of control
Cutting out a lot of the passive waiting helps customers feel more in control of their journey. So does being able to talk to someone who can provide insights and options for resolving their issues. Although your chat agents act as guides, the customer ultimately decides where to go.
Psychologically, a lack of control tends to be associated with feelings of frustration. Control, on the other hand, gives you a sense of stake in the process. This makes people more likely to see things through to the end, which means more opportunities to end on a positive note.
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3: Easy documentation
Another one of the customer benefits of live chat for ecommerce is that a live chat conversation is its own form of documentation. Of course, this is true for most customer support communication channels. Email conversations, recorded phone calls and the like.
Unlike phone calls, however, logs from chat software can easily be made available to the user. And unlike emails, messages from chat software won’t get buried in a sea of others because they’re a dedicated support channel.
These chat histories make it much easier for customers and customer service agents to stay on the same page, sparing you both the agony of explaining the same stuff repeatedly.
4: Another sales revenue channel
Live chat isn’t just a support channel. In recent years, it’s also grown in popularity as a sales channel. According to Finance Online, live chat is used for sales by:
- 85% of surveyed B2B companies.
- 74% of surveyed B2C companies.
This can be either by having the chat session run parallel to a customer’s browsing experience, or by enabling chat operatives to process a customer’s transaction. Modern customers value an omnichannel customer experience. As such, it’s an important tool for ecommerce businesses looking to increase conversion rates and stay competitive.
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5: Seamless 24/7 service
Have you ever tried to contact customer service and support channels only to find you’re out of operating hours? Maybe you work a typical Monday-Friday 9-5 and can only call in the evenings or on the weekend.
Accessibility plays a crucial role in customer retention. With a live chat app for ecommerce, it’s much easier to maintain a 24/7 customer support channel. For instance, you might:
- Have remote staff working from different time zones.
- Outsource to an external live chat service team.
- Use AI-powered chatbots when no human agent is available.
With options like outsourcing, it’s possible to do this if you’re still in the one-person start-up phase. Remember, a key trait of entrepreneurs is a willingness to seek expert help when necessary.
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Live chat has quickly become an expected norm
As always, when you introduce a more convenient way to do something, people acclimate. What starts as a novelty one ecommerce business has over others becomes something you’d negatively judge companies for not offering. Live chat for ecommerce platforms is quickly becoming as ubiquitous as the shopping cart button.
Even if you don’t have an in-house chat software solution, B2B service suppliers make implementation a breeze. Once you’ve got your channel, you can focus on what’s important: Working with your chat team to provide excellent customer service.
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