Nowadays, wherever you go shopping online, be it the retail or company websites and shopping platforms, you see live chat buttons everywhere. With the passing of time, advancing technology and evolving consumer behaviour have made customer service more accessible via live chats instead of the traditional way of calling the customer service hotline and speaking to a customer service officer.
Information is easily available everywhere and consumers now rely on Google, reviews and social media to gauge the quality and suitability of products and/ or services before making a purchase. It has made consumers “hungry” for information and answers instantly therefore live chat is definitely a great conversion rate booster.
According to New York Times best selling author Neil Patel, live chat can boost your conversion rates by 45 percent. Additionally, a poll conducted by Anderson Consulting showed that 62% of online customers would buy more products if live chat and support were available. Live chats not only boost conversion rates but also customer satisfaction as shown in the instance of eDigital. They found that live chat had the highest rate of customer satisfaction rate, a whooping 73%!
Conversion rates do not necessarily mean buying more products and/ or services, it may also mean some other actions like signing up for the newsletter, adding items to the cart and of course, the best one is purchasing your product and/ or service. So how do you boost the conversion rate?
Here are 4 great reasons why a live chat will boost your ecommerce conversion rate:
1. Answer simple questions at the right time
Imagine you are trying to surprise your best friend with a cake online. You have found your best friend’s favourite passionfruit meringue and are already in the midst of checking out when you realise that the delivery date and time slot option can not be found anywhere.
You scroll through the entire product page and website but are still unable to find the answer you are looking for. And you thought that this is 2022, things could have been easier but it has led to major frustrations. Argh! So you decided to give up and head back to Google for an alternative cake option from another place.
A quick conversation via live chat could have easily converted you into a paying customer, just a simple widget to get in touch with someone who is able to help you at that point of time. Everything could have been so simple. You already liked the cake, the pricing was fine and all you needed was an answer to a simple question.
2. Offer speedy customer service
Once a website visitor contacts you, it is critically important to offer high quality and speedy customer service because this will definitely increase the odds of them becoming a paying customer.
Consumers are so used to getting what they want via the internet that any form of waiting time equals bad customer service and/ or experience. In the daily hustle and bustle of life, customers expect their time to be respected.
That is why replying speedily via live chat is a better and easier option compared to using email or the phone. Some reply options include:
- Using a casual or informal tone and write short messages
- Creating quick replies to answer frequently asked questions
- Sending articles from your help centre for easier access and understanding
- Activating chatbots that answer faster than any human agent ever could
The live chat feature not only benefits your customers in terms of offering speedy customer service and boosting the conversion rate, it also benefits your customer service team too. More effort is needed in replying to emails or phone conversations but live chats enable serving more than one customer at every point of time, driving performance and efficiency.
3. Create a personalised experience with customised product and/ or service recommendations
E-commerce has enabled so much convenience for consumers but one of the biggest downsides is the lack of human interaction. Traditionally, there will always be a retail associate to greet and assist you when you walk into a store so conversion can be increased by having a conversation.
However, this cannot be done when it comes to the live chat so one way to increase the probability of conversion is by adding a human touch such as putting a profile photo of one of your agents to the live chat widget and writing a welcoming message to open up a conversation. Advise the customer accordingly based on questions and preferences.
Eg. If the customer is looking for a pair of earbuds to use for his gym sessions but does not know which ones are suitable as there are different types of earbuds available. Just by searching for the term “earbuds for gym session” might not be able to help as it depends on how advanced your search bar is.
Without a live chat, this could mean losing a potential customer. Either he decides to give up or buys a product and does a refund eventually when he finds that the product he bought is not sweatproof and water resistant, thus not serving his needs. With a live chat, the right product could be recommended to him to make an informed purchase.
When you have helped a customer, it will also be easier to cross sell or upsell your other products and/ or services. A great tip is to always give the direct product page links so the customer just needs to click. It shows that you are willing to go the extra mile. Personalisation and details are king.
4. Lower your cart abandonment rate
Besides page loading speed, user friendliness of website navigation, one very important page on your ecommerce website is the cart checkout page. Picture this scenario where the website visitor is very excited to buy your product and/ or service and has already added it to the cart, with one last step to payment. But at the end of the day, the cart was abandoned and a sale was lost.
On average, 70% of customers decide to abandon their carts after adding products and/ or services.
Why? There are several reasons to take into consideration:
- Payment methods
- Shipping options
- Security
- Pricing
It is crucial to ensure as little distractions as possible at this stage to secure a purchase. One tip is not to include any pop ups at this moment. The whole sales funnel needs to be built in such a way that it facilitates a smooth customer journey from the start to finish, resulting in a lower cart abandonment rate.
In summary, it is social engagement, aka live chat, that will boost your conversion rate. For businesses with live chat functions and various social media accounts, it is recommended to use an omnichannel marketing tool like Rych to help you manage all social chats seamlessly in one place, driving conversion rates and providing a great customer experience.
Using an omnichannel platform will ensure your customers will have a smooth customer journey. Whether the chat from Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or your website, you will be able to manage all of their requests from one and only platform. This will optimise your customer service team performance and enhance your customer retention rate drastically as well.
