When shopping online, you find your perfect choice, add it to cart, and are ready to check out. However, a lingering doubt arises about some of its features.
You search through the website for the store’s contact details only to find one option; a telephone number. After several frustrating minutes of calling and waiting on hold, you abandon the purchase.
Now think of this; what if an ecommerce live chat tool was available on the website? Perhaps you could quickly connect with a customer service agent, confirm the details, and even negotiate a better deal.
That’s the true power of ecommerce live chat tools in businesses looking to better their customers’ experiences; real-time and efficient support.
In this blog, we’ll dive deeper into the importance, features and top vendors of live chat in ecommerce businesses.
What is ecommerce live chat?
Live chat is a digital communication channel often integrated into websites. It allows you to provide instant responses to customers, significantly improving your ecommerce customer service.
What you need to know is that it is, in essence, a chat box or a small window that appears on the screen of your ecommerce website to give customers immediate assistance whenever they have questions.
This is advantageous for customers and companies as they can use the chat window to address queries or problems instantly as opposed to email or support tickets where it is possible to experience a delay in responses.
In fact, a research by NICE, shows that nearly 52% of customers prefer chat support over other channels when seeking customer service help.
Key features of an effective ecommerce chat tool
An excellent live chat tool should exceed customer expectations with advanced and comprehensive features at a competitive price.
Below are some key features that you should look for when selecting ecommerce chat software.
Integration with other essential tools
The best ecommerce live chat tools should go beyond just standard conversation software. A good ecommerce chat tool should be like a Swiss army knife, able to perform many functions from a single point.
It should be able to integrate with other business software, such as:
- Customer service software
- Ecommerce platforms
- Payment processing apps
- CRMs
- Marketing tools
Help desk integrations allow for easy collaboration amongst agents and facilitate the conversion of conversations to tickets.
The awesome part about these is that it makes it easier to escalate the ticket and ensures uniformity in client interaction at all levels of the customer journey.
Artificial intelligence and automation
AI has greatly transformed customer service in recent years. AI-powered ecommerce live chat software can perform the following actions:
- Proactively invite customers to chat
- Analyze what customers want and route the ecommerce chat to the most appropriate agent
- Suggest answers to common questions from the knowledge base
- Translate conversations into multiple languages
- Analyze customer data and provide insights
This way, customers receive tailored, swift and comprehensive solutions whenever they reach out to support.
Customizable chat widgets
As a customer support rep, you want your ecommerce live chat tool to have customization options for its chat widgets. This enables brands to be consistent with their branding style by choosing their preferred colors and logos.
Allowing brands to alter the chat widgets’ design to match their branding allows them to offer a unique customer experience on their e-commerce sites.
Analytics and reporting capabilities
Client data such as customer satisfaction score can help you improve your service offerings. A good ecommerce live chat tool should be able to collect these data, such as response times and agent performance, and generate reports.
You already know why reports and analytics are critical. They can help you improve overall customer experience, make well-informed decisions, and efficiently allocate resources.
Why ecommerce chat software is important
Now that we know what live chat is, we need to understand why it’s important. These tools significantly improve the convenience of contacting customer support and revolutionize customer service.
Here are some of the key advantages of embedding live chat software in your ecommerce site:
Saves your customers and your company a lot of time
A survey by RingCentral shows that 57% of people find long hold times very frustrating.
Live chat allows for real-time customer interactions with support agents, leading to fast issue resolution and response times. Customers can get immediate responses without leaving the ecommerce site, improving brand perception.
Additionally, the software offers automatic replies and canned responses that save your support agents a lot of time, giving them more freedom to focus on pressing tasks.
Increases conversion rates
Looking for a way to make your customers purchase more? Prompt responses might just be what you need.
Live chat guides customers toward making informed purchase decisions in their customer journey, especially at the point of sale. It helps agents provide proactive support that clarifies any doubts they may have without leaving the site.
Immediate support from a customer service agent reduces cart abandonment rates and leads customers toward making a purchase. This converts prospective customers from browsers to buyers, increasing sales and revenue.
Boosts customer service personalization
Most ecommerce platforms that I interact with, such as Amazon, have ecommerce chat software to collect customer interaction data.
