The current world is adapting at an unmatched pace, and so are the businesses around. The ongoing pandemic and the market competition are the primary reasons to drive such a change.
As we adapt to a more cloud-based mode of operations, all the services are making full use of the internet space and utilizing modern technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning. With businesses moving online, customers have started appearing more frequently, buying products at almost any time of the day!
Now, What if your customers can’t find their answers in the product information or FAQ pages? Or, your potential customer wants a real-time resolution to their problems? Do you think they’ll drop a mail and wait for hours to get a reply?
No, none of the customers today like to wait, making chat apps the essence of today’s eCommerce market. Such chats provide a more accessible mode of communication between the customer and the sales agent.
Still, confused about what chat apps are? Let’s have a look at it once again!
What are Online Chats, and How are they Beneficial?
Online chatting is one such feature that allows any individual visiting the e-commerce platform to interact directly with the company for any doubts or queries that they might have. The online sales chats are done from the company via a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence.
These intelligent bots have answers to all the generic questions that a potential customer might have. As there is no person involved in this process from the company’s side, it becomes a quick process, and the chatbot can handle multiple queries from multiple devices in an instant.
Today, a majority of companies have implemented online sales chat facilities to their e-commerce site. Research shows that 82% of the customers who had an interactive sales chat are likely to make a purchase, and 38% of customers are willing to make a purchase from a company that provides online sales chat support.
Live chats also help get essential data like mobile numbers and email addresses from the visitor, which the company can later use to send offers and notifications to trigger more sales.
Top 10 Ways to Convert Chats to Sales :
Although online chats make the platforms more interactive and, according to research, it is more prone to improve sales, some tactics can be followed to improve the conversion rate drastically and make a lot of sales. The steps are as follows,
1. Understand the customer’s needs and provide relevant solutions: The chat boxes are not only for just answering queries and doubts; they also have the ability to monitor the customer’s activity on the website or the app. They will be able to see if the customer has liked a product but has not made any purchases yet, then the chatbot will question the reason for their hesitations and try to solve their doubts.
If the bot notices that the customer is going to the About Us part of the platform, then he might be having second thoughts regarding the company’s reputation, and then the bot can provide data like user satisfaction and reviews to make the customer trust in them.
2. Provide a product demonstration: If the platform provides a software solution, then online sales chat can provide a free trial for the customer to use and get an experience before making a purchase. And if the site sells products, then a video or a 3D view of the product can be helpful for the customer to make up his mind.
3. Up-sell products or services: When the customer selects a product or service and is on the checkout page, the sales agents can suggest the customer with complementary products or a higher quality product with better specifications. This way, it helps in making a higher amount of sales than earlier.
4. Offer coupons and vouchers: When the customer can be seen hovering over the payment page for too long, it is usually because the customer is hesitant to make that amount of payment. This can be seen through the online sales chat, and the agent can provide some coupon codes or cashback rewards that will make the customer feel better about that purchase.
5. Resolving critical queries quickly: Making sales through sales chat is very important, but so is retaining customers. To ensure that the customer makes more similar purchases, the after-sales services should also be top-notch.
Any requested information like product replacement or refund should be addressed immediately, and any unfortunate event should be solved. This will make sure that the customer will be using that e-commerce platform for further purchases as well.
6. Live chat through email: Using live sales chat for email is helpful to keep the customer updated about everything happening in the company and about new offers and deals that might interest the customer. This will make the customer remember that company subconsciously, and they will turn to these sites when they need a particular product or service.
7. Live chat for PR and advertising: Online sales chat is an excellent way for the company to promote their other products by studying the customer search pattern.
8. Chat to gather valuable customer feedback: Getting honest feedback about products and services from the customers will help them get an exact idea of what they like and help them design their platform in a more efficient way.
9. Increase chats on pages that have the most sales conversions: Not all products sell well, and not every page appeals to the customers, but by gathering data, one can understand which product is preferred by most and push the customer in making those purchases.
10. Develop an effective contact structure: Building an effective network with the customers is always beneficial. The right agent is significant in targeting the customer who is more prone to making a purchase.
Conclusion:
The points mentioned above are critical if the business wants to grow its sales more effectively via online sales chats or through chat apps for sale. This will also be solving a significant marketing issue because if you have satisfied customers, then the marketing will be done more organically through word of mouth by the consumers.
