How does online chat affect website conversions?

Most likely, you have repeatedly heard about the importance of installing a live chat widget on your website and have received various arguments in favor of it. We want to share not only our experience (although it is also quite relevant), but also provide statistical data from various research platforms to assure you that if you are not using live chat yet, you are missing out on sales.

Every year, the Comm100 platform conducts research and publishes the Live Chat Benchmark Report, which vividly demonstrates the sales growth dynamics through website chat. Based on the 2023 research, the number of inquiries in 2022 increased by 43%. Back in 2020, on average, each support representative received 430 inquiries per month, and in 2023, this number reached 1023. Thanks to simple math, we see a growth of 113% in just 2 years!

Why does online chat on the website increase sales?

From a marketing perspective, what exactly influenced this?

• Minimal time investment. We live at a frantic pace, seeking the services we need while moving from point A to point B. We have little tolerance for unnecessary phone calls. Online chat provides the opportunity to quickly access information here and now. And time is money.
• Convenience. Our time is all about convenience. We are accustomed to using messengers, and live chat offers that same convenience.
• Real-time communication. No longer do we have to wait for the start of the workday or constantly check our emails in anticipation of a response. Online chat allows for communication at any moment, and even if support agents are not currently available, as soon as they respond, you will be notified.
• Trust. Your potential customer knows that they are interacting with a real person who is giving them personal attention.
• Habit. Online chats are increasingly becoming the norm.

Live chat is truly one of the best ways to make your website more effective in terms of sales. And a very budget friendly way. And often completely free!

Let's go in order.

What is online chat? First of all, it is a communication tool. With the help of a chat, a site guest can interact with a company manager or a support service online.

An example of an online chat from HelpCrunch:

Advantages of Online Chat for Business

Most of us are already so accustomed to communicating in instant messengers that the absence of this instant communication method is even somehow surprising ... Well, because it is fast, convenient and free. There is no need to choose a call time, call or wait for a response to a completed application on the site.

But online chats are important not only for users, but also for site owners. What exactly will your business get with the installation of a chat on the site?

• Increasing the number of hits from the site;
• Prompt provision of information to the site visitor;
• Save time with the ability to set up automatic answers to frequently asked questions;
• Convenient and constant communication with your customers: you can install the chat application on any device;
• Chatbot (Chatbot (when the managers are not online, the user will still not be left without attention!);
• Collection of applications from the site in one place;
• Getting information about your customers;
• Collecting a database of email addresses and phone numbers;
• Increasing the level of customer loyalty.

Some statistics about the effectiveness of using online chats on websites

We conducted a thorough analysis of various studies to gather up-to-date data on user attitudes towards live chat. Additionally, we explored how an online assistant can specifically impact conversion rates and increase sales from a website.

Source: Software Advice

According to research by Zendesk.com (a company that develops software for help desks), online chat was the most convenient way of communication from the customers' point of view, with 92% of respondents choosing this option.

Furthermore, after implementing the live chat, we have observed that the number of inquiries through the website form has decreased, as a portion of users instantly shifted to communicating via the live chat option. However, it's not just about the transition; the number of inquiries has also multiplied!

• Approximately 60% of potential customers, for instance, say they are more likely to return to a website with the option of live chat.
• 63% have affirmed that the presence of live chat on a website increases their chances of purchasing goods or services from that particular site.
• 38% mentioned that if they receive excellent support during live chat interactions, they are more likely to complete their purchase.

What's even more interesting is that according to a study by Microsoft, different communication channels are favored depending on the age of users (because it's about habit). However, in all cases, live chat occupies a significant portion as one of the most convenient communication channels.

Source: Microsoft

Why do people prefer online chatting as a means of communication?

This is fast. According to SuperOffice research, the average response time is as follows:

• 2 minutes for live chat
• 10 hours for social media
• 17 hours for email

The choice becomes obvious We are not considering phone calls, so it's not always convenient, and these three channels are almost equal in terms of communication method.

Effectiveness of using online chats in various business areas

If we look at the statistics from Comm100 with data distribution by industries, the results will be as follows:

What conclusions can be drawn from this data about online chats and others?

• Online chat inquiries are present in any industry and account for an average of 40% of total inquiries.
• 30% to 60% of inquiries come from mobile devices, so it's important to ensure that it's convenient to use on your website.
• If you are in the hotel business or provide travel services, offering quality customer support is a priority to stand out from competitors.
• If your customer support responds quickly to customers (less than 1 minute), customer satisfaction levels immediately increase.

Summarizing the entire analysis:

• 81% of users remain satisfied after chatting.
• 15% of all website visitors will use live chat. 1000 visits = approximately 150 potential customers.
• Customers who chat with you are 513% more confident in making a purchase. There is a strong correlation between conversions and chat interactions.
• About 44% of online shoppers believe that the average response time should be less than 5 minutes.
• At least 41% of users prefer chat as their preferred support channel, making it the most popular means of communication with businesses.

