How live chat can help drive conversions during the holidays
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Holiday sales continue breaking different records every year and businesses have come up with innovative techniques to cash in on the shopping craze. According to the National Retail Federation, online shoppers spent $19.62 billion between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday. In 2018, projections indicate sales will increase by 15.3% and as an online business owner, you have to adopt new strategies to leverage these enticing holiday sales. One of the most effective strategies you can adopt to increase conversion is live chat. If you have not yet integrated live chat into your e-commerce store, you need to read on to find out how this strategy can boost sales conversions during the holiday season.
- Convert potential leads with faster responses
If you have ever tried shopping online and you needed quick assistance, you know how frustrating it can be to start filling forms. Internet users have an infamously short attention span and if you cannot offer prompt assistance, they will quickly turn away.
As an online store owner, you know that every visitor is a potential lead and you cannot afford to lose them due to a slow response. Through live chat, you have a chance to retain potential leads on your website and convert them into buyers.
- Provide an exemplary customer experience
One of the reasons many people still go to brick and mortar stores is because of the personal attention they receive. That human connection is crucial for many shoppers and it is a challenge for online stores. However, with live chat, you can now overcome that challenge and provide that human connection by being there for your customers.
Shoppers love the idea of seeing an active live chat because they can ask any question and receive prompt feedback. Customer experience is one of the easiest ways of increasing conversions on your e-commerce website.
- Reduce shopping cart abandonment
Almost 70% of shoppers abandon their carts and this is something that should worry every online business owner. You see, customers need guidance on many phases of the purchase journey and if you are not available, they will move on to the next high ranking competitor. For instance, if you take payments online and they would like help with an alternative payment method, live chat would easily solve that problem.
The shopper will not find a reason to walk away. Reducing shopping cart abandonment rates directly impacts sales conversions. If you want to boost conversions this holiday season, it is time to deploy a live chat system at your online store.
- Increase customer satisfaction rates
The e-commerce business environment is highly competitive and if you want to stay ahead of the pack, you have to offer a satisfying shopping experience. Now, you might have the best online store in your niche but if your customers have nothing good to say about it, you are in trouble.
High customer satisfaction rates show in reviews and recommendations. Many shoppers read reviews and check customer satisfaction rates before shopping from any store. Research now shows that live chat can keep 96% of customers happy and this is an incredible achievement for your business.
Simply put, installing a live chat system on your e-commerce store boosts customer satisfaction rates, which in turn enhances customer loyalty. Ultimately, you will notice an increase in conversion rates over the busy holiday season.
- Leverage bots to drive conversions
If you have stretched your resources thin and you have no one to operate your live chat system, you can use live chatbots to offer helpful responses. This is an innovative way to help customers instantly even when you are not around. For instance, a live chat bot can recommend a page for a potential lead for more details. This reduces bounce rates and increases conversions.
How to optimize your live chat system
To get the best out of your live chat system during the busy holiday season, you need to customize your chat widget to match your store’s style, prepare personalized greetings for your shoppers, hire a chatbot when not available, increase your working hours, and make sure your team has everything they need to respond helpfully to customers.
If you have already engaged a payment gateway partner to improve your checkout system, go ahead and enable live chat to improve the user experience at your online store. It is the most effective strategy to cash in on the mind-boggling holiday sales.
