Website Chat Software produces happier shoppers in the long-term
A recent survey conducted in the US has suggested that website chat software enabled websites have a better chance of producing a positive experience amongst consumers. The survey, conducted across businesses and websites that were experienced in using online chat software to handle customer queries and services produced a positive rating of 86% overall.
This is a slight increase on a similar survey conducted 2 years ago which received a positive rating of 85%
However, this shows that website chat software is now maturing as a customer service model and is capable of achieving consistently high approval ratings.
The survey pool by Livechat Inc in the US was a large sample and used data from 3,300 online businesses over a 3 month period. In total, 14 million online chat software interactions were analysed with data taken from established live chat operations that were frequent users of the software. A large cross-section of data was gathered from business sectors such as health, government, education, pharmaceuticals, finance and ecommerce.
A large proportion of the website chats analysed were from the retail industry, traditionally a strong and widespread user of website chat software with users seeking special offers, answers to quick product queries and delivery times. One interesting point to note was that the average chat engagement time per session increased by approximately 2 minutes from the previous report. This is an indication that consumers are now more comfortable using website chat software and see it as a natural vehicle for customer support online. It also possibly indicates that online chat software now tends to be available site-wide rather than just on the contact section or page.
Included in the survey were also businesses in the UK
They also reported similar results as in the US with live chat sessions of a similar length and a positive feedback rating just below that in the US – at 82%. Website chat software was deemed slightly more popular and effective for B2C businesses over B2B, although some businesses used it for both channels. B2C businesses tended to be heavier users of online chat software and had the highest approval ratings for customers.
Click4Assistance has been providing website chat software for B2B and B2C businesses in the UK since 2004. To find out more and see how online chat software can promote your customer service channels, contact us for further details. Click here for further information
