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Three (and a half). Count ’em. 3 1/2. Plus some tips and hints for your ecommerce chat service.
Ecommerce is taking over the world.
Online sales already make up 14.6% of global retail spending. Total ecommerce business stretches even beyond this. Over the last decade, ecommerce sales have grown an average of 19% a year, far outpacing growth in physical sales. And even while physical sales suffered during the 2009 recession, ecommerce sales grew.
E-Commerce has blown up like this for 5 reasons:
E-Commerce is an awesome example of how tech is changing the way we shop and we’ve talked a lot about tips to increase conversions and reap the benefits of optimisation.
But despite its popularity, there is no escaping that ecommerce can be a bit robotic, a bit too efficient.
Moving the buyer’s journey online removed the human connection we all secretly love when shopping in real life. And ecommerce is having a hard time replacing it, even when fuelled by bots.
Customers are starting to miss the human touch while they shop online.
Customers just want to know who they are buying from. They want to trust the products they are buying and the people delivering them. They want a business to make them feel special. Think wining and dining.
It’s not for lack of trying you’re not getting conversions from your website. If you’re already spending thousands on PPC, SEO, ETC, wouldn’t it make sense to convert more than 2% (a stab in the dark at your current conversion rate). So, what about the other 98%? That’s a lot of love lost.
But all hope’s not lost for your ecommerce game. A chatty superhero is here to save your site.
Digital commerce is not just about the latest technology. It’s about choosing the right one for your specific organisation, with your specific needs, as the enabler of the digital buyer’s journey across your site.
Chat services are perfect for ecommerce sites looking to improve their customer service and sales.
For those in the back row, chat is an internet service that allows customer service agents to communicate in real time with customers through instant messaging, usually found built into a company’s website.
At its heart, chat customer service agents replace the real life store assistants we rely on in a physical store. Both provide real-time advice and assistance to customers. Both are expert brand ambassadors for their company, providing personalised service to customers. And personalised customer service is the key to better customer retention and relations.
And both ensure that every customer has the option to have a real, empathetic connectionwith another human being during their shopping experience. Building trust is building a sale.
Live Chat support brings the human touch right back to ecommerce.
Chat’s not a one-trick pony, either. First up, it’s incredibly convenient for customers. Having a question answered immediately by a live chat agent means no hold times and no need to navigate through complicated phone options. Press 1 for bad service.
Second, chat’s cheap, but not dirty. Unlike phone operatives, live chat agents can talk to multiple customers at once, reducing average interaction costs while serving more customers. Best is, they can do it all to the highest standard in the industry.
Third, effective chat increases sales. Live chat support gives agents the chance to walk customers through their digital journey, through any technical problems, and through any issues that might otherwise stop a customer from completing a purchase. Sales are 30% higher after a customer has had a positive interaction with a sales associate. Plus customers can multi-task when talking to an agent – they can keep shopping while they chat! Chat conversations can be used to increase urgency and make sure your visitors know how to complete the sale. You don’t want a customer to miss out and have a negative experience, and you want good service to bolster your conversion rate.
Fourth, chat taps directly into customer pain points. A chat agent having a personal conversation with a customer can identify what is bothering a customer with far more empathy than a bot, and faster than an employee sifting through emails, can. They can directly address those pain points, and easily report any recurring issues to management.
Customers are not experts on your products and services – you are! It’s true that the customer is always right, and they know best what they are looking for. Well-trained chat agents are perfectly placed to provide detailed information on which products best match the customers’ needs. They can advise, encourage, and guide customers towards products with real heart.
Finally, chat lets you tap into markets that otherwise might be left out of traditional customer service channels.
Our first big group is millennials – they’re spending over $600 billion in the US alone, equalling 30% of annual retail sales. The number of youngsters growing up on the internet is only going to get bigger – embracing online methods of customer service like chat will capture them now and ensure you have an expanding and loyal market into the future.
Surprisingly, though, older markets can also be captured by Live Chat services. It is not a shock that younger people use live chatting services more than older people. But still 15-20% of age groups over 35 still report that they prefer live chatting to customer service reps to calling them up on the phone. And this percentage is only going to grow, as online technologies such as live chat become more popular across generations.
The takeaway: Chat can be more appropriate for some customers, but is increasingly popular among everyone.
The reality: 44% of customers have indicated in surveys that questions answered by a person is the most important feature of a website.
And if this doesn’t convince you, then here’s one more thing: Chat has higher satisfaction levels than any other customer service channel. 73% of customers are satisfied after chat, compared with 61% for email, and 44% for phone interactions. And exceptional chat takes this one step further: Real people using personality can satisfy customers and turn an angry customer into a brand advocate. We know, we’ve got a 99% satisfaction rate.
Live Chat is a fantastic service that puts your business over the edge in the eyes of your customers and brings you one step closer to omni-channel dominance.
There are a few basic principles, however, that you can follow to ensure your live chat service has the biggest possible impact on your website visitors.
Live Chat support is without a doubt the most useful and productive communication tool you can have on an ecommerce site (we promise we aren’t biased).
Customers have time and again told us how much they like live chatting, and have proven how much more they are willing to buy from, and trust, businesses that offer it on their website.
So next time you are considering how to improve your online experience for customers? Give chat a go.
Want to generate more leads or increase conversion? Discover what we could achieve for you with our free live chat ROI calculator.
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