For those of us in support roles, this information, is highly valuable and can provide insights into customer needs, preferences and pain points. This allows you to tailor support, ultimately improving customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Increases customer engagement
E-commerce chat offers a great medium to connect with the customers. There is a support agent who attends to the clients at any time; but this does not limit the clients from airing their issues, giving feedback, and asking questions.
Its immediacy makes it convenient for customers. Moreover, the presence of an agent adds a human touch to your customer service offering, which boosts confidence and builds customer trust.
This consistency and reliability in communication makes your brand dependable and improves customer retention.
Provides valuable insights
Ecommerce live chat software, enables your agents to ask for feedback in real-time after resolving an issue or having a conversation. This way, customers can give honest and unfiltered responses since they speak directly to the agent.
Moreover, the software has features such as CSAT reports and surveys which you can analyze to gain valuable customer insights.
Enhances customer service experience
Compared to other support forms such as e-mail, the ecommerce chat is a very convenient communication channel.
Customers can get help without leaving the e-commerce site, which is very convenient and reliable. Let’s say you want to optimize the customer experience, then, by using live chat the purchasing experience will be seamless.
Live chat provides faster response times than other contact methods, like phone calls, giving you an advantage over possible rivals who do not have it.
The best ecommerce live chat software in the market
The best ecommerce live chat solution should blend functionality, cost-effectiveness, user experience, and integration capabilities. It should match your budget, have all the features your business needs, and be easy to use.
Many ecommerce live chat software offers comprehensive packages for enterprises and corporations and free plans that startups and small businesses can use.
Below are some of the best live chat software for ecommerce stores:
- BoldDesk
- Tidio
- Livechat
- LiveAgent
- Helpcrunch
- Twilio
- Intercom
- FreshChat
- Olark
- Proprofs Chat
- Gorgias
- Zohodesk
BoldDesk
BoldDesk’s robust live chat software allows you to provide real-time chat support and manage customer interactions seamlessly within the customer service software. It focuses on enhancing your support process and significantly reducing response times.
This tool integrates seamlessly into your website or application; clients can easily embed the live chat into their websites using only a single line of code.
Moreover, this ecommerce chat tool allows your support team to handle multiple conversations, track the status of each interaction, and even export a conversation as a ticket to the ticketing system.
BoldDesk is also equipped with an omnichannel inbox for managing customer inquiries from a variety of channels, including social media platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook.
Moreover, BoldDesk’s mobile help desk allows teams to conveniently manage all customer interactions and provide support on the go.
This combination of functions in BoldDesk’s live chat platform results in a more organized and responsive support system that speeds up issue resolution and enhances the overall customer experience.
Key features
- Customizable live chat widget: BoldDesk’s live chat widget can be customized according to your website’s design, colors or logos.
- Omnichannel inbox: Seamlessly manage all incoming inquiries from customers’ preferred communication channels, in one unified inbox.
- Conversation to ticket conversion: You can easily convert live chat conversations into support tickets for better tracking and resolution.
- Canned responses: Users can save a library of canned responses to provide quick answers to common customer inquiries.
- Chat history: This keeps a history of all the interactions you have had with customers.
- Message delivery and read receipts: The tool provides agents with customer delivery receipts and read receipts, ensuring everyone is on the same page.
- Analytics and reports: You can track and analyze the pages your customers visited before initiating a chat to gain valuable insights and personalize conversations.
- Chat transcripts: Automatically send esteemed clients a copy of the chat transcripts for transparency and future reference.
- File sharing: can share files such as photos, videos, and documents.
Pricing
- Scale plan: $12 per agent/month
- Momentum plan: $25 per agent/month
- Enterprise plan: $39 per agent/month
Include tiered pricing for teams with 10, 25, 50 or 100 agents.
- Scale: $49/month for 10 agents
- Momentum: $129/month for 10 agents
- Enterprise: $199/month for 10 agents
- Essential: $799 per month
- Pro: $1499 per month
- Business: Contact us
At BoldDesk, we aim to empower teams to provide seamless customer service that enhances customer experience.
To learn how BoldDesk can transform your e-commerce business, book a live demo or sign up for a 15-day free trial today.
Tidio
Tidio is a simple-to-install live chat tool ideal for small enterprises. Its AI feature offers chat assistance to website visitors and can solve most common customer issues.