We also conducted our own little research and took as an example several sites of our customers where online chats are installed. Here are the results we got on average for a month of active chat use:

• 170 users left their contacts to the site manager (five people per day on average);
• 78 people requested a dialogue with the manager on their own, without waiting for an invitation to the chat;
• 261 - immediately accepted an active invitation to dialogue.

But such excellent results have one big nuance...

Which online consultant to choose?

There are numerous options available in the market for online chats, but it's important to have a clear understanding of what you expect from the platform to find the one that's perfect for you.

For your convenience, we have developed a comparative table of 5 services to make it easier for you to review and choose.

The choice is really huge. And over the years since the advent of instant messengers and chats, we have had many opportunities to test different services and choose the best option. That's why...

We recommend HelpCrunch

To be transparent, we are participants in their affiliate program, but we made this choice consciously after several months of testing.

Transparency is a significant part of our company culture, so we created a comparative table based on our experience using the service and the feedback from our customers. Perhaps this will help you make the final decision And most likely, you are reading this article for that very reason.

Everything you need for effective customer management! And all in one dashboard! Additionally, they offer 3 months of free access to all features for Ukrainian companies. A great plus is that credit card information is not required for the trial period!

But it's not enough to install a chat - it's important to learn how to use it directly to increase sales on your site. Let's see  :)

About HelpCrunch features: how to use them in sales?

1. Live Chat and Chatbot. Well, this is what we all gathered here for. Every business owner invests money in driving traffic to their website, so if a user has already landed on your site, don't let them leave. Use proactive messages through live chat or create an automated chatbot to initiate a conversation.

A small tip. After creating an automated dialogue script, check the chatbot statistics to fine-tune any inconvenient steps for users. It may take a few weeks to refine the best script.

2. Collect visitor contacts before starting a dialogue. Important! Don't make them fill out a super detailed form. Keep it to 1 - maximum 2 required fields. We recommend having their email and phone number. This will allow you, even with an offline team or missed dialogue, to still be able to reach out to potential customers.

3. Create an FAQ section. If you have a long wait queue, it's better to create a knowledge base or an automated chatbot with answers to common questions, so that customers can find information on their own. This way, you can reduce the bounce rate.

In every industry, there are a number of questions that potential customers ask regularly:

1. How to make a payment?
2. How does the delivery process work?
3. Is the product available in-store?
4. Do you have my size?
5. How to request a measurement?
6. What are the payment details? And so on.

By utilizing quick phrase functions, you can save a lot of time - both yours and the customer's - and expedite the order placement process. When a user clicks on such a question in the chat, they immediately receive a pre-prepared response.

As mentioned earlier, it's crucial: the faster we respond to the customer, the easier it will be to gain their trust and loyalty, and to prevent them from switching to competitors' websites.

4. Email marketing. If it's not already a separate branch of your marketing funnel, HelpCrunch can be your first step. Certain plans offer the capability to build email campaigns for your users. It's a superb tool for communicating with both your existing customers and potential ones. Audience segmentation is also a useful feature, and HelpCrunch provides it!

5. Pop-up windows or modal windows. They can serve a great purpose of notifying website users about promotions, special offers, important updates, and new products. Just make sure not to overwhelm them. When used appropriately, they can have a very positive impact on conversion rates.

6. Proactive invitation to engage in a dialogue.

Below is data from one of our client’s websites.

These are user requests via chat with the Active Invite feature enabled. Here you can also see the number of completed dialogues for the month (July 2021).

Don't wait for your site guest to write first! Offering help is a sure and proven path to the sale. Set up active invitations for specific pages and offer help to visitors at the right place and time.

7. Manager performance monitoring. In the personal dashboard, you can see comprehensive statistics: how much time managers spend in the chat, which dialogues they initiated first, and which ones they may have missed... All correspondence is stored right there.

8. Data collection for building a customer database. With the help of the chat, you can gather and store user names, phone numbers, and email addresses. Utilize this data to build a database of potential customer contacts and for future mailings, such as sharing useful information and promotions.

In addition, in the personal account, it is possible to assign certain labels to clients and divide them into groups: “ordered”, “interested, but did not order”, “not satisfied”...

9. A complete CRM system for working with clients. CRM (customer relationship management) is a tool that allows you to control all channels of communication with customers and automate sales.

This means that in the same account you have the entire customer base and the ability to track the full cycle from the moment of contact to the sale, assign statuses, set tasks (call a client, send a contract, etc.), transfer information to the next department (for example , sales team, sales manager, etc.). That is, you guide the client through all stages of the transaction and control the work of employees at each such stage.

Proper use of CRM increases sales by 29%!

10. Personalization of the operator. You can add employees, assign each of them as an operator, add a name, and set an avatar photo. We recommend that you use this opportunity! Communication with a real person increases the user's trust, has a positive effect on sales.

If we managed to convince you, you can register here. Don't lose your sales and don't give away your customers to competitors. Install the live chat.

And if you don't have time to figure it out, write to us, and we will assist you with setting up the chat on your website.