consumer views of live online help voice and text chat
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8/14/2019 Consumer Views of Live Online Help Voice and Text Chat
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In June 2009, ATG commissioned a consumer survey to examine the relative importance of live online help,
including click to call and click to chat services, and to explore when and why consumers opt for a live voice
or live chat interaction when seeking help online. The online survey polled 1,052 U.S. consumers, ages
18 years and older, and asked them a range of questions about how they prefer to use online customer serv-
ice when browsing, researching, and buying a broad range of products and services. E-commerce sectors in-cluded retail and consumer goods, financial services and banking, travel and hospitality, telecommunications
services,and cable TV.
Specific topics covered in the survey include:
The relative importance of live online help including click to call and click to chat on business-to-consumer
e-commerce sites;
Key factors and considerations that drive consumers use of different customer service options, including
live help;
The relative usefulness of live voice help (via click to call) and live text chat (via click to chat) in different
phases of the online buying cycle and among different demographics.
Survey Background
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As a result of evolving consumer habits and expectations, the acceleration and growing ease of buying
online, and challenging macro-economic conditions consumers increasingly require live help when brows-
ing, researching, and buying products and services online. Moreover, data suggests that specific circum-
stances and scenarios drive consumers to seek assistance in the form of a live voice interaction or text
chat. Finally, despite broader availability of text chat versus click to call, live voice is still the preferredmethod of communication for most online buyers in most situations. Online businesses should consider
closing this gap and offering consumers an integrated live voice and text chat solution.
Key findings of the survey include:
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 and click to chat together would be useful when making
purchases online.
Executive Summary
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Live voice is
still the preferred
method of
communication
for most online
buyers in most
situations.
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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 outpaces 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
consumerWeb sites. Businesses offering only a toll-free number that
routes online consumers into their standard interactive voice response (IVR)
system are potentially losing a substantial number of transactions.
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Executive Summary continued
Nearly 85% of
consumers who
browse, research,
and buy products
and services
online want the
choice of
click to call orclick to chat
to get live sales or
service assistance.
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Access to live online help via live voice or live text chat is the third most
important feature to online shoppers.
When asked to rank the features most important to them on a Web site:
68% of respondents reported that a reasonable price of a product orservice is the main factor that drives them to visit one site over another.
75% ranked having a user-friendly site that enables them to research,browse, and purchase goods and services as one of the top three features
of shopping online.
58% of respondents felt that having instant access to live experts, viaclick to call or click to chat technologies, was one of the top three features.
58% of respondents have used live assistance either live call or livechat compared with 64% that have used a toll-free number.
Research Highlights
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The complexity of questions, sensitivity of information required to complete
online transactions, prices of goods and services, and problems transacting
online all drive consumers to choose live help services such as click to call
and click to chat.
Online shoppers prefer their questions are answered, right away, by a real
person while they are browsing, researching or buying on a Web site. This is
especially true for those consumers who make online purchases on a dailybasis. Some of these factors were also significantly stronger among older
age groups.
58% of respondents would seek out live assistance if there was notenough information available about a product or service they were
interested in purchasing. This number jumps to 69% for shoppers aged 55+.
53% cited that trouble completing a form or experiencing challengesat check out would encourage them to request live help via click to call
or click to chat.
37% stated they would rely on live help options if a return policy wasnot clearly stated on the site.
Only 28% felt that hearing about discounts or promotions woulddrive them to seek live help. 15% of 25 to 34-year-olds would use live help
to hear about discounts and promotions, compared to 40% of those who
were 55+.
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Research Highlights continued
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The use of click to call and click to chat services individually and together
is considered very/extremely useful by the majority of consumers.
When asked to rank the methods which they believed would be the most
useful when seeking assistance from a website, consumers showed a
strong preference for click to call and click to chat.
Overall, 70% of consumers say click to call would be very/extremelyuseful when making an online purchase.
52% of consumers say live chat would be very/extremely useful whenmaking an online purchase.
67% of the respondents reported that having live help options in theform of click to call and click to chat together would be very/extremely
useful when making purchases online.
In comparison, 59% of respondents do not believe e-mail queriesto customer service or FAQ pages the most common customer service
features found on online stores today are useful.
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Online shoppers
prefer their
questions are
answered right
away, by a real
person, while they
are browsing,
researching orbuying on a
Web site.
