Are you considering incorporating live chat into your ecommerce business? Are you curious about how to effectively utilize e-commerce live chat to attain favorable outcomes and which tools to employ?
It’s astonishing – Research predicts that by the close of this year, e-commerce will represent more than 20% of overall retail sales.
However, one intriguing observation within the data is the significant increase in online sales between 2019 and 2020.
Not only does this indicate a growing number of individuals feeling at ease making online purchases, but it also signifies a rise in challenges such as:
- The e-commerce business is facing more competition than ever
- Conversion margins are slim
- Creating customer experience like a brick-and-mortar business is a challenge
- Increasing sales is a challenge
- And businesses need to cater to an international audience
Live chat is the solitary tool that is able to tackle the majority of the challenges stated above.
In the following discussion, our focus will be on delving into the specifics of e-commerce live chat and exploring how it can assist in overcoming various obstacles related to sales and expansion.
Are you prepared? Shall we start from the beginning, then?
However, there is another intriguing piece of information in the data – the significant increase in online sales from 2019 to 2020.
Not only does this indicate that an increasing number of individuals are feeling at ease with making online purchases, but it also suggests that the difficulties have grown, such as:
- The e-commerce business is facing more competition than ever
- Conversion margins are slim
- Creating customer experience like a brick-and-mortar business is a challenge
- Increasing sales is a challenge
- And businesses need to cater to an international audience
Live chat is the sole tool capable of addressing the majority of the challenges mentioned above.
In the following, we will delve into the details of e-commerce live chat and demonstrate how it can help you overcome various obstacles related to sales and growth.
Are you prepared? Let’s start from the beginning, then.
- People from different teams like sales, marketing, product, legal, etc. all can come together to close deals faster.
- Fast-track onboarding new sales members by creating an onboarding channel for the new employees and inviting them on Slack.
Reduced response time
Live chat’s unique selling point is its quick response time. As a result, customers anticipate receiving replies within minutes, or even seconds. It’s unsurprising that 69% of organizations employ pre-written messages in live chat to enhance customer involvement.
Providing prompt responses (made possible through the utilization of pre-written messages, knowledge base, etc.) to sales inquiries leads to higher sales and quicker conversions.
Based on a survey conducted by a live chat customer service team, the inclusion of a live chat channel results in an 8%-20% rise in conversions. Moreover, chatters tend to spend 60% more per purchase compared to non-chatters, which is an interesting finding.
Reduced sales conversion cycle
By 2025, the eCommerce industry for fashion and apparel is projected to achieve an astounding $1003.5 billion in sales, making it the most widely favored sector globally.
Fashion shoppers visit an average of 26 pages, making it the second-highest after Grocery, which stands at 31 pages.
Reducing pageviews, particularly for the top 5-7 e-commerce verticals, can be considered as one of the most effective approaches to accelerate sales closure.
This is the way you can accomplish it using live chat.
- Recommend products based on shopping history
Most live chat tools today include chatbots, which play a crucial role in making efficient product recommendations.
It is encouraging to note that, on average, Chatbots successfully managed 68.9% of chats from beginning to end in 2019. This indicates that chatbots are already performing well as salespersons, thanks to advancements in algorithms and technologies such as NLP.
This is Lego’s recommended approach for showcasing products on its online store.
Making a significant impact, Lego’s bot ‘Ralph’ impresses by inquiring about age and price category, and providing ideal recommendations for quicker conversion. Additionally, it offers a complimentary shipping code.
- Provide better deals on the wishlist items
If you have ever made a purchase online (which I assume you have), you are aware that the wishlist is where our desires reside!
The live chat support agent has the ability to co-browse with the customer and offer them the most preferable deals on their wishlist items, particularly those that have been on the wishlist for an extended period.
Furthermore, chatbots can be utilized in this setting to dispatch promotional emails containing exclusive deals and offers to the wishlist pages, thereby captivating customers who frequently revisit the website.
- Co-browse for a brick-and-mortar-like experience : By combining live chat with co-browsing and video chat, you can get closest to simulating a real-world experience for your shoppers.
Similar to the real world, you have the ability to accompany your customer around the shop and suggest products based on their individual preferences, ultimately minimizing the number of pages they need to browse before purchasing.