Key features
- Live typing preview
- Chat history
- Chat analytics
Pricing
- Starter package: $29/month
- Growth package: $59/month
- Tidio+ package: $749/month
Free trial: 7 days
LiveChat
LiveChat is a good ecommerce customer engagement option for businesses of all sizes. It offers several features, such as pre-set messages to initiate conversations and engage customers.
Key features
- Chat transfers
- AI automation
- WhatsApp integration
Pricing
- Starter package: $20/month
- Team package: $41/month
- Business package: $59/month
- Enterprise package: Contact sales
Free trial: 14 days
LiveAgent
LiveAgent provides features such as multilingual chat widgets, chat routing, and chat history. Its interactive ecommerce live chat software helps ecommerce support teams to provide exemplary customer service.
Key features
- Chat routing
- Reports and analytics
- Real-time typing view
Pricing
- Small business package: $9/month
- Medium business package: $29/month
- Large business package: $49/month
- Enterprise package: $69/month
Free trial: 30 days
Helpcrunch
Helpcrunch is another suitable ecommerce chat software just like LiveAgent for businesses. It has a user-friendly chat widget with reporting and analytics capabilities.
Key features
- Proactive chats
- WhatsApp integration
- Ecommerce chatbot flows
Pricing
- Basic package: $12/month
- Pro package: $20/month
- Unlimited package: $396/month
Free trial: 14 days
Twilio
Twilio provides APIs that add chat functionalities to applications, websites, and platforms. Twilio’s live chat lets you engage customers in real time and provide better support.
Key features
- Integrations with other e-commerce platforms
- Conversational workflows
Pricing: There is a price of $0.05 per active user per month
Free plan: Available, with limited functions
Intercom
Intercom‘s canned responses feature saves your support agents a lot of time responding to common customer questions. It also has several integrations that make it ideal for businesses of all sizes.
Key features
- Proactive support
- Side conversations
- AI autofill
Pricing
- Essential package: $29/month
- Advanced package: $85/month
- Expert package: $132/month
Free trial: 14 days
FreshChat
FreshChat also deserves mention when discussing e-commerce live chat. It has advanced chat reporting features that enable agents to view past conversations and client details. The software can also proactively respond and enhance customer service.
Key features
- Chat analytics
- Proactive responses
- AI-assist
Pricing
- Growth package: $19/month
- Pro package: $49/month
- Enterprise package: $79/month
Free trial: 14 days
Olark
Olark is a cool an ecommerce live chat software with features such as automated responses and chat analytics. It is a good option that businesses can use to interact with their customers.
Key features
- Custom chat widget
- Agent groups
- Live chat analytics
Pricing
- Standard version: $29 per month
- Pro version: contact sales
Free trial: 14 days
ProProfs Chat
ProProfs Chat is a live chat solution that enables you to respond to customers instantly and resolve issues instantly. It integrates easily with popular ecommerce sites such as Shopify. It offers features such as canned responses and chat transfers.
Key features
- Post chat survey
- Multiple branding
- Over 40 integration options
Pricing: The team plan starts at $19.99 per user per month
Free plan: Available for a single operator
Zohodesk
Zohodesk’s live chat widget, which is easily embeddable and requires no code to integrate, lets you communicate in real time with clients. It also has an automation feature that automatically assigns conversations to support agents.
Key features
- Customizable chat widgets
- Advanced web forms
- Multiple conversation management
Pricing: Live chat is available in the Enterprise package for $35 monthly
Free trial: 15 days
Gorgias
We have finally come to our last tool, Gorgias. It uses customer data to personalize responses and improve customer interactions.
Key features
- Automatic responses
- Shopify integration
- Chat routing
Pricing
- Starter: $10 per month
- Basic: $60 per month
- Pro: $300 per month
- Advanced: $750 per month
- Enterprise: Contact sales
Free trial: 7 days
Choose the right ecommerce live chat software for your business
New businesses are popping up daily in the ecommerce space, and competition is getting stiffer. Providing fast and efficient ecommerce live chat support gives your online brand an added advantage.
With ecommerce chat, brands can provide seamless customer service by optimizing their support process. Moreover, you can create a more fulfilling and engaging experience by providing customers with real-time assistance.
Remember that sometimes the most affordable choice isn’t the best. However, this list is a good guide for selecting the best live chat tool for your business.
We hope this blog was insightful. Is there a tool we might have left out? Please share your experience in the comment section below!
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