Research Highlights continued
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More consumers in more situations prefer a live voice agent or click to call
option instead of using live chat.
The type of live assistance preferred by online shoppers click to call or
click to chat depends on multiple factors including the value of a product
or service, the difficulty or simplicity of the query posed, or the sensitivity
of information that must be presented to complete an online transaction.
Broadly speaking, however, consumers prefer a live voice in the majority ofsituations.
Click to call is strongly preferred as the price of a product rises and
product information gets more complicated, or as the information
customers are asked to provide becomes more sensitive such as
financial information, social security numbers, etc.
When seeking assistance with a purchase or a service that costs lessthan $100, respondents found almost equal value in interacting via live
call (47%) or live chat (53%).
When considering a purchase or service that costs between $100 and
$500, respondents preferred a live call (67%) over a live chat (33%).
When inquiring about products or services that involve sensitive
information, such as a social security number, consumers preferred a livecall (78%) over a live chat (22%).
When consumers had simple queries such as shipping and pick up
options or basic questions about a product or service, there is a clear
preference for live chat (60%) over live call (40%).
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Research Highlights continued
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
$100-500
58% 42%
>$500
73% 27%
Sensitive Info
72% 28%
Live Call Live Chat
Online Shopping Scenario/Need
The gap between the clearpreference vs. availability for live
voice help reveals a key opportunity
for online businesses to increase
online sales and loyalty by offering
click to call as a more immediate,
live assistance option to a standard
toll-free number, or less personal
text chat.
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Nearly twice as many consumers have tried click to chat versus click to call,
indicating a lack of broad availability of click to call, despite its clear preference
among consumers.
Despite the clear preference for a live voice versus live chat for the majority
of live help needs nearly twice as many respondents have tried click to chat
versus click to call.
According to the survey, 37% of consumers had used click to chat, whereas
only 21% had used click to call.
Consumers that would choose a live voice versus live text chat do so
because:
:: They want to make sure the representative understands their questions.
This was especially true with consumers ages 45+.
:: They want a real human being versus canned responses. Again, this was
particularly the case with the 45+ age group.
:: They think voice interaction is faster.
Consumers that would choose live chat versus live call do so because:
:: They can multitask while they are waiting for a chat response.
:: They think chat is faster and that chat ensures the representative willunderstand their questions the same reasons cited by those consumers
that chose live call versus live chat.
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Broadly speaking, however, consumers prefer
a live voice in the majority of situations.
Research Highlights continued
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Survey Results: Profile of Survey Respondents
1. What is your age?
0
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
18-24
14%
25-34
14%
35-44
23%
45-54
20%
55+
29%
total test participants: 1052
2. What is your gender?
Male51%
Female49%
total test participants: 1052male: 534 | female: 517 | prefer not to answer 1
3. Is English your first language? If no, please explain what your first language
is in the space provided.
Yes 97%
No 3%
total test participants: 1052yes: 1018 | no: 34
4. How frequently do you browse / research products or services (consumer
goods, food & beverages, travel options, cell phone plans, credit card and
banking options, insurance plans, etc.) online?
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
26%
36%
16%
13%
8%
1%
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
4-6 Times per year
Never
Other, please specify
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5. How frequently do you make purchases of products or complete applications
and forms for services online?
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
6%
19%
30%
31%
12%
2%
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
4-6 Times per year
Never
Other, please specify
6. What is the typical price range or value of orders or transactions you
have placed online? Ranges may include lower-priced purchases (clothing
or shoes), mid-range purchases (appliances or electronics) and expensive or
valuable transactions (vacation packages or mortgage applications).
73%
26%
9%
4%
3%
5%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
$1-$100
$101-$250
$251-$500
$501-$1000
$1001+
other
10
Survey Results: Profile of Survey Respondents
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7. Rank the features you find to be most important on a Web site, with 1 being most
important and 7 least important.
