Last Updated: April 2024
Without any doubt, Covid-19 took the shopping experience to an entirely new level. It changed everything, including how companies interact and transact with their customers, which now happens most often digitally. As a result, live chat eCommerce has become more prevalent recently.
If you’re unfamiliar with the term — chat eCommerce is a simple chat interface on your devices where you can purchase stuff, get a service, request support, explore services, and carry out similar tasks. Today, we’ll explore the rise of live chat (and chat eCommerce in general), its benefits, history, and seven eCommerce live chat tools that businesses can leverage for superior experiences.
Live Chat For eCommerce: History in Brief
Twenty years ago, the internet and phones were two different entities. Internet was used for browsing and commerce, while phones were used for talking and texting. Both weren’t connected and did not interoperate.
And then everything changed.
The Acceleration Of eCommerce Live Chat
In 2022, live chat eCommerce enables brands to interact with customers securely through messaging from anywhere in real time. Brands can be present where their customers are and serve them on chat apps rather than making them wait on long calls.
Even customers are choosing chat as their preferred channel of communication. A few years back, many businesses launched chatbots as a part of their customer support but soon realized that unleashing an automated chatbot on a customer does not equate to customer support. It might even lead to customer dis-service.
Live chats entail a complete commerce journey from product browsing, purchasing, making payments, tracking deliveries, and resolving issues (if any) to providing feedback. As a result, in 2022, live chat eCommerce technology will support customers through entire lifecycles — business process automation, payments, etc.
Benefits of eCommerce Live Chat
Beyond being convenient for customers and the preferable channel for buyers, live chat eCommerce possess multiple benefits:
1. Cost Effective
It is cost-effective as it saves the time and effort of agents and saves them from answering repetitive queries. Through live chat, a representative can handle multiple chats at one time.
2. Eliminates Pain Points
Businesses can use live chat for eCommerce to explain how products will perform, offer discounts, etc. it is a great way to eliminate or resolve customer pain points.
3. It Helps Build Trust
For eCommerce businesses, trust and loyalty aren’t just words — they are must-haves. Any brand must build trust with its customer base. A live chat feature and a proven track record of quickly answering customer queries results in customers placing more trust in the brand.
4. Reduce Bounce Rate
Website traffic hugely depends on bounce rates that, in turn, affect your page rankings. Implementing a live chat feature increases your site’s usability and can contribute to reducing your bounce rates.
5. Feedback Collection
It is crucial to collect reviews and feedback to improve CX. Getting reviews is not as easy as it may seem — many people find it hectic and won’t put effort into filling out lengthy forms. eCommerce live chat support lets you include a few quick questions to end the conversation and gain customer feedback more easily, as they’re already engaged in the chat window.
Seven eCommerce Live Chat Tools In 2022
So, we looked at the benefits and history of live chat eCommerce for businesses. Now, let’s look at some popular eCommerce live chat tools for businesses to consider in 2022.
1. Help Scout
Help Scout is considered the best all-in-one eCommerce live chat and support tool. Through Help Scout, customers can talk to a live chat agent or directly browse through the help center articles without leaving the chat window. Help Scout offers self-service capabilities for customers to get quick answers to their questions.
Unique Selling Proposition
It recommends knowledge base articles on the page a customer is viewing so they can directly click on the widget and view answers. This way, they won’t have to search for answers specifically and can contact a support agent if they don’t find an answer.
Help Scout provides multi-channel support capabilities. Beacon, its dedicated live chat tool, combines email, a knowledge base, live chat, and in-app messaging all in one interface.
2. LiveChat
LiveChat is used for tracking sales. It helps businesses ramp up sales and track their progress while doing so. It is an ideal choice among eCommerce businesses.
Unique Selling Proposition
It allows multiple integrations to promote products through live chat service, gather customer data and history, and automate workflows through chatbots.
Some of its top eCommerce features are:
- Its ability to share product cards for easy product promotion in chat
- Canned responses to streamline your team’s performance
- Chatbot that can help customers from registration to checkout.
3. HelpCrunch
HelpCrunch offers a customizable live chat solution for your eCommerce that you can embed on your website and integrate with Facebook Messenger conversations.
Unique Selling Proposition
It is ideal if you’re looking for an eCommerce live chat tool for design customization. It provides over 20 customization options and custom CSS styling, allowing you to match it with your branding and styling to create coherent experiences.
It supports several integrations, like Shopify, WordPress, etc., so you can easily upload the plugin to your website and offer live chat support.
4. Intercom
Intercom’s eCommerce live chat software addresses repetitive questions and takes the burden off your support teams. It is known for its self-service support.
Unique Selling Proposition
It offers canned responses that you can draft, save, and use whenever your agents face repetitive queries. It saves the support team’s time, increases conversion rates, and decreases shopping cart abandonment rates.
Intercom’s custom bota provides proactive chat buttons so customers can find the correct answers to their queries. Intercom live chat for eCommerce lets you connect to 300+ tools that your support, sales, and marketing teams are already using across your eCommerce platform.
5. ProProfs
Proprofs is an ideal eCommerce live chat option if you’re looking for lead generation. It can help you capture qualified leads, even when your support agents are offline. It allows you to continue interacting and marketing to these new leads to ensure they return and fill up their online shopping carts.
Unique Selling Proposition
Proprofs is a great way to send announcements to your audience about new product launches, upcoming sales, and discount codes to help ramp up sales. Its post-chat survey feature enables brands to collect real-time feedback from customers.
6. Freshdesk
Freshdesk is a part of a massive set of enterprise applications and is mostly used for call center support; it has options for customer support, sales, marketing, HR, etc. So, if you’re looking for an amalgamation of all these tools, Freshdesk might be your go-to.
Unique Selling Proposition
Freshdesk eCommerce live chat tool features omnichannel capabilities, AI-powered chatbots, contact center software, and so on. It supports 1000+ integrations and lets you connect nearly any tool you use for your business.
7. LiveAgent
LiveAgent is best known for its omnichannel functionalities.
Unique Selling Proposition
It enables you to communicate via email, contact forms, live chat, social media, phone calls, etc., through one shared inbox. Its proactive chat pop-ups, real-time typing, and localization support ensure that the customers can rest easy knowing you’re there to help.
Adopt the Right eCommerce Live Chat Tool
E-Commerce live chat tools enable your support teams to meet customers where they are in the purchase experience. It leads to more questions being answered and fewer abandoned carts. The choice of the live chat tool depends on the size of the eCommerce business and the scope of needs.
If you’re just starting with the helpdesk and customer support in general and want to provide the best service possible, Saufter could be an ideal platform. It is a multi-channel, cost-effective, easy-to-setup customer service help desk designed for SMBs and enterprise teams.
