7 Ways Live Chat Increase Conversion Rates

Digital Transformation and Small Businesses

The world was already experiencing a significant influx in digital engagement before the pandemic, which dramatically accelerated adoption rates. Some businesses that lacked a coherent digital strategy simply failed; they went out of business over the past two and a half years. And the implications applied to small businesses just as much as it applied to large enterprises. 

Digital transformation for a small business takes many different forms. Some of the areas where small businesses need to ensure they have digitally transformed their businesses:

• HR automation and payroll

• Customer relationship management

• Digital marketing

• Social media

• Website engagement

• Inventory management 

• Analytics and reporting

Digital engagement using live web chat for sales and customer service is an area where businesses of all sizes see tangible outcomes. Consumers and businesses often prefer live web chat over other engagement channels when making online purchases and seeking online support. Telemetry reports by different live web chat providers show continued growth in the number of chat engagements. 

Ways Live Web Chat Increases Conversion Rates

Live web chat is a great way for small businesses to increase conversion rates. For those that have been slow to embrace live web chat, now is the time to do so; recent data shows that by the end of this year 85% of businesses will use some form of live chat support. Following are some primary use cases for live web chat when it comes to increased conversion rates:

Customers Prefer Live Web Chat

Many customers prefer live web chat over other engagement channels. According to one study, three-quarters of people prefer live web chat over any other channel. 44% of them also say that having questions answered by a live chat agent during an online purchase is one of the most important features a website can offer. Reasons customers prefer live web chat over other engagement channels typically revolves around lack of wait times (34%) and increased convenience (27%). This is true of email (often takes days for an answer) and phone (wait can add up to numerous minutes). 

Even if a customer is willing to wait on the phone for an agent to become available, the reality is that phone engagement is a communication channel disconnected from the website where the customer is attempting to make a transaction (or is interested in doing so). This lack of context puts an agent at a disadvantage and can prove frustrating to a customer who must spend time explaining to the agent what they are attempting to do. When live web chat is used, there is a greater likelihood that a customer will make a purchase than when live web chat isn’t available.

Live Web Chat Facilitates Purchases

As noted above, customers find the answers sales agents provide them via live web chat during an online session helpful. Rather than pausing a purchase decision or leaving a website altogether, customers remain on a website and their acquisition decision to the shopping cart and purchase advances faster. 

When a customer does have a question, they expect for a seamless and integrated engagement experience. A Forrester study found that 50% of consumers will abandon an online purchase if they cannot get a quick answer to their question. The average response time for live web chat is 47 seconds, compared to countless minutes customers must wait for their phone call to be answered by a live chat agent.

Greater Likelihood to Make a Purchase with Live Web Chat

When live web chat isn’t available on a website, customers are less likely to complete a purchase. One study found that live web chat increases the likelihood to purchase a product by 2.8x. 38% of customers surveyed in the study indicated they make a purchase after having a positive session with a live web chat agent. 

Larger Purchases with Live Web Chat

Research shows that customers are more willing to spend 60% more when live web chat is available. A study by Anderson Consulting revealed that 62% of online customers said they are willing to buy more products when live web chat is available. Phone agents lack contextualization and it is difficult for them to make dynamic recommendations when speaking with a customer. In comparison, live web chat agents are able to make other recommendations, including provide customers with direct URL links and using co-browsing, for other products and upgrades. 

Happier Customers Lead to Increased Conversion Rates

Virtually every research study finds that customer satisfaction is higher for live web chat than any other engagement channel. ICMI found, for example, that 73% of customers are very satisfied with the support they get from live web chat compared to 61% for email and 44% for phone. 

Regardless of the engagement channel, customers expect fast responses to their issues and queries, consistent support across all channels, and 24x7 support from a live chat agent. A HubSpot study found that 90% of customers indicate an immediate response is very important when they have a question. 

Customers Return to Your Website

When customers find live web chat on a website, they are likely to return to that same site (63%). Thus, even if a purchase doesn’t occur in the first session, there is a greater likelihood that a customer will return to the website and make a purchase and/or additional purchases.

Reduced Cart Abandonment

Cart abandonment is a real problem for most businesses; the average business sees a cart abandonment rate around 75%. It is even worse for customers on mobile devices (around 80%).

Proactive live chat engagement reduces cart abandonment rates. When customers exhibit certain behaviors—whether prior to going into the shopping cart or while they are in it—proactive live web chat prevents customers from abandoning shopping carts and leaving the website altogether. 

Live Web Chat On Demand

Many small businesses may be interested in using live web chat to increase conversion rates, but they simply don’t have the resources to do so. Additionally, having a dedicated resource to manage live web chat doesn’t make sense. This is where live web chat virtual services like Davinci Live Web Chat is a great fit. Small businesses pay for live web chat engagements in increments and tap teams of experts when it comes to setting up and managing live web chat. 

The pricing model for on-demand live web chat scales with your business. For example, as you add more customer or elect to provide live web chat for support as well as sales, you can easily scale your live web chat to meet business requirements. 

About Patrick Spencer

Patrick Spencer (Ph.D.) is the President and Founder of TIRO Communications that helps companies develop, build, and manage content, customer, advocacy, and demand-gen programs. Included in its offerings is TIRO Cognition Insights, a data analytics tool that enables B2C and B2B businesses to pinpoint what their customers and competitors’ customers are saying and to identify corresponding actionable product, services, competitive, sales, and marketing intelligence.

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Website: www.tirocommunications.com