What You Need To Know About Live Chat

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In today’s society, technology is getting better and people are using it more frequently.  In order to gain customer loyalty, businesses are trying to find new ways in order to get closer to their client base. Many businesses are likely to benefit from features such as live chat as it will allow customers to contact the firm for any enquires they may have. Businesses such as shopping sites “have launched live chat services to facilitate communication between consumers and sellers”(Zhepeng et al., 2018).

How does live web chat work?
Live web chat is a service on a website and/or mobile app which allows customers to talk to advisors about any queries that they may have. In order for it to work, the company has to ensure that it is secure and has customer service based advisors behind the live chats, in order to gain a competitive advantage and keep the customers loyal to the brand. According to Elmorshidy et al., (2015)“service agents could handle at least three chat sessions simultaneously without significant increase in average chat duration”.Live web chat can be costly for a company as the firm needs to put the feature on the website/app, employ the right advisors, ensure its secure and that no details are at risk. However, it is very useful for a business as you can gain customers from using this service which is likely to depend on the service provided from the live web chat.

 

 

Benefits of using live web chat
Salesforce UK Blog, 2019 suggests five benefits of having live web chat. These are:

  1. Customers like chat

Customers are able to chat with an advisor in real time about any problems they may have. Additionally, live chat can be a lot less  stressful for customers as some people get nervous when talking to people on the phone.

  1. Live chat is more efficient than a call centre

Live chat is more efficient than a call centre as an advisor is able to deal with several customers at once instead of just dealing with one customer on the phone.

  1. Live chat can improve call centre deflection rates

Some queries are best dealt with on the phone however, a lot of queries can be dealt with on live chat as long as there is a knowledgeable advisor. The advisor can help with the most common FAQS.

  1. Availability builds trust

By having the availability of flexible working hours on the live chat service, it will gain trust from the customers. Using live chat services will allow companies to work at times which are more flexible for the customer’s needs. The usage of live chat will allow the advisor to be responsive and able to answer all enquires which will also gain the trust of the customer.

  1. Live chat can drive sales as well as service 

Having live chat can also drive sales and service because the advisors are able to recommend products to the customer that are on sale or show them a product that they have never seen before. Having customer serviced advisors will also help the service of the business which could lead to customer loyalty.

By using live chat, customers are able to ask questions and speak to an advisor for most hours of the day about any uncertainties that the customer may have. This feature will gain customer confidence as it will allow the consumer to communicate with the business. It is likely to improve customer satisfaction as the advisor would be able to provide excellent customer service whilst helping the customer; making it a memorable experience for the customer.

Risks of using live web chat

There are also risks of using live web chat. According to Elmorshidy, A.,  (2013)“there is  little evidence  demonstrating that  this  customer service  solution  improves the  online  shopping experience,  reduces perceived  purchase risk”.Some customers may feel as if the queries are not always resolved and they are not receiving the help that they need, which could potentially resulting in the business losing customers and therefore sales and revenue will be effected. Wolf, D 2010 states that “retailers increasingly embrace online chat for customer service, they open themselves up to security concerns about what is discussed in the chat sessions”.

 

Another risk of using the live web chat could be that some customers may not even realise that this service is available to them; meaning it needs to be in a clear place where customers are able to access it. To prevent these risks, businesses need to ensure that they have skilled customer service advisors enabling the advisor to help with any queries and provide a safe and secure service.

 

References:

‘Chat’ Service Risks. By: Wolf, Daniel, American Banker, 00027561, 9/8/2010, Vol. 175, Issue 138

Elmorshidy, A., M Mostafa, M., El-Moughrabi, I. and Al-Mezen, H., 2015. Factors influencing live customer support chat services: an empirical investigation in Kuwait. Journal of theoretical and applied electronic commerce research, 10(3), pp.63-76.

Elmorshidy, A., 2013. Applying the technology acceptance and service quality models to live customer support chat for e-commerce websites. Journal of Applied Business Research, 29(2), pp.589-596.

