Last year, I worked with a salesman who repeated the same motto on a daily basis: ‘people buy from people’. At first, I thought he was talking nonsense. I thought it was just an obvious fact, rather than a subtle truth.
In short, I’d missed the point.
I’ve since realized the proverb has some value in the world of ecommerce (as well as some limitations).
In fact, people make purchasing decisions based on four things:
1. They are aware your product or service exists
2. They understand it
3. They like it
4. They’re convinced it’s worth purchasing
Of course, persuading people to make a purchase can be achieved without human intervention. A smartly designed store or website with a clear and compelling offering may be enough to get customers buying. If it wasn’t, Amazon wouldn’t exist.
So, people don’t always buy from people.
But those four customer concerns above do always need to be answered, and human interactions are a great way of helping customers tick all the boxes. The high value we put on social interactions is hardwired into our brains – it’s the result of hundreds of thousands of years of evolution. These inclinations are too deep-rooted to ignore, and one of the reasons bricks and mortar shops still exist in 2018.
Without interaction, customer experience can go south pretty quickly online. In fact, according to Forrester’s data, 55% of shoppers are likely to abandon their online purchase if they cannot find a quick answer to their question.
The speed at which customers disappear into thin air can seem overwhelming. But there is hope, and it comes in the form of live chat.
Integrated live chat boosts ecommerce sales
Putting customers in contact with your staff quickly and conveniently can have impressive results. According to ecommerce live chat statistics:
So, live chat doesn’t only provide customer support, it drives revenue and brand loyalty up. Let’s take a look at how a live chat that integrates with ecommerce platforms like Lemonstand can achieve that.
Engagement increases sales
Most internet users will browse online when looking to make a purchase. The majority are simply researching or price-comparing. But it’s engaging a visitor at the right moment that can switch a browsing session into a sale. If you want a high-profile case study, just look at Virgin Airlines. They increased conversion rates by 23%.
Customers who use live chat prior to making a purchase spend on average 10% more per order. In some cases, they spend much more. Intuit.com was able to increase average order value by 43% after implementing a live chat widget on their checkout page and increased sales by 211% by using live chat on their product comparison page. That’s quite a bump!
Customers need someone who can immediately walk them through a sale if they become confused or have a question that can make or break a sale. This helps eliminate bounces away from retail websites and ensure that full shopping carts make it through check out.
There are four steps to raising conversion rates with live chat:
- Understanding the scenarios where live chat helps customers
- Training employees to communicate in a way that suits this medium
- Implementing live chat
- Analyzing conversations to optimize the channel further
Obviously, the conversations themselves need to help rather than hinder sales. So how do you make sure live chat conversations get off on the right foot?
With a bang-up-to-date real-time messaging app that integrates with ecommerce platforms like Shopify, Magento, and Lemonstand (and common ecommerce apps like Stripe), your agents can view each customer’s journey before striking up a conversation. By understanding which pages they’ve viewed and where they may have stopped, or got confused, your agents are now in a position to open with meaningful, tailored questions and advice.
You can see how Kayako completely transforms the quality of interaction you’re able to deliver to your customers, all based precisely on their behaviour.
We all want quality conversations built on accurate information. When you integrate live chat with your ecommerce platform, that’s no longer a dream for your ecommerce business. Endless possibilities to target, engage, and convert visitors into customers emerge. As long as you’re consistently placing customer satisfaction as your main priority, you can’t lose – the only limit is your creativity.
A better understanding of your business
The most surprising aspect of using live chat to drive your ecommerce business forward is the information it will give you regarding your website’s UX. Now you can see how shoppers move through your site, what pages they’re looking at, and where they get held up. If product information needs to be clearer, you’ll be able to fix it quickly.
…and if your site is working just as it should, you’ll have peace of mind. You’ll also know that you’re still doing everything possible to overcome the barriers to conversion that your customers are creating for themselves:
Now you can jump in to help customers like Taylor before they ask for it. Which is great because that’s what the majority of customers would prefer:
According to a study by InContact, 87% of customers want to be proactively contacted regarding customer service issues.
Not only do customers want to be engaged proactively, it keeps them loyal.
Enkata found that proactive customer service can improve customer retention by up to 5%, while reducing contact center calls by 20-30% over 12 months.
Some final tips to make live chat work for you
- Don’t act like a machine. live chat’s purpose is to provide your customers with warm, human help. Robotic responses kill the point of live chat
- Consider your shopping hours. Don’t assume 9-5 will work if you have international customers. Consider hiring remote support agents based around the globe if you have a problem sourcing local employees to cover off hours.
- Boost your social. When your live chat agents receive positive feedback, they should feel confident in encouraging visitors to share their satisfaction on the company’s social channels.
Businesses all over the world are learning how proactive live chat can drive more leads, win new customers, and help grow revenue by smartly engaging visitors with relevant, personal, timely messages.
Maybe now is the right time for your ecommerce business to start reaping all the benefits live chat can offer?
Find out how you can use Kayako to support customers and engage new website visitors with Messenger. Take it for a spin. Free for 14 days.