This would be most effective for high-end fashion items such as luxury watches, jewelry, and high-fashion, which account for a significant portion of e-commerce fashion sales.
Increased conversion margins
By utilizing a competent live chat software, you can actively monitor the activities of visitors on your e-commerce website or mobile app. This enables you to accompany your customers throughout their journey and timely initiate conversations to foster engagement and maximize sales potential.
- Engage : Sometimes customers are shy to ask for help, and they keep lingering on specific product pages without asking for help. You can engage with these visitors proactively and convert them into leads.
- Upsell: Chatbots can use your e-commerce store customer data and suggest complementary products (think amazon’s ‘people also buy’), for example, mobile accessories on the purchase of a mobile.
Live agents have the capability to surpass expectations by relying on human interaction, allowing them to suggest not only complementary items, but also alternative products that may be more expensive but better suited to the customer’s needs.
If, for instance, a customer is considering two standard rooms, recommending a suite instead may require a slight additional payment but would provide them with greater advantages and flexibility.
Shopping cart abandonment minimized
Clothing ranks highest among the various industries in terms of shopping cart abandonment rates within the e-commerce sector.
Additional charges such as tax, shipping, and other costs are often the determining factor, causing 49% of customers to abandon their purchase during checkout.
However, the abandoned cart emails boast a 45% open rate, offering an opportunity to utilize chatbots in sending customers emails containing discount coupons, among other incentives, in order to motivate them to return and finalize their purchases.
Turns visitors into loyal customers through personalization
Undoubtedly, personalization is the most effective method to make yourself distinguishable in the eyes of your customers.
To transform your visitors into loyal customers who choose your brand over competitors, it is crucial to demonstrate your understanding of their perception and expectations. By tailoring the shopping experience accordingly, you can establish a lasting rapport with them.
By utilizing chat history and transcripts, you can enhance live chat with personalization features and elevate the experience of conversational e-commerce to an unprecedented level.
Enables selling at scale with minimum cost
Small and big companies consider the price of a live chat app to be crucial.
If you are a small entity, your goal is to achieve the highest possible outcome with limited resources, while as a larger entity, you require a strategy to expand. Consider comparing plans that focus on numerous agents versus plans that address each individual agent.
In addition, a necessary tool for an e-commerce store is one that includes the fundamental selling features.
- Multilingual chat support
- Sharing documents like files, images, attachments, etc.
- Clickable buttons for customers and chat agents
- Sharing catalogs, etc.
When subscribing to a live chat tool, be cautious as there are options in the market that can handle this task on your behalf.
With that said, let’s discuss some of the top e-commerce live chat tools available in the market.
Most Popular Live Chat Software for eCommerce in 2023
LiveAgent
LiveAgent stands out as a top-notch cloud-based software for live chat and help desk needs. With LiveAgent, users can seamlessly integrate their live chat, email, and social media accounts in one convenient platform. Setting up email ticketing, live chat, video chat, and call center with time tracking is hassle-free through the use of LiveAgent.
Key Features
- Automatic chat translation facility.
- Call back scheduling with the feature of call recording.
- Visitor tracking and live chat tracking on Google Analytics.
- Agent ranking for better control over team and user interface.
- Multi-channel communication with data import and export facility.
Pros
- The software is much simpler to use and implicate irrespective of the team size.
- Features can be customized and tailored as per the users need.
Cons
- Mobile app integration can be improved.
LiveChat
LiveChat is regarded as the top-notch solution for all types of e-businesses when it comes to interacting with customers through live chatbots. It specifically caters to e-commerce businesses, as traditional customer service methods like phone calls and emails are both time-consuming and result in delayed responsiveness from both parties.
In 2002, Livechat was launched with the intention of providing an chatbot platform, live customer support, and help desk platform for e-commerce. The software is able to seamlessly integrate with well-known CRM software such as Hubspot, Mailchimp, and Google Analytics. This integration helps to automatically populate the customer’s necessary information.
Key Features
- Allows the facility of targeted messages.
- Provides better security encryption and data storage.
- Is made from 200+ integrations for easy workflow.
- Capture leads and makes buying easy.
- Automation is included.
Pros
- Provides excellent analytics and reporting setup.
