According to research from eDigital, Website Chat Software has the highest customer satisfaction rating of any communication channel. Live Chat scored a positive approval rating of 73%. This compares to ratings of 61% for emails and 44% for telephone contact.

The positive rating is a growing indication of the strength of live chat as a customer service channel as more and more customers browse and purchase using smartphones and tablets while on the move.

The significance of this positive rating cannot be under-estimated 

When you rely on your website as a premium distribution channel, customer service is often what sets your business apart from your competitors.  Good customer service is highly valuable.

Website chat software scored the highest rating among the newer communication channels beating apps (53%), social media (48%) and SMS (41%).  This was scored from a solid sample of 2,000 nationally representative consumers – gauging their satisfaction across a range of touch points and communication tools.

The high score for website chat software is also interesting given that only 24% of consumers polled said that they had used the service.  Roughly half of customers are also prepared to pick up the phone but the satisfaction rating isn’t as high as live chat support.  This suggests that more and more business will add live chat to website in the next year to offer their customers a higher level of targeted support.

Customers also appear to favour choice – with a variety of different channels still being used.  Phone and face-to-face remain the most widely used for making complaints.  Although multi-channel remains highly important for UK businesses, the trend towards satisfaction for the website chat software channel will be of particular interest to businesses that trade online.

If you’re looking to add live chat software to your website, Click4Assistance has a range of price plans to suit.  Click here for further information