20+ Live chat statistics you should know in 2024

Overview

The convenience of live chat extends to its availability across various devices, ensuring customers can reach out for support whether they are on a desktop at work, a tablet at home, or a smartphone on the go. This ubiquity ensures that customers have access to support whenever and wherever they need it, further enhancing the customer service experience and setting a new standard for what consumers expect from brands.

Adding a straightforward component to your website may seem like it would only partially overhaul how your customers behave, spend, and view your brand, but it does. Here are some compelling reasons to launch live chat as a strategic customer communication strategy.

What is live chat?

Live chat is an embedded online communication tool that websites and mobile applications use to facilitate instant messaging between customers and businesses. This technology enables real-time interactions and allows customers to send messages and receive immediate responses from customer service representatives or automated chatbots.

Live chat interfaces typically appear as a chat box or pop-up window on the lower corner of a website, inviting visitors to start a conversation. Users can initiate a chat session by entering their questions or comments into the chat box, a customer service agent or chatbot responds directly within the same interface.

20 statistics on why live chat is important in 2024

1. 51% of customers prefer to use live chat while multitasking.

2. 53% of companies resolve most complaints during the first live chat interaction.

3. 60% of customers say they are more likely to revisit a website if it uses live chat.

4. 42% of customers prefer live chat on the web over phone support. They don’t have to wait on hold to reach a customer service representative.

5. 44% of online shoppers believe that live chat is an essential feature on E-commerce websites.

6. Live chat has the highest customer satisfaction level of 73% versus 61% for email support and 44% for phone.

7. Responding to a customer inquiry in 5 to 10 seconds results in higher customer satisfaction rates (84.7%).

8. 16% of customers prefer live chat software for customer support and service over self-service and social media.

9. Businesses that use live chat see a 20% increase in conversions.

10. Customers using live chats are three times more likely to buy.

11. Live chats are initiated within 10 seconds on average if there is no queue.

12. Mobile chat users are roughly 6x times more likely to convert than users who do not use mobile chat.

13. Shoppers between 18 and 49 prefer to use live chat over any other support channel.

14. 21% of shoppers say they like to use live chat to browse and shop at work.

15. 69% of the customers prefer interacting with a human agent to chatbots on chat support.

16. 44% of customer service leaders worldwide said live chat and messaging were critical for them to maintain service levels through the pandemic.

17. Over 41% of the customers expect a live chat widget on websites.

18. 20% of customers share their negative experiences with live chat support.

19. 33% of proactive chat conversations received responses from customers.

20. Customers who use live chat are 2.8x more likely to convert than those who do not use live chat support.

9 stats on how live chat boosts revenue for businesses 

When it comes to positively influencing purchases, live chat for business can actually be a secret weapon as customers love having the ability to quickly get their questions answered in all parts of the purchasing journey across industries. 

• 1. Nearly 50% of customers say that having a live chat agent answer their query in the middle of purchase is an important feature a business can offer. 

• 2. Live chat has a conversion rate of 40%. 

• 3. Live chat leads to a 48% increase in revenue per chat hour, and 40% of customers who use live chat have higher chances of making an online purchase. 

• 4. 53% of cart abandonment is because customers aren’t able to find answers to their queries. 

• 5. 43% of businesses claim that they have a better understanding of their customers within one year of implementing live chat. 

• 6. An experienced live chat agent can handle 4-6 chats at a single time.

• 7. 94% of the customers who proactively engaged with live chat were very or somewhat satisfied with the experience. 

• 8. Proactive chat leads to 105% ROI. 

• 9. Business reports 2.4x annual increase in revenue with upselling and cross-selling.

How can live chat benefit your business?

Live chat software is pivotal for businesses striving to meet and exceed customer expectations. Real-time communication methods do more than provide a platform for answering inquiries; they serve as a multifaceted asset that can significantly enhance various aspects of a business. 

From improving customer experience to boosting sales, reducing operational costs, gathering critical insights, and establishing a competitive edge, live chat can transform how businesses interact with customers. 

Companies that integrate live chat into their service offerings can address the immediate needs of their customers and achieve long-term strategic benefits. Let's take a look at the diverse ways in which live chat can contribute positively to your business, underpinning its importance in today's customer service landscape.

