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Live Chat Statistics

Live chat trends and insights from 400 consumers and 100 businesses

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Businesses Fail To Meet Live Chat Demands

For instant support, customers opt for live chat but they're rarely satisfied. Most customer chat experiences end with frustration.

Businesses prefer speed, meaning quick connection times and even quicker responses. But here's the disconnect: consumers care more about getting their issue resolved, even if it takes a bit longer.

Businesses that prioritize customer satisfaction over live chat speed metrics will see huge benefits. Consumers are more likely to remain loyal, engage in positive word of mouth, and spend up to $500 extra per month with businesses that provide effortless live chat experiences.

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95%

of customers value thorough, high-quality support more than speed.

52%

of consumers are more likely to remain loyal to a company that offers live chat support.

47%

of customers haven’t had a positive live chat experience in the last month.

Today, businesses are struggling to meet the demands of customers. This leads to disappointing service experiences, decreased customer retention rates and less revenue.

Live Chat Experiences Get Customers Talking

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20%

of consumers have told friends or colleagues about a poor live chat experience.

29%

of consumers have told friends or colleagues about a positive live chat experience.

Consumers are more likely to tell their friends and colleagues about positive live chat experiences than negative ones. But still, a fifth of consumers have spread negative word of mouth based on a bad experience.

Live chat, when done right, contributes to positive word of mouth, wins new customers and helps businesses grow.

Businesses Are Realizing That Live Chat Is Not Just
A Cost-Centered Support Channel:
It Has The Power To Grow Their Business

%

of businesses say offering live chat has had a positive effect on sales, revenue, and customer loyalty.

%

of consumers are more likely to buy from a company if they offer live chat support.

51%buy again from a company if they offer live chat support.
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63%of people who spend between $250-500 a month online are the most likely to both buy from, and be loyal to, companies who offer live chat.

Businesses Aren’t Reacting To Changing Customer Support Preferences

Customers value personal and instant means of interaction

Whether it’s by phone or live chat support, consumers want to speak to a real person. They aren’t happy to wait for a delayed reply. Consumers prefer live chat support

Despite the rise in popularity of businesses offering support through social media, live chat still reigns as consumers’ preferred support channel.

Live chat, in theory, offers them immediate help with minimal effort required.

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Younger consumers particularly love live chat for the familiar user experience. It’s intuitive — like talking to friends via messaging apps.

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Older consumers prefer traditional, offline channels like phone support over more modern methods.

Disconnect between what customers want and what businesses are doing

Businesses may be overstaffing telephone support.

There’s an opportunity for businesses to improve customer satisfaction and reduce costs by routing more resources towards live chat and email support.

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42%of businesses think consumers prefer phone.
35%of businesses think consumers prefer live chat.
14%of businesses think consumers prefer email.
9%of businesses think consumers prefer social media.
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Consumers Love Real-Time Support But Hate The Typical Live Chat Experience

Live Chat Conversations Should Be Effortless

Typical frustrations include:

Support not being online despite live chat displaying as available

Being disconnected during a live chat

Effort required to start a live chat, particularly where there are pre-chat forms

%

38% of customers are most frustrated by poor user experience on live chat.

%

43% of businesses know their user experience is not good enough.

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29% of consumers find scripted, impersonal responses the most frustrating.

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38% of businesses say their users find their scripted responses most frustrating.

Using Scripted Responses Can Go Wrong

Support teams aren’t making customers feel like individuals. Canned responses, despite being predetermined, should still feel personal and human. Unfortunately, most businesses are not using them correctly.

Waiting For An Agent To Become Available Fuels Frustration

Almost a fifth of customers rate long wait times as the most frustrating part of a live chat — they don’t want to be in a queue.

%

24% of consumers say long wait times are their biggest frustration.

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19% of businesses say their customers are most frustrated by long wait times.

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9% of consumers say having to repeat themselves is the most frustrating part of a live chat experience.

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16% of businesses say their customers are most annoyed by having to repeat themselves.

Siloing Conversations Or Customer History Impacts Customer Satisfaction

Consumers want to be recognized. They want to know that a business sees them as an individual, not a ticket number. They don’t want to have to repeat themselves endlessly. But businesses are finding it difficult to ensure a consistent, unified approach to customer service that also feels personalized and proactive.

Consumers Value High-Quality Support More Than Speed

95% say they would prefer slower support if it meant the quality of help was higher.

Traditional wisdom assumes that consumers want instant support, but this isn’t necessarily true. 19 out of 20 consumers would rather receive slower-paced and personalized expert support over fast, low-quality support.

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Do Business Priorities Match Consumer Expectations?

Consumers Don’t Have Faith In Live Chat

Live chat has a bad reputation. Consumers don’t expect high quality, speedy support. Their expectations for live chat are low, and yet, they still prefer it over phone, email, and social media support.

When starting a live chat conversation, 40% of consumers are not confident they’ll get the support they need in a reasonable amount of time.

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Businesses Strive To Offer Unique And Memorable Customer Experiences

84% say it is an important priority for their team.

But Consumers Say They Are Falling Short

56% of consumers cannot recall an exceptional live chat experience.
84% of consumers have given up on a live chat due to frustration at slow responses or poor replies.

This means businesses are making customers unhappy, losing revenue, spiking churn and adding extra strain on other channels for the support team.

What To Do:

Ask for customer satisfaction ratings and listen to their feedback.

Businesses Try To Be Personal

84% of businesses say that offering a personal customer experience is an important or very important priority for their team.

But Consumers Say They Are Falling Short

29% of customers experience frustration with scripted, impersonal responses
35% note them as the most frustrating factor for customers.

 

What To Do:

Train your team to give canned replies a personal feeling by adapting templated content where necessary.

How To Improve The Live Chat Experience

Choose A Live Chat Solution That Puts People First

Modern live chat support needs to be as easy and effortless as messaging a friend.

Invest In Live Chat Customer Satisfaction

Enable agents to meet customer expectations with personal, timely, and quality support.

Personalize Every Conversation

Use the customer data you have available to deliver better customer service.

Deliver Effortless Chat Experiences

Provide friction-free customer service through live chat. Customers will be more likely to buy from you, and more likely to repurchase too.

Methodology

Consumer Survey

We surveyed over 1000 US consumers, weighted according to US Census data. Our questions focused on live chat customer service, the overall experience consumers have with companies they do business with, and their current expectations.

Business Survey

We conducted a third-party online survey of 100 small/medium business owners and managers who use live chat on their website to talk with customers. Our questions focused on business priorities, their customers’ expectations, and how live chat performs for them.

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