Lately I’ve been reveling in the excitement of moving into a new home and designing my new space. In an attempt to keep costs low but not sacrifice quality or style, I have spent quite a bit of time researching sofas. Last week, I landed on the Albany Park website and was pleasantly surprised to find rave customer reviews and competitive pricing, but I still had a few questions to ask. I navigated to the bottom right corner of the brand’s website and clicked the “Chat” icon.
I was greeted by a mandatory form asking for my name and email. Working in this field, I thought that was rather solid data collection, and quickly entered my information to start the chat. Within one minute, I was live chatting with customer support and getting all of my questions answered. And can you guess what I did immediately after closing the chat window? I added a stunning mid-century modern sofa to my cart and clicked “Checkout.”
Chat Options for Your Brand
Now imagine a potential customer has landed on your website and needs assistance. Have you enabled or created a chat function to help visitors get their questions answered quickly? Tidio, a company that offers both live chat and chatbot business software, found that 63% of consumers that use live chat are likely to return to the website. And if answering a quick question or two can turn visitors into purchasers, chat is an option every successful brand needs to employ.
When considering a chat feature for your website, the two most common options are chatbots and live chats. To help you make the decision that best fits your brand, we’ve compiled a a handy pros and cons list for you:
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Chatbots Software applications used to simulate conversations and answer questions for potential customers
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Pros
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Cons |
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· Provide quick answers and troubleshooting. · Handle high request volumes. · Work for businesses of any size. · Provide multi-language support. |
· Require continual adjustment. · May not be able to manage input errors. · Provide answers within a limited scope and based on keywords. |
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Live Chats Live support software that facilitates real-time conversations between potential customers and customer service representatives
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Pros
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Cons |
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· Provide customized answers. · Easily handles input errors and unique questions. · Can offer coupons or other perks to improve customer experience
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· Only available during business hours. · Require trained, paid employees or customer service team. · Language support limited to employee knowledge. |
It is worth noting live chats’ biggest pro is a boastful consumer satisfaction rate of 92%. Likewise, the primary advantage of using chatbots is the ability to serve unlimited customers regardless of business hours, time zones or request volume.
Both live chat and chatbots offer businesses the ability to collect customer data and feedback, which are two very important contributors to consumer conversion, retention and satisfaction.