Icmi.com. (2019). The 5 Reasons Live Chat Fails. [online] Available at: https://www.icmi.com/resources/2014/The-5-Reasons-Live-Chat-Fails [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].

Salesforce UK Blog. (2019). 5 benefits of having live chat on your website. [online] Available at: https://www.salesforce.com/uk/blog/2016/03/5-benefits-of-having-live-chat-on-your-website.html [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].

Z. Lv et al. / Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 28 (2018) 102–113

The Needs To Know of a Live Web Chat Feature

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As the use of technology is increasing, businesses are trying to find more ways to communicate with their customers, in order to gain customer loyalty. Firms are likely to benefit from having features such as live chat as it will allow customers to speak to advisors when they have any problems. Businesses such as shopping sites “have launched live chat services to facilitate communication between consumers and sellers”(Zhepeng et al., 2018).

How does live web chat work?
Live web chat is a service on a website and/or mobile app which allows customers to talk to advisors about any queries that they may have. In order for it to work, the company has to ensure that it is secure and has customer service based advisors behind the live chats, in order to gain a competitive advantage and keep the customers loyal to the brand. Live web chat can be costly for a company as the firm needs to put the feature on the website/app, employ the right advisors, ensure its secure and that no details are at risk. However, it is very useful for a business as you can gain customers from using this service which is likely to depend on the service provided from the live web chat.

Benefits of using live web chat
Salesforce UK Blog, 2019 suggests five benefits of having live web chat. These are:

  1. Customers like chat

Customers are able to chat with an advisor in real time about any problems they may have. Additionally, live chat can be a lot less  stressful for customers as some people get nervous when talking to people on the phone.

  1. Live chat is more efficient than a call centre

Live chat is more efficient than a call centre as an advisor is able to deal with several customers at once instead of just dealing with one customer on the phone.

  1. Live chat can improve call centre deflection rates

Some queries are best dealt with on the phone however, a lot of queries can be dealt with on live chat as long as there is a knowledgeable advisor. The advisor can help with the most common FAQS.

  1. Availability builds trust

By having the availability of flexible working hours on the live chat service, it will gain trust from the customers. Using live chat services will allow companies to work at times which are more flexible for the customer’s needs. The usage of live chat will allow the advisor to be responsive and able to answer all enquires which will also gain the trust of the customer.

  1. Live chat can drive sales as well as service

Having live chat can also drive sales and service because the advisors are able to recommend products to the customer that are on sale or show them a product that they have never seen before. Having customer serviced advisors will also help the service of the business which could lead to customer loyalty.

By using live chat, customers are able to ask questions and speak to an advisor for most hours of the day about any uncertainties that the customer may have. This feature will gain customer confidence as it will allow the consumer to communicate with the business. It is likely to improve customer satisfaction as the advisor would be able to provide excellent customer service whilst helping the customer; making it a memorable experience for the customer.

Risks of using live web chat

There are also risks of using live web chat. Some customers may feel as if the queries are not always resolved and they are not receiving the help that they need, which could potentially resulting in the business losing customers and therefore sales and revenue will be effected. Wolf, D 2010 states that “retailers increasingly embrace online chat for customer service, they open themselves up to security concerns about what is discussed in the chat sessions”.

Another risk of using the live web chat could be that some customers may not even realise that this service is available to them; meaning it needs to be in a clear place where customers are able to access it. To prevent these risks, businesses need to ensure that they have skilled customer service advisors enabling the advisor to help with any queries and provide a safe and secure service.

 

 

References:

‘Chat’ Service Risks. By: Wolf, Daniel, American Banker, 00027561, 9/8/2010, Vol. 175, Issue 138

Icmi.com. (2019). The 5 Reasons Live Chat Fails. [online] Available at: https://www.icmi.com/resources/2014/The-5-Reasons-Live-Chat-Fails [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].

Salesforce UK Blog. (2019). 5 benefits of having live chat on your website. [online] Available at: https://www.salesforce.com/uk/blog/2016/03/5-benefits-of-having-live-chat-on-your-website.html [Accessed 28 Feb. 2019].