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Survey Results: Importance/Usefulness of Online Customer Service Features
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
Pricesofproducts/services
E
aseofbrowsing/searching
E
asy,fastaccesstolivehelp
Mobileshopping/browsing
Personalrecsommendations
Customerratings&reviews
Social/communityfeatures
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
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8. What are some of the factors that would drive you to seek live assistance from a Web site
when making a purchase online? (Pick up to three)
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
58%
32%
25%
13%
37%
20%
28%
53%
Need more information about the product/service than is on the site
Product/service requires sensitive information (e.g. social security number)
Product/service is complicated and has many steps (e.g. cell phone or cable plan)
Product / service is expensive (e.g. appliance or TV)
Return policy is not clearly stated on the site
Shipping and pick-up options and timing
Want to hear about discounts or promotions before buying
Trouble completing the order/checking out
Survey Results: Importance/Usefulness of Online Customer Service Features
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9. Which of the following methods of customer service have you used when seeking
assistance from a Web site? Choose all that apply.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
64%
21%
37%
53%
49%
Calling a customer service 800 number (from a land line or mobile phone)
Clicking a button to have a customer service representative call you directly (no waiting on hold)
Clicking a button to initiate a text chat interaction with customer representatives
Writing an email query to customer service and waiting for a reply back
Online self service (FAQ page)
Survey Results: Importance/Usefulness of Online Customer Service Features
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Survey Results: Importance/Usefulness of Online Customer Service Features
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10 By type of interaction, what is your preference for using live call or live chat
while shopping online?
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
Purcha
se/service
costing
moreth
an$500
Purcha
se/service
requiring
sensitiv
e/privatein
fo
Reques
tcom
plicated
product
info/service
online
Troubl
ecompletin
gmyord
er
Purchas
e/servicecostin
gbe
tween$100
and
$500
Troubl
elo
ggin
ginto
account
Questionaboutthe
statu
sof
myord
er
Purcha
se/service
costin
gle
ssthan
$100
Discounto
rpromotionin
fo
Retu
rn/refundpolic
yin
fo
Shipping
and
pickup
optionin
fo
Requestb
asic
product
info/service
online
Call Chat
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11. For the scenarios below in which you chose interacting via live call vs. live chat, what
reasons would drive you to initiate a voice interaction?
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Other, please specify
I'm not comfortable typing, writing or spelling
I'd rather speak with a representative than type
I think it's faster to answer my questions with a voice conversation
I don't want pre-written or canned responses - I want a real human being
I want to be sure the representative understands me and my questions 57%
51%
50%
44%
12%
7%
Survey Results: Importance/Usefulness of Online Customer Service Features
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Survey Results: Importance/Usefulness of Online Customer Service Features
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12. For the scenarios below in which you chose interacting via live chat vs. live call, what
reasons would drive you to initiate a chat interaction?
0 100 200 300 400 500
I'm not comfortable speaking on the phone
Other, please specify
I'd just prefer to type rather than speak to a representative
I want to be sure the representative understands me and my questions
I think it's faster to answer my questions with a text interaction
I can do other things online while Im waiting for a text response 47%
26%
23%
21%
15%
12%
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14. Usefulness of live call options while shopping online
2%
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
37%
33%
25%
4%
Extremely useful
Very useful
Neutral
Not very useful
Not useful at all
15. Usefulness of having both live call and live chat options together
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
38%
29%
27%
3%
2%
Extremely useful
Very useful
Neutral
Not very useful
Not useful at all
13. Usefulness of live chat options while shopping online
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
21%
31%
32%
9%
7%
Extremely useful
Very useful
Neutral
Not very useful
Not useful at all
Survey Results: Importance/Usefulness of Online Customer Service Features
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Responses to ATGs Live Help survey were generated from a pool of 1,052 respondents, age 18 and older,
living in the continental United States. Survey respondents were selected from a panel of more than
2.5 million individuals, and were profiled across more than 500 attributes, such as demographics, lifestyle,
and behavioral characteristics. Respondents were further differentiated by characteristics such as browsing
and purchasing frequency online, to ensure the sample represented was active on the Web.The study was commissioned by ATG (Art Technology Group; NASDAQ: ATG), and deployed by independent
online market research firm, MarketTools, during the second quarter of 2009. This survey has an error rate
of +/- 3% for each 1,000 respondents.
Methodology
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Worldwide Headquarters
Art Technology Group, Inc.
One Main Street
Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
Tel: +1 617 386 1000
Fax: +1 617 386 1111
www.atg.com
2009 Art Technology Group, Inc.
ATG, Art Technology Group and the ATG logo are
registered trademarks of Art Technology Group.
All other trademarks are the property of their
respective holders.
European Headquarters
Art Technology Group (Europe), Ltd.Apex Plaza, Forbury Road
Reading RG1 1AX UK
Tel: +44 (0) 118 956 5000
Fax: +44 (0) 118 956 5001
www.atg.com