- Has a very easy and simple-to-use user interface.
Cons
- The software can be quite costly for small business owners.
Intercom
Intercom is a specialized platform with over 600 million users across various companies. It offers a live chat platform that assists clients in converting their website visitors into customers.
Founded by Karen Peacock in 2011, Intercom is a privately-owned company that has been observed to be utilized by more than twenty-five thousand businesses for engaging with their potential customers.
Key Features
- Automation is included.
- Chat histories are saved, which creates ease for visitors and agents too.
- Intercom emails can be used as templates directly.
- Helps in the later stages of business, since it has other major functions other than Live chat.
- Proactive support.
Pros
- Intercom allows the easy integration of different apps on its system.
- Provides easy access for chat customization.
Cons
- Has a non-flexible pricing model.
ChatBot
Installing ChatBot is a simple procedure with an easy method. It can be personalized and utilized effortlessly due to its drag-and-drop functionality. Moreover, ChatBot provides user-friendly templates that are readily available for easy usage.
On ChatBot, you can find various templates like lead generation, e-commerce bot, restaurant, offline forms, and universal templates that simplify the process of designing a work pattern and emphasizing key areas.
Key Features
- Chatbots can be built without the required knowledge of coding.
- Creates customer user list.
- Multiple flows at the same time.
- Chatbot Testing Tools.
- Customizable chat Widget.
Pros
- Chatbots can easily be integrated with multiple platforms like Amazon, social media sites, Microsoft, etc.
- Provides good customer service.
Cons
- Has a competitive pricing when compared to other software with similar services.
Sendinblue
Recently added to the site, Sendinblue software now includes live chat support, in addition to its renowned email-marketing services.
By utilizing their Sendinblue account, individuals have the capability to establish a chat box and connect it to the desired website. Sendinblue functions as both a live chat solution and a comprehensive marketing toolkit.
Key Features
- Communication through Email, SMS, and inbox.
- Provides multichannel marketing.
- Email Marketing.
- SMS marketing.
- Marketing Automation.
Pros
- The login process is much simple and also doesn’t require any credit card information.
- It is a versatile platform that is beneficial for all sizes of businesses.
Cons
- A number of features provided by Sendinblue are too big. Hence, it might seem complicated during the initial use.
Chaport
Chaport software primarily caters to WordPress users and provides free plans with endless chat history, notifications, registrations, and more. In addition to the free plans, they also offer premium and membership plans.
Additionally, there are several other features included like typing insights, visitor notes, saved replies that are shareable, and auto-invitations, which give users a competitive advantage.
With the premium plan, more than five operators can work simultaneously, making it a suitable platform for small and young websites due to its free plans.
Key Features
- Operator Productivity.
- Captures Visitor’s Information.
- Provides reports such as basic reports, google analytics, On-demand reports, etc.
- General features such as chat history, SSL encryption, GDPR compliance, etc.
Pros
- Comes with a free plan for users that one can try before purchasing the premium version.
- It facilitates easy synchronization between multiple devices.
Cons
- Chaport is not compatible with chatbots.
Olark
Olark offers straightforward and practical live chat capabilities that contribute to increased sales, enhanced lead generation, and improved services. It facilitates the utilization of live chat data and customer feedback for optimizing the quality of offered products and services.
Key Features
- Organizes customer data.
- Offline Messages.
- Customs pre-chat forms.
- Real-Time Engagement.
- Reporting.
Pros
- Provides easy access to the client’s approximate locations.
- It allows the user to create their own path for customization in order to have a quick response.
Cons
- A few features are still missing from it as compared to its competitors.
ProProfs Chat
ProProfs offers fully personalized live chat solutions that are tailored to meet the specific needs of a brand. Furthermore, it seamlessly incorporates the brand’s visuals and logo into the live chat solution.
The advantage of taking into account ProProfs Chat is the fact that they offer round-the-clock technical support and provide readily available templates, making it simpler to utilize and incorporate modifications.
Key Features
- Chat Automation is provided.
- Design live chat that suits the brand.
- 100+ Settings and Integrations.
- Reports and Analytics.
Pros
- ProProfs chat has an interconnected network through which operators can contact other operators when in need.
