7 Powerful Live Chat Experiments on How to Boost your Ecommerce Sales

The number of US online shoppers who use live chat has escalated from 38% to 58% in the last 5 years. From 2014 to 2018, chat volumes are predicted to increase by 24%. Read more to understand how you can unlock conversions and drive customer satisfaction with messaging.

These are the best of the times. These are the worst of the times. We live in a world where attention spans are plummeting, and patience is a rare commodity. Voicing your opinion is simple. Fanning your opinion is even simpler. Businesses today face a different set of problems. We are now dealing with customers who expect everything ‘now.’ Faster delivery, better check out, easier cancellations, and real-time support.

As a business owner, you need to be quick, you need to fast, and you need to be spontaneous; the world lives on immediacy today. Consumers are becoming sophisticated, and their expectations are increasing as the days pass. Especially while dealing with millennials (who are ruling the online shopping arena), you can't afford to be a sloth. They are impatient, and instant communication plays a vital role in how they perceive your brand. Exceeding consumer expectation is like an uphill battle; difficult, but not impossible. Read on to know how.

Here is a question for you - Do you like waiting? Exactly, no one does! Now you know one of the reasons behind unhappy users.

81% of users want quicker response time. Customers HATE waiting. 55% of users said they would not proceed to make a transaction if they can’t find an immediate answer to their question [US only]. It is Imperative to make yourself accessible.

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Using mobile messaging apps like LINE and WeChat is like opening the Pandora box! They have revolutionized messaging. WeChat with a chrome extension and online payment has just given online chat a few face. It can also be used for paying electricity fees, traffic fines, booking doctor appointments, booking transportation, and a QR code can be used to purchase from a supermarket. And that’s not all, WeChat has a news feed and search functions as well, by which users can know the popularity of a term as well (social sharing, likes and reads are shown).

Line with its ‘branded account’ is open for e-commerce for chatting in real time and get things done swiftly. The line has a built-in browser. Thus pages open within the app itself, saving time and improving UX. SME’s have adopted the consumer version of the app and have sought benefit from it. Many have included Line Chat in their e-commerce website to communicate with their users better. Line, just like WeChat has a chrome extension of its own making it more than just a regular app

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Should ecommerce use live chat?

Yes, yes and YES! Let me provide you with some stats prove it to you better.

39% of customers claimed that they had bought a product just because of a good chat session! Now that’s the power of online chat! Are You seeing an untapped potential, aren’t you?

Customers who chat before making a transaction convert 40% higher, and there is a 10% increase in average order value. 63% of customers said there were high chances that they would visit an e-commerce store once more if they have a live chat option.

77% users say they won’t transact if there is no live chat on a website. Wow! Now that’s a bummer! Still pondering if your e-commerce store needs live chat?

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Contribution of email has shrunk over time

Email is no longer active in the game. Live chat rescues users from the lengthy back and forth communication, which means no more waiting! Users get answers in real time, and the 24hrs response time in emails seems like a lifetime now. The millennials prefer to chat online, rather than place a call or send an email. Even adult customers prefer using live chat over email (28%). The best part about live chat is that the user can be on the same page and chat, browse and make a purchase at the same time.

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Initiate chat proactively on different pages of your website

Creating templates becomes important especially when you have many users speaking to you via the live chat. The agents can use a pre-written template and just send it across for quicker response.

Also, Chatbots can be created to encourage the user to strike a conversation with you even if they had not intended to. An attractive copy of the chat can drive better response, especially if the copy is tandem with the page they are presently in. Here’s the thing, chat boxes are not just for answering queries, it is more than just that. It is a common misconception that chat is used post-purchase when then the users want to inquire about the delivery date or queries related to returns/ exchanges. But the benefit of chat is best-leveraged pre-sale. A sense of curiosity and excitement can be built encouraging user to engage and interact with you. Check out these live chat tips before you get started. Let’s look at 7 campaign ideas to know different ways online chat can be used.

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Live Chat Campaigns

Welcome them and offer help

The most elementary campaign is the Welcome chat. You can let them know that you are available to help them out if they have any query. It gives the user an opening and invites them to talk to you. These kinds of campaigns help the user to make it easier for them to find the chat box, ask a query if they have one and go on ahead with the browsing.

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Sale related

Is there a sale going on your online store? Awesome! Tell them what the sale is about, are you giving out combo offers? Is there a BOGO offer? Shout it out! Sale is one thing users are always keen to know more about. What products are on sales, what discounts are offered and so on.

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Occasion based

Festivals right in the corner? Which means it is shopping season! Huge traffic is on its way; to buy, recommend and gift! Once they click on the chat, you can provide them with exciting offers, relevant to the products they are looking out for.

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Weather related

Change in weather means change in a clothes, be it summer, winter, autumn or monsoon. Users like to see what is trending this season and shop accordingly. Help them out in choosing what’s in and what would look better according to you. Be their style expert.

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Give out Coupons

Users love the idea of getting discounts, which increases the chances of them making a purchase. Throw them an offer they can’t resist enquiring about. Coupons could be the bait you are looking for to increase sales.

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New account related offers

Encourage users to make an account on your e-commerce store by giving them an offer. Users will voluntarily make an account to avail it. This might not actually make users chat with you, but they will encourage them to make a transaction. If they are interested in this offer, you know you are going to get some products sold 😉

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Encourage referrals

Users can be asked to refer it to their friends and family, and you can slide in an offer - if their referral makes a purchase or create an account, they can get a discount. This can increase the chances of a user to persuade their referrals to make a purchase.

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Bonus Tip - Feedback is essential to know if you can improve on something or if you are doing a good job. Constructive feedback is essential to know how you can improve.

Try using automation to get answers to before you jump on a chat for:

• Return / exchange
• COD/ payment related
• Order status/ track shipment

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Who all are using live chat and how?

Some of the popular ecommerce companies are using live chat to communicate with customers:

Amazon

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Canyon

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Nordstrom

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Wine.com

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Modcloth

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Harveynorman

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Warby Parker

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eCommerce UX Tips: How to Seduce Visitors to Buy

Top 6 Backlink Building Tricks For eCommerce Stores

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P.S. Just to make sure you get Ecommerce Templates in right place.