Enhances customer experience

Live chat significantly enhances the customer experience (CX) by offering immediate and convenient support. Customers expect quick answers to their questions and issues and live chat platforms meet these expectations by providing real-time responses without the need for customers to navigate away from the web page they are browsing or wait in Phone queues. This immediate accessibility improves the overall customer experience and makes customers more likely to stay engaged with your website and feel satisfied with the level of support received.

Live chat also allows for a more personalized customer service experience. Agents can use customer data and chat histories to tailor their assistance to each individual's needs and preferences. This approach makes customers feel valued and significantly increases the effectiveness of the support provided. Addressing customers' issues and inquiries in a manner that acknowledges their unique context fosters a sense of connection and trust between the customer and the business.

Increases conversion rates

Live chat can directly contribute to higher conversion rates on your website. These platforms allow companies to engage customers during critical purchase journeys. Live chat agents can provide the necessary assistance or information that customers need to make a decision. Whether answering product questions, helping with navigation, or addressing concerns about payment and shipping, live chat offers customers a way to remove potential obstacles promptly. This immediate support can make or break a sale.

Additionally, live chat provides an opportunity for upselling and cross-selling. Based on the conversation, agents can recommend additional products or services that complement what the customer is already interested in. This increases the average order value and enhances customers' perception of the business as helpful and attentive to their needs.

Reduces support costs

Implementing live chat can reduce overall customer support costs. Live chat agents can handle multiple chats simultaneously, which increases efficiency and reduces the need for a large customer service team. This multitasking capability is not feasible with phone support, where agents can only speak with one customer at a time. Therefore, live chat can help businesses manage more customer inquiries with fewer resources.

Using AI chatbots for handling common questions and issues can further reduce the workload on human agents, allowing them to focus on more complex queries. Chatbots can provide 24/7 support at a fraction of the cost of human agents, ensuring that customers receive timely assistance even outside regular business hours.

Gathers valuable customer insights

Live chat is not only a tool for communication but also a valuable source of customer insights. Every chat session can be logged and analyzed to understand common customer issues, preferences, and feedback. This data can inform business decisions, helping to improve product offerings, website usability, and overall customer service strategies. Businesses can proactively address potential problems and enhance the customer experience by identifying trends and patterns in customer inquiries.

Live chat interactions often reveal gaps in information or content on the website, guiding improvements to FAQs, product descriptions, and help resources. These resources can reduce the volume of future inquiries about the same issues, further increasing the support team's efficiency.

Builds competitive advantage

Offering live chat can distinguish your business from competitors, especially in markets where immediate online support is not widespread. Providing superior customer service through live chat can help businesses build a reputation for being responsive, customer-centric, and easy to do business with. This competitive advantage can be crucial for attracting and retaining customers in industries where product offerings and prices are similar.

The insights gained through live chat interactions can inform strategic decisions that keep the business ahead of industry trends and customer expectations. These insights enable businesses to innovate their services and offerings, further solidifying their competitive position. Live chat enhances the immediate customer experience and contributes to long-term business success by fostering loyalty, innovation, and a strong market presence.

Live chat as a tool for lead generation 

It’s not hard to see why live chat for business excels when you think about the convenience that chat adds to a customer’s journey. Last-minute questions are easily handled, and more extensive inquiries get routed to a sales expert right when a customer raises a doubt.

• 63% of customers say that they are likely to revisit a website that offers live chat support.

• 44% of online customers claim that having their queries answered by a live chat agent in the middle of an online purchase is one of the essential features a business can offer on its website. 

• 40% of live chat users are likely to make an online purchase, as opposed to 22% of customers who have never chatted with a business online. 

• 59% of customers are more likely to make a purchase when their queries are resolved in under a minute.  

• Live chat has also influenced 38% of customers to make a purchase.

Benchmarks for live chat 

The demand for live chat is high and as companies increasingly adopt live chat, consumers are using it more. In other words, as soon as live chat is available, consumers jump at the chance to use it. 

• The average first response time for live chat support is 40 seconds (10 seconds if there is no queue). 

• 50% of promoters over detractors is a solid Net Promoter Score (NPS) for live chat.