- It is compatible with multiple devices like Mac, Windows, iPad, iPhones and Android.
Cons
- A few features have glitched in them.
Zendesk
Zendesk offers personalized features to create online communities, knowledge bases, and customer care portals as a cloud-based system for technical support management.
The platform of Zendesk facilitates the seamless integration of all customer interactions into one screen, ensuring enhanced comprehension. This enables it to cater to a diverse range of entities, including large and small-scale businesses, government institutions, media outlets, and many others, with its extensive array of services.
Key Features
- Stays connected on any channel.
- Manage all your customer conversations from one place.
- Reach out in real time with proactive engagement.
- Enable 24/7 support with automation.
- Adds Customization according to Brand.
Pros
- It is a combination of help desk software and CRM software.
- Can support a large number of clients.
Cons
- For new users, learning Zendesk might take some additional period of time.
Zoho Desk
By incorporating Zoho Desk, businesses can incorporate a live chat widget that instantly appears when a user accesses the webpage. Zoho Desk comes highly recommended for its assortment of features, including the ability to receive customer experience ratings directly in the chat window and utilize pre-written responses. Additionally, it allows for separate chat widgets for each available brand.
Key Features
- Multi-Channel Communication.
- Third-Party Integrations.
- Feedback Management, both positive and negative.
- Performance Metrics along with Proactive chat.
Pros
- It is a feature-rich platform.
- Provides easy integration with Zoho services in order to increase workflow ability.
Cons
- Does not have a desktop application to use.
Tidio
Tidio, a widely-used live chat software on the Shopify store, quickly connects potential customers and effectively converts them into leads by promptly addressing their queries and providing excellent customer service. The app consistently receives high ratings.
Tidio is known for automatically assessing leads and collecting visitors’ emails and phone numbers pertaining to the sales team. However, Tidio’s native integrations are perceived as limited, and its analytics are deemed to be basic.
Key Features
- Measures Users’ time on the page.
- Has a Sales monitoring dashboard.
- Gives Welcome message plus information about discounts.
- Third-party Integration.
- Automation.
Pros
- Allows easy communication between customers and the company in real-time frame with the addition of needed widgets.
- Has a collection of chatbots for customers to select and customize as per their website.
Cons
- It does not allow users to manage their client chats by Whatsapp, Instagram, or Twitter.
ChatSupport
ChatSupport operates by enabling the inclusion of a chat prompt corresponding to the specific webpage where it is required. The inclusion of chat prompts on a website is executed in a manner that is pertinent to the respective page they are applied to.
Lead capture is one of the key features, allowing essential visitor details to be gathered even in offline mode. The chat widget can be personalized to align with the brand. Additionally, a feedback survey form is readily available for customers.
Key Features
- 24/7 lead capture.
- Uses a simple way to gather visitors’ information.
- Live Visitors Queue.
- The dashboard organizes the overview into leads, visitors, and customers.
Pros
- Provides one month of free services to the clients.
- Allows the easy response to multiple visitors at the same time.
Cons
- Few of the features can be unlocked only after purchasing paid plans.
Comm100 Live Chat
Under the SaaS (Software as a Service) business model, Comm100 was introduced in 2009. Through the utilization of its web chat window, operator console, and control panel, Comm100 facilitates convenient communication between businesses and their website visitors in order to enhance customer satisfaction.
Key Features
- Online Chat.
- Web Traffic Monitoring.
- Auto Chat Invitation Rules.
- Reports and Analysis.
Pros
- The platform is easy to use with an excellent user interface.
- It is a feature-rich platform.
Cons
- The platform somewhere lacks providing customization options for the agent console.
Gorgias
Founded by Alex Plugaru in 2016, Gorgias strives to cultivate exceptional customer service and construct comprehensive helpdesk software. Serving as an all-in-one customer service platform, Gorgias equips e-commerce stores with various tools to generate leads, streamlining support management and consolidating features into a single hub.
Key Features
- Creation of automated response.
- Faster response.
- Switch from chats to other channels.
- Set individual agent.
- Customize replies.
Pros
- Has excellent customer service support.
- Allows seamless integration with multiple e-commerce platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, etc.
Cons
- The software is more suitable for medium size businesses only.