Z. Lv et al. / Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 28 (2018) 102–113

Asos

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Who are Asos? What do they do?
Asos is an online clothing retailer that was launched in 2000. When Asos was first launched, it was “at a time when no-one really brought clothes online”. Asos has always been and is currently still a online retailer and with a lot of hard work Asos is now “the largest young fashion brand ever created to never have had a physical store” (Asosplc.com). Asos’ aim is to “become the world’s number-one destination for fashion-loving 20-somethings” (Asosplc.com). Asos’ primary target audience are young adults but try to target as many people as they can as they have “more than 30 sizes and are committed to providing all sizes at the same prices.” (Asosplc.com). By operating in this approach it widens their target audience as it’s not predominantly catered around the average UK size within men and women.

Below is a link of a customer reviewing some clothes from Asos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNsZrBGWsuw

Who are Asos’ competitors?
As Asos is a massive brand name for online fashion, there is a lot of competition for Asos as many fashion retailers now have online websites. Two of Asos’ competitors are boohoo.com and missguided.co.uk. These two competitors also started as just online retailers but now they also have stores whereas Asos is completely an online company with no stores. Below are the websites of Asos, Boohoo and Missguided.

Missguided:

As you can see from the image above, this website is mainly targeted at young girls who like to party as it quotes “party like a queen”. The homepage implies that they’re only trying to appeal to their party wear collection and not their seasonal wear or their standard fashion range.

Boohoo:

The Boohoo website is a lot more appealing and eye-catchy than the Missguided website. Although, there is a young woman at the front of the Asos website, you can see that the main purpose of the image is the advertisement. The advertisement is promoting ‘free next day delivery’ so that the delivery will be on time for Christmas. In comparison to Missguided, the Boohoo website doesn’t quote words like “queen” and instead uses Christmas related advertisement to engage to engage with all customers during this seasonal period.

Asos:

From my opinion, out of the three website homepages shown above Asos has the most inviting website. The reason for this is because Asos has both male and female on the homepage which targets both genders. The people in the image above are from different ethnic backgrounds meaning that the website is not just targeting one type of race/religion/sexuality steering away from any sense of discrimination. The clothes that they are wearing are funky making it more appealing for the customer, which could result in the customer being more intrigued about the websites fashion.

Personas and customer journey map:
Person 1:

Person 2:

Customer journey map:


In the customer journey map above, Sean and Chelsey have taken two different routes due to their age and shopping habits. As Sean is older than Chelsey, Sean has used the website whereas Chelsey used the app. Sean may use the website to feel more secure when purchasing as he is possibly more familiar using mainstream websites than using an app whereas, Chelsey may use the app as it is quicker and easier to use. Chelsey could use payments like Apple/Android pay via the phone wallet app. It’s more likely for Sean to feel more secure to manually type in card details through the website. It’s likely that Chelsey would look at social media and ask her friends for support rather than Sean looking at website forums.

 

 

References:

ASOS. (2018). ASOS | Online Shopping for the Latest Clothes & Fashion. [online] Available at: https://www.asos.com [Accessed 13 Dec. 2018].

Asosplc.com. (2018). Home. [online] Available at: https://www.asosplc.com [Accessed 13 Dec. 2018].

Asosplc.com. (2018). Our Journey. [online] Available at: https://www.asosplc.com/asos-story/our-journey [Accessed 13 Dec. 2018].

Boohoo.com. (2018). boohoo | Womens & Mens Clothes | Shop Online Fashion. [online] Available at: https://www.boohoo.com [Accessed 13 Dec. 2018].

YouTube. (2018). Keep or Return? | ASOS Menswear Haul and Try On. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNsZrBGWsuw [Accessed 13 Dec. 2018].

Missguided.co.uk. (2018). Women’s Clothes | Fashion Shopping Online – Missguided. [online] Available at: https://www.missguided.co.uk [Accessed 13 Dec. 2018].