Messaging is the new tool for commerce. Here’s why your website needs a live chat feature immediately
Did you know more than 65 billion messages are exchanged on WhatsApp in a day? Facebook messenger clocks more than 10 billion messages a day! Email still accounts for its size, with 300 billion emails sent per day. Telegram and Signal are adding millions of users each month. Research reveals people spend 84% of their phone time on messaging apps. Given a chance, they'd rather text/chat than call. Businesses are not people, so they struggle to offer personalised service to chats and texts, whereas customers expect that. Meanwhile, a rapidly growing number of companies use omnichannel Business Conversation management platforms to take control of messages from social media, text messaging, WhatsApp and live chat.
Messaging is, therefore, the new tool for commerce, shaping up to become the most dominant communication platform of our generation. The pandemic has only accelerated this with both companies and consumers moving their interactions online, to messaging apps. We can see that a growing number of businesses have started to use WhatsApp and Live Chat as their predominant marketing and communication channels. Live Chat, which offers the highest level of customer satisfaction, can be deemed as the most preferred communication method by today’s customers. Hence, Live Chat has become an integral tool to increase your customer experience.
A case study shows that customers who use Live Chat are five times more likely to buy the products online than those who do not use the chat feature. Live Chat rules the customer support industry because of its instant support capabilities. If the customer chooses to connect you through any other platform, they have to move away from your website. This might distract the customers and prohibit them from contacting you. Since Live Chat allows customers to contact you immediately, incorporating Live Chat into your website provides you an edge over your competition.
Live Chat will also reduce customer abandonment rates. Customers abandon carts for a wide variety of reasons - and move on. With the addition of Live Chat, you will have a direct line to your customer and reduce uncertainties that may arise while the customer visits the website. With Live Chat, you can also engage with ‘window shopping’ visitors and turn them into precious customers. A few smart agents and arming them with a superior Live Chat system is all you need to increase your sales.
Since Live Chat tools are fast, free, and anonymous, customers do not feel the need to hold back. This makes the system more inclusive to customers from all demographics. What’s more, you can also engage with people who predominantly use mobile phones. Since most of the millennials are glued to their mobiles, this is a superior way to immediately connect with them. This makes Live Chat integration a sure-fire way to increase customer engagement. One added benefit that comes with increased engagement is increased brand recognition. It is simple. If you have meaningful engagements with more customers, they are more likely to remember and promote your brand to others.
One of the most important aspects of Live Chat support is that it is 24/7. When you integrate Live Chat to your website, you are installing a 24/7 hotline that directly connects to the customers. When customers can conveniently reach you at their preferred time and get their questions answered immediately, they will be happy. As you are instantly available to chat the whole day, customers feel valued and respected. This also instills a sense of trust that will increase the brand reputation. When customers trust your brand, they are 50% more likely to purchase your products and services. This marriage of convenience and trust is the main reason why Live Chat is ruling the customer support world.
Finally, integrating an omnichannel back-end tool with Live Chat will enable you to seamlessly go back to conversations. In today’s world, customers expect the agents to know their details and history. They don’t want to waste time repeating introductions and conversations again. In fact, it is estimated that more than 70% customers wished businesses identified their details and history. So, a good Live Chat system enables you to build rapport with customers and quickly resolve customer issues. In this highly competitive world, this is a superior advantage for any business.
We can see that there are several advantages for integrating Live Chat into your website. These advantages will surely give you an edge over your competitors. So, add Live Chat to your website and boost your chances of success.