“This write-up primarily covers the benefits of offering live chat support option to your customers. Alongside, I have also discussed the importance of having outstanding customer service and the different types of customer services that online businesses offer.”
Customers support is the backbone of a business. If it breaks, the business will collapse. Any eCommerce business that has made it to the top today, its excellent customer service is amongst those key factors that led to their rise and popularity in the market.
The importance of customer service can be understood by the fact that 90% of the Americans consider customer service a strong point to decide whether they want to do business with a company or not, reports American Express. The same source reports that consumers are willing to spend 17% more on a company that offers outstanding customer service.
Another report by the HubSpot Research says that 93% of customers are likely to make repeat purchases with companies that offer excellent customer service.
Different Types of Customer Service
Online businesses provide customers with multiple options to get their queries revolved. Some of the common and widely used customer service options offered by eCommerce businesses to address customers’ concerns are-
1. Email Support
From a small scale business to large scale business, all provide email support. It is the most basic form of customer support that you will find not only on eCommerce websites but traditional retail businesses also have their official email address where customers can send their query.
2. Call Support
Most of the businesses have a customer support number through which users can call the customer service representatives and get the resolutions for their concerns over the call.
When choosing between email and call support, customers usually opt for the latter as it is the best way to make the representative understand your query as well as your emotions. Moreover, it’s faster to express a problem verbally than writing it in long paragraphs in an email. Customers do not have that much time and patience.
3. Live Chat Support
If there is anything that customers are more likely to prefer over email and call, it is the live chat support option, the reason being, it allows them to communicate with the customer support staff in real-time. Besides, the communication over live chat is quick and provides a friendly feeling.
Today, it has become an integral part of a successful eCommerce website.
4. Social Media Support
Social media is not just an entertainment platform anymore, it has become a medium for customers to get their queries resolved. The reason why people raise their query on social media is social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have a huge user count. So if any customer points out a mistake committed by a brand or if they are unsatisfied with something, they are quick to take out their frustration in the comment section or by tweeting about it.
That is why many businesses have hired social media executives specifically to track customer queries on social media platforms.
5. FAQ Pages
You may or may not call this exactly a customer support option, but the truth is, FAQ pages are very helpful in solving your website visitors’ queries. FAQ pages contain some of the obvious and expected questions (along with the answers) that can arise in a user’s mind. Thus, they are created so that the doubts which a user wants to clear over the call or email or live chat are cleared beforehand, on the FAQ page.
Benefits of offering Live Chat Support
Among all the customer support options, live chat currently beats the rest and is the demand of customers today. The first thing that the website visitors look for when they have any query is the live chat option. You would have also noticed that a live chat popup appears as soon as you navigate to some pages. This is to limit a visitor’s efforts in searching for the chat option and hence it prompts automatically after some time.
In many eCommerce websites, you will generally find the live chat option visible all the time at the extreme bottom right of the screen.
Let’s now take a look at the benefits of having the live chat support option on your website and how useful can it be for your business.
1. Cost-Effective
Live chat is comparatively less expensive than having telephone support. Data collected by Forrester Research shows that live chat is around 17 to 30% cheaper than a phone call.
Another reason for this is that you can talk to multiple customers at a time which, in the case of a phone call, is not possible. Phone support allows addressing only one customer at a time.
2. Increases Conversions
The best thing about implementing a live chat option on your website is that it can boost up your conversions. When customers are on the checkout page, they can get stuck in some step and may require some help with it.
With the live chat option, your prospects can get a quick resolution to their query and complete the purchase right at that moment. This could, otherwise, led to cart abandonment.
Studies suggest that live chat can 3x more conversions.
3. Live Chat is Convenient
On one hand, where you would be required to explain everything on a single email or reach out to the customer care executive via call, live chat, on the other hand, is time-saving and can be initiated quickly with a single “Hi”.
Moreover, live chat encourages multi-tasking means customers can do some other work while they wait for the chat support representative to reply.
4. Improves Customer Loyalty
A report suggests that around 73% of the customers are loyal to a brand because of the friendly customer service representatives. It is also one of the major reasons for their liking towards that part.
There is nothing better than a happy and satisfied customer. If you help customers with the exact resolution they need, their loyalty towards your brand will increase automatically. Customers feel appreciated when you understand their query and are quick to address their concerns.
Related: 8 Ways to Build Customer Trust and Loyalty
5. Competitive Edge
The concept of live chat is still new to many businesses. You would not find the live chat option on every second website. 3/10 eCommerce websites would be providing the live chat option to their customers.
So, live chat gives you a competitive advantage and provides you with an opportunity to be ahead of your competitors and excel at a better rate than them. Use this to your benefit. Offer a live chat experience to your customers and focus their shift from your competitors towards your brand.
6. Live Chat Encourages Friendly Communication
Live chat feels like you are talking to a friend, and hence it creates a friendly environment. Emails or calls seem a bit professional, and there is a bit of seriousness involved.
With customers being familiar with chatting on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, the live chat option gives a similar feel. You can even use emojis to develop a friendly feeling.
Final Thoughts
Setting up a live chat support option on your eCommerce website will not only make a quick and convenient medium to address the concerns of your customers but will also give you an edge over your competitors.
I have compiled a list of some of the best live chat support software. The list includes Olark, SnapEngage, tawk.to, Chatra, PureChat, Userlike and Zendesk. Choose your desired software and start offering the live chat option.
Are you satisfied with the information that has been provided in this write-up? If you enjoyed reading the benefits of live chat, do drop a comment below.
