A typical customer journey from research to purchase is fraught with questions, concerns and anxiety. Sure, prospects can reach out via phone, email or social networks like Facebook or Twitter to get answers and support. But they’re just not as effective as live chat.

In fact, an overwhelming majority of 92% users feel that live chat provides the highest satisfaction levels, compared to email with 85% and with 77% for Twitter. Why? Because it gives them a quick and convenient way to get the information and answers they need.

But your prospects and customers aren’t the only ones who can benefit from live chat. Your ecommerce business can too.

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of live chat so you understand why it would be a great addition to your online shop.

1. Overcome objections instantly

How many times have you found yourself browsing through an online shop, finding a great product, getting ready to purchase it, but then you didn’t?

Maybe you weren’t sure about the materials, size or shipping fees. Or maybe you had some questions that weren’t answered in the product description or in the site’s FAQ section.

You could’ve searched through the site to get the answers you needed. You also could’ve sent an email or filled out a contact form but that’s time-consuming. So you just went back to Google to find another online shop.

It happens more often than you think. And it’s probably happening to prospects browsing through your online shop, too.

Here’s the thing: no matter how much information you include in your product descriptions or FAQs, visitors still have questions. That’s because people who come to your site have all kind of different needs.

Some need clear information on shipping fees and don’t want or have the time to browse through your site to find it. So they just want a quick, clear answer.

Others need to know exactly what ingredients are in your products or what materials are used in the clothing you sell. So they need a more detailed response.

If these prospects don’t feel like giving you a call, or don’t have the time to go looking through your entire site to find the answers they need, they’ll simply go elsewhere.

That’s why live chat is so valuable. It allows you to address questions and concerns in real-time and get people the help they need, and quickly. In addition, you get to keep prospects on your site, which gives you a better chance at enticing them to buy from you.

2. Boost sales

No matter how effective your online marketing campaigns are at bringing prospects to your online shop, or how user-friendly your website is, lots of visitors will leave your site without making a purchase.

Fortunately, live chat can help with that.

When done right, live chat can stop people from abandoning your site or shopping cart by providing instant answers to burning questions. As a result, it can also boost your revenue by enticing more prospects to buy from you, and even compelling them to come back to your store.

Just take a look at these amazing stats of what you can achieve if you add live chat to your online shop:

• People who use live chat on websites are 85% more likely to become customers than those who don’t.
• Only one message over live chat increases conversion odds by 50%.
• Live chat can increase your conversion rate by 40%.
• 63% of customers are more likely to return to a website if it has live chat support, and 62% are more likely to make a repeat purchase.

Live chat gives your visitors a chance to ask questions and get the answers they need, then and there. They don’t have to wait too long for an answer, they don’t get put on hold, and they don’t need to waste time hunting all around your website for information.

So adding live chat to your online shop and making sure you quickly provide visitors with the answers they need is an effective way to boost sales.

3. Cut support costs

If you compare live chat and phone calls, chatting is much more affordable. Think about it: while a call agent can only talk to one customer at a time, a live chat support agent can handle several customers at once.

They can chat with a customer, provide answers or links to further information and then – without interrupting or putting them on hold – quickly respond to a query by a second customer.

This decreases support costs and increases the efficiency of handling a large volume of inquiries.

4. Improve your ecommerce business

This may not seem obvious but live chat gives you the fantastic opportunity to get to know your prospects and customers. You get to learn about their concerns, needs and pains as well as their preferences.

This information is extremely valuable and you can use it to refine your marketing messaging and ensure it’s relevant and compelling for your target audience.

And you know what else? Talking to your customers can also give you some great ideas on how to improve your products and online shop. For example, if lots of people ask you about shipping fees or your refund policy, you might consider making this information more visible on your site and product pages.

There are probably lots of other things on your online shop that can be improved. The problem is that they may not be as obvious to you as they are to your customers. So while you chat with them, make sure to also take note of their questions, concerns and feedback, and use that information to improve your ecommerce website.

5. Stand out from the competition

Shopping on most online stores can easily feel impersonal and transactional. Fortunately, live chat can change that.

Talking to your customers in real-time gives you the opportunity to insert personality and humanity back into your customer relationships. And your unique personality is something that your competitors can’t easily copy.

It’s also one of the key things that makes customers fall in love with a brand. What does that mean? It means happy, long-term customers who are less likely to go elsewhere. As an added bonus, they usually also recommend you to their family, friends and everyone they know.

Wrapping up

If you have an ecommerce site, you should give live chat a try. It won’t just help you to get to know your customers better, what they need and how you can help them, but you’ll also be able to solve issues more quickly, build strong long-term relationships and increase your online sales.