Online retail: How can online chat boost your sales?

Online chat is revolutionising the way retailers engage with their customers and drive sales. According to a US study, 79% of companies say that setting up an online chat has had a positive effect on their sales figures and customer loyalty. But why does this tool make such a difference? Find out more in this article!
 

The benefits of live chat for online retailers

1. Real-time internet user engagement

An online chat can boost your sales because it enables you to provide real-time answers to doubtful or hesitant customers.

With this method of communication, you leave nothing to chance. Customers with a question ask it in chat, get an answer right away and buy the product. This is much more direct than an email or a phone call (especially when the customer has to answer six questions by typing on their keyboard before reaching the right department!). This interactivity helps reduce basket abandonment. And with good reason: it retains customers’ interest in your product or service.

Example: You run an online retail business specialising in selling mattresses and bed bases. A visitor doesn’t know whether one of your mattresses will be compatible with their current slatted base. Using live chat, they can send a photo of their bed base to one of your advisors and find out whether or not the two products are compatible. They’ll get a quick response, which will motivate them to go ahead with the purchase. This responsiveness (provided you’re advisors respond quickly) will boost your customer’s satisfaction rates.

The key figure 🗝️

73% of consumers are likely to recommend brands to other consumers if they are “highly responsive”.

2. A personalised shopping experience

If you capitalise on this direct contact with a customer to make personalised product suggestions, your online chat has a great chance of boosting your sales.

Your customer advisors will need to ask targeted questions to achieve this. This will help them understand key information about visitors’ needs, which they can use to suggest relevant products. This increases the likelihood the customer in question will place an order.

Example: your customer needs nappies for their baby. They’re looking for certified organic nappies. This is not shown on your product page. So, they decide to ask the question via live chat. Katia, a customer advisor in your team, tells them in 30 seconds that your nappies are certified organic. Then she adds five other certified organic product suggestions (with links) available on your online retail site. In this way, Katia encourages customers to find out more about these goods, in case they are likely to need them too.

Consumers love online chat 💬❤️

94% of internet users who proactively used online chat were “very” or “fairly” satisfied with the experience.

3. Improve customer satisfaction and loyalty

To boost your customers’ satisfaction and loyalty, you can develop a rewarding loyalty programme. But you can also set up a live chat on your online retail site. Providing instant assistance and personalised recommendations to your customers will increase their satisfaction. They’ll be sure to come back to your online retail site if they need something in the future.

The figure to remember 📝

More than 44% of online consumers say being able to ask a real person questions when shopping online is one of the most important features a website can offer.

4. Online chat is an affordable tool

If we compare online chat with telephone support, online chat is a much more cost-effective way of boosting sales.

Over the telephone, an advisor spends more time advising the customer. They also need a quiet environment and suitable equipment to provide the highest level of customer service.

With online chat, all the customer advisor needs is a computer and an internet connection. What’s more, they can handle several conversations at once. This means companies can support more customers for less money. It’s a highly cost-effective and efficient way of operating.

Interesting fact💡

60% of customers are likely to return to a site that has live support via online chat.

Our advice for setting up online chat on your e-commerce site

1. Make online chat available 24/7

For online chat to boost sales on your online retail site, it needs to be available 24/7. During the hours when customer advisors are available, they answer questions directly. When they are not, a chatbot can take over:

• either by providing automated answers based on keywords used by customers and/or by referring customers to the FAQ
• by taking a message and an email address for later follow up

The second option is preferable as it allows customer service advisors to get back to the consumer a few hours later by email. This means customers really feel supported in their purchase.

2. Use the questions you get asked to expand your FAQs

As well as helping you boost your online retail sales, online chat is a valuable source of information. This tool enables you to identify frequent customer requests you can use to improve your FAQ page.

Expanding your FAQs will help reduce the volume of messages you receive from chat and therefore reduce your agents’ response time.

3. Reduce the initial response time as much as possible

The initial response time is considered an essential KPI (Key Performance Indicator) for online chat. This is the waiting time between a customer sending a message via chat and an advisor replying (= the first sign of life). This time should be as short as possible if you want to keep customers interested and prevent them from leaving your site. Generally speaking, users who opt for chat don’t have much patience.

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The ideal response time is less than 30 seconds.

4. Train advisors in problem solving

Your customer advisors need to be trained in problem solving. That way, they can feel confident about taking instant messages via online chat.

Firstly, they must actively listen to the customer’s concerns. Then they can ask questions to clarify the situation. Finally, they need to provide accurate and helpful information to the customer while suggesting ideas for additional products where relevant.

5. Make your online chat available in several languages

Does your online retail shop attract visitors from multiple countries?

If so, you need to ensure your online chat is available in the languages of your target markets (and that your advisors are able to respond in these languages).

If certain messages are automated (e.g. “Hello, what are you looking for? Answer A: I am looking for a specific product, Answer B: I would like to speak to an advisor, Answer C: I have a problem with a product I received”), we advise you to have them translated by a professional translation service such as TextMaster. This will ensure your tool is top quality in terms of languages.

🚀 If you want to improve things even more, we advise you to translate the product pages on your online retail site.

6. Place online chat in strategic locations to boost sales

Last but not least, you need to encourage your site visitors to use the chat function. To do this, you need to place it in strategic locations.

You can highlight it with a button like this in the bottom right-hand corner of your home page:

The aim here is to engage internet users and encourage them to start a conversation with you.

However, make sure it’s not too intrusive so it doesn’t detract from the overall browsing experience.
 

Online chat can boost your sales – the figures prove it!

So, as you can see: assisting internet users via online chat creates real added value in online retail. This powerful tool will reassure visitors to your online shop, boost their engagement and drive sales.

Here are the key figures for online retail chat:

• 79% of companies say that setting up an online chat has had a positive effect on their sales figures and customer loyalty
• 60% of customers are likely to return to a site that has live support via online chat
• 73% of consumers are likely to recommend brands to other consumers if they are “very responsive”
• 94% of internet users who proactively used online chat were “very” or “fairly” satisfied with the experience
• More than 44% of online consumers say being able to ask a real person questions when shopping online is one of the most important features a website can offer

Ready to give your sales a boost? Then you know what you have to do. On the practical side of things, why not check out the 10 best chat software tools for your website.