Live chat software is no longer negotiable. It’s not a luxury, it’s not a nice-to-have, and it’s not an optional but ultimately inessential web feature.
In today’s digital landscape, live chat software is a necessity for any business website.
But hey – don’t just take our word for it. Here are 75 stats, taken from multiple studies, multiple countries and multiple consumer groups, that prove the critical importance of chat.
Sales
We’ll start with some sales statistics. Want your website to make you more money? You’ll be needing live chat software for that…
1
Chatters are worth 4.5x as much as website visitors who don’t chat.
2
44% of customers say that having a live chat specialist available during an online purchase is one of the most important features a company can offer.
3
77% of online shoppers want to contact a real person before buying.
4
38% of customers have said that they have made a purchase due to a good live chat session itself.
5
62% of customers are inclined to purchase products online if live support is available.
6
Chatting has a bigger impact on mobile, with mobile chatters spending 68% more than mobile non-chatters.
7
52% of consumers will abandon an online purchase if they can’t find quick answers.
8
Chatters spend 60% more per purchase than non-chatters.
9
The addition of live chat software to a website typically causes a 20% increase in conversions.
10
Chatters are 2.8x more likely to convert than visitors who don’t chat.
11
31% of online shoppers expect help to be immediate when purchasing.
12
On average, contact centres with live chat software report a 15% increase in efficiency.
13
Chatters buy, on average, 12% of the time.
14
48% of online shoppers will abandon a purchase if their questions aren’t answered promptly.
15
Businesses with an omni-channel strategy average 9.5% year-over-year increase in annual revenue.
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41% of consumers are more likely to trust a brand if live chat is available.
17
63% of shoppers prefer using a website with live chat for repeat purchases.
18
Proactive chat earns 105% ROI.
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45% of companies offering live chat support reported an increase in site traffic.
20
Customers who indicate ‘more effort’ in contacting a company are 61% less likely to repurchase.
21
Live chat is 17%-30% cheaper than a phone call.
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71% of experienced online shoppers demand live chat.
23
62% of consumers would purchase more products online if live support was available.
24
Companies with the strongest omni-channel customer engagement strategies retain an average of 89% of their customers, as compared to 33% for companies with weak omni-channel strategies.
25
Over half of online shoppers say that a lack of live interaction has caused them not to purchase.
26
78% of global customers will buy more from businesses that cut the time and effort required to interact with them.
27
37% of online shoppers have abandoned a cart because they wanted to ask a question but couldn’t.
Satisfaction
We’re guessing you want satisfied customers as well as strong sales. Well, once again, you’ll be needing live chat software for that. Here are some stats highlighting its importance in customer satisfaction.
28
Live chat has the highest satisfaction levels for any customer service channel, at 73% (compared with 61% for email and 44% for phone).
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42% of customers say that not having to wait on hold is a key reason why they prefer live chat software.
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63% of customers say they are more likely to return to a website that offers live chat as opposed to one that doesn’t.
31
90% of customers consider live chat software helpful.
32
When purchasing online, 71% of visitors expect help within five minutes.
33
Proactive chat invitations on mobile devices are increasing engagement rates by 400%.
34
45% of consumers don’t use the telephone as a service channel due to excessive wait times.
35
91% of customers who’ve used live chat software are satisfied with the level of service provided.
36
66% of consumers would rather have a root canal without anesthesia, a tax audit or have dinner and drinks with their mother in law than wait on hold for a customer support representative.
37
33% of website visitors are frustrated by poor quality or unresponsive contact facilities.
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46% of live chat software users say it is ‘just a better method of communicating.’
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83% of consumers who switched providers say better live support would have impacted their decision.
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94% of consumers say live help would be useful when making online purchases.
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93% of consumers see real-time help being beneficial during their online customer journey.
42
All demographics are comfortable with live chat software; even one-third of Older Boomers and the Golden Generation use it for customer service.
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92% of customers who were proactively invited to live chat were somewhat or very satisfied with the experience.
44
40% of customers are frustrated by the inability to ask simple questions online.
45
Only 32% of shoppers are satisfied with the availability of click and chat.
46
66% of shoppers will actively look for sites that provide live chat once they have used it.
47
Just 12% of consumers have experienced an error when contacting a company via live chat.
48
60% of customers hate waiting for longer than a minute to receive support.
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54% of customers say that using live chat software involves a low level of effort.
50
23% of consumers are frustrated by impersonal, characterless online customer services.
Service
Do you also want to give better service, to more customers? You’ve guessed it: live chat software can help with that, too. Here are some stats to prove that.
51
Most live chat problems get resolved in 42 seconds.
52
42% of service agents are unable to efficiently resolve customer issues due to disconnected systems and archaic user interfaces.
53
45% of customers say their biggest online service frustration is a lack of basic information on commercial websites.
54
56% of consumers have used live chat software at least once to ask a question on a company’s website.
55
60% of consumers prefer to use live chat software when they need only basic information on a product or service.
56
83% of customers require some kind of live support when making online transactions.
57
Chat usage rates have risen in the past three years from 30% to 43%.
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82% of online shoppers use chat for support.
59
61% of consumers under the age of 24 admit to actively avoiding calling businesses.
60
89% of consumers want choices for how they can contact customer support.
61
60% of millennials prefer to have shopping questions answered via live chat software than “traditional” mediums.
62
52% of consumers utilise three or four channels when seeking customer care.
63
One in three consumers want to reach agents using live help online as well as in person.
64
On average, it takes just 23 seconds to respond to a live chat message.
65
Customers use 5.6 channels on average; 97% of customers are multi-channel users.
66
41% of consumers ages 18 to 46 (Generations X, Y, and Z) prefer online customer service to the telephone.
67
57% of customers now demand live chat availability alongside more established service channels.
68
68% of online users engage in live chat.
69
75% of customers believe it takes too long to reach a live person.
70
The most important priorities for consumers are getting through to an agent quickly (80%), and the speed with which their inquiry is resolved (74%).
71
87% of consumers list live help among the three most important features of a website.
72
25%-32% of millennials now frequently use live chat as an alternative service channel.
73
88% of customer service advisors like using live chat software.
74
Chat adoption has increased to roughly one in four seniors and has risen to nearly one-half of online consumers aged 18 to 32 years.
75
83% of shoppers admit they need some form of support during their online journey.
Wrap up
It’s simple, really. Live chat software is the key to stronger sales, satisfaction and service. And if you want the most advanced chat solution on the market, you need look no further than WhosOn.