Improve your key metrics with live chat 

It’s well-documented that younger customers don’t like to call phone support, but customers across the board show favorable feelings toward live chat. Live chat is seen as a proactive method of support for businesses, but it is also essential to deliver exceptional support via live chat for it to be a success.

• The average customer satisfaction rate for live chat support is 83.1%. 

• Live chat support has the highest customer satisfaction levels at 73%, whereas phone support is at 44% and email is at 61%. 

• Live chat resolution rates are 13X faster than online forms and emails. 

• 79% of businesses claimed that implementing live chat increased their customer loyalty, revenue, and sales.

Empowering live chat with chatbots 

As impactful as adding a live chat widget to your website is, you can further boost your communication and engagement strategy with chatbots. Chatbots allow you to provide 24/7 support without scaling your team, deflect common customer questions and reduce agent workload. 

• Implementing conversational chatbots helps businesses bring down their service costs by 30%.

• 67% of customers across the world use chatbots for customer service. 

• With present technology, chatbots are capable of resolving queries with up to 90% accuracy. 

• Only 6% of customers think businesses should never use chatbots. 

• 67% of millennials claim that they would purchase products or services from brands that offer chatbots for support.

How live chat support has evolved since the pandemic 

The pandemic changed the way businesses typically operate, and brought forth a considerable change in customer behavior. This series of changes had a direct hit on customer service teams. From personalizing customer experience to making customer support contactless, the pandemic is giving rise to new trends in customer service. 

• The support tickets were higher by 20% than the pre-pandemic times.

• 64% of customers tried a new messaging channel to reach out to companies in 2020. 

• Globally WhatsApp usage for customer support soared by 219%, while Twitter and Facebook Messenger dropped by 20%. 

• The usage of automation to resolve queries went up by 25% since 2020. 

• 74% of customer service leaders claim that customers have become extra empathetic since the pandemic. 

81% of customer service leaders are investing 36% more in live chat and messaging

How switching to live chat support helped Shuttle Delivery offer excellent customer service 

Shuttle Delivery, a food delivery service in South Korea was on the lookout for a support channel to help their customer support teams navigate better. Offering support via phone was a major hurdle as their agents were caught up in calls for a long time. Their team decided to opt for chat and customer messaging to offer an enhanced support experience. 

“The biggest thing was that Freshchat’s tech stack was quite easy for implementation compared to some of the other ones out there. And obviously cost was also a very big factor for why we chose Freshchat.”

Shuttle Delivery now resolves 80% of their queries directly in the Freshchat app and has also decreased their resolution time by 80%. With agent concurrency and canned responses in chat support, the average resolution time per chat is just 3 to 5 minutes.

The future is live chat 

Customer service is veering towards digital-first interactions, with live chat at the forefront of this shift. The convenience, efficiency, and immediacy live chat offers align perfectly with the modern consumer's expectations for quick and effortless support. As digital natives become an increasingly large portion of the consumer base, the demand for live chat services is expected to grow exponentially. This trend is not just about keeping pace with technological advancements; it's about redefining how businesses engage with their customers, making interactions more human-centric, despite the digital medium.

Live chat provides businesses with an invaluable opportunity to gather real-time customer feedback. This constant stream of information can be leveraged to refine products, services, and customer service strategies, ensuring that businesses remain agile and responsive to changing customer needs. Companies can create a continuous loop of improvement and innovation, fostering stronger relationships with customers and building loyalty that transcends transactional interactions. The data collected through live chat can also inform broader business strategies, making it a pivotal tool in the quest for competitive advantage.

Adopting live chat is not merely an upgrade to a business's customer service toolkit; it's a strategic move towards future-proofing customer engagement strategies. As the landscape of consumer expectations continues to evolve, live chat stands out as a versatile and powerful channel that bridges the gap between businesses and their customers. Whether it's enhancing the customer experience, boosting sales, or gaining deeper customer insights, live chat offers a multifaceted solution that businesses cannot afford to overlook.

All of the stats you’ve read here prove that live chat is a great way to keep up with customer expectations and influence purchasing patterns. Live chat is filling a massive void in the customer experience with tech that consumers already know and love. If you want to get in on the action, there’s never been a better time to adopt the best live chat tool; so contact us today.