Survey on Online Customer Service

A recent survey, commissioned by ATG, showed some interesting results. Not because the results are new (we already pitch them during our sales process), but because they confirm what we already know.

Key findings of the survey:

Live help services increase shopper conversion.
Access to live online help - via live voice or live text chat - is very important to online shoppers and plays a key role in converting them from browsers into buyers. It was rated the third most "important" of seven core Web site features, after clear pricing information, and the ability to quickly browse and research products and services.

Consumers want their questions answered while they shop.
Online shoppers, especially those who shop frequently, want to be sure they can get their questions answered right away by a real person when they are browsing and shopping online. The complexity of questions, sensitivity of information, prices of goods and services, and problems transacting online all drive consumers to choose live assisted services such as click to call and click to chat.

Consumers want choices for live help.
Nearly 85% of consumers who browse, research, and buy products and services online want the choice of click to call or click to chat to get live sales or service assistance. While consumers see value in both, their preferences and use of each vary, depending on product pricing, complexity, the information required of the consumer. In fact, 67% of the respondents reported that having live help options in the form of click to call end click to chat together would be useful when making purchases online.

A live human voice - without having to call a toll free number and wait on hold - is the preferred live help option for most consumers in most situations.
Yet text chat is preferred in specific situations - mainly when questions are more simple and straightforward - indicating a need to offer both options and allow the consumer to choose.

Demand for click to call out paces its availability on shopping sites.
Nearly twice as many consumers have tried click to chat versus click to call. These findings indicate a lack of broad availability of click to call options on consumer Web sites. Businesses offering only a toll-free number that routes online customers into their standard interactive voice response (IVR) system are potentially losing a substantial number of transactions.

To read the complete survey, check out the ATG Web site.

Interesting survey. It seems to me our widgets (Flash Overlay Menu and Pizza Button Menu) offer exactly the choice online consumers are looking for.