Survey: 92% say online shopping experience enhanced by real-time assistance

In their recent survey of 1,000 Internet users ATG found that the majority of respondents preferred click-to-call services over click-to-chat services when making a purchase or applying for a service that costs more than $100.

In addition, 67% of the respondents preferred click-to-call when a service or product costs between $100 and $500, while over three-quarters preferred it when the product or service cost more than $500.

Price is not the only reason shoppers turn to live-voice help. ATG's survey found that the need for more product or service information drove 58% of respondents to seek live assistance, whereas 57% engage in live calls because they want to be sure the sales staff understand their, often complex, questions.

"The results of this survey show that consumers not only prefer e-commerce sites that offer easy, instant voice and chat connections to customer care representatives; but most importantly, they reward those sites with their business," said Ryan Hoppe, marketing director for ATG.

"It's now more important than ever that online businesses make it easy for online shoppers to receive real-time assistance - via both click to call and click to chat. This study shows that a toll-free number is simply not good enough to meet consumers' rising expectations for immediate online customer service."

For e-retailers, offering live help options can increase sales, lower shopping cart abandonment rates and increase loyalty. ATG quotes reduced cart abandonment rates of 25% - 35% and conversion rates 20 - 30% higher than average. On top of that, customer experience was found to be enhanced, with 92% of respondents saying so.

Tags: customer service, e-commerce, e-commerce solutions, online live help, online shopping, sales support