In a physical store, how many times have you scanned the aisles for a uniform and a nametag with an “Excuse me, do you?” If you are like the majority of shoppers out there, more than you can count. The employees are there to offer help and that help often leads to either finding the right product, or assuring that the product is right for the purchaser.

The process of getting answers from an online store can be much more complicated. In a physical store, questions are either answered through the help of a store employee or through the customer’s own observation. When questions arise in an online store, which they often do, the customer is forced to abandon their online shopping process to either pick up the phone and wait for help or send an e-mail and wait for a response. Shopping online should be quick and easy and neither benefit should be plagued by a slow response time to questions. A live chat program can help online shopping remain a convenience.

There are several reasons live chat software is beneficial for an online business.

1. Provides Quick and Easy Online Help.

With live chat software, you can offer real-time live help and live customer support at the exact time and instance your future customer needs answers, where they are (online) and without the use of anything else (such as a telephone or an e-mail account). The process is easy for the customer as well as the merchant.

2. Saves Money and Resources.

While telephone support should always be available, live online support is less expensive in reducing the costs of over-using a toll free line and paying additional phone operators.* The chat system also saves time in allowing chat operators to send pre-made responses to frequently asked questions and to copy/paste links to direct customers to pages within the site quickly.

3. Lowers Shopping Cart Abandonment and Increases Sales.

A single unanswered question can make online customers reluctant to complete a purchase, and who can blame them? If you weren’t able to hunt down the physical store employee to get the help you needed at the exact moment it was needed, you may have left without the product as well. In giving quick answers to questions you are likely to see an increase in the browsing-to-buying ratio. Easy access to a live person on a live chat program increases the customer’s confidence to complete the purchase, which increases the merchant’s chance of creating a satisfied, return customer.

Almost 62 percent of Internet consumers said they would purchase more products online if live customer support were available.** Live chat software has become a must have and not only is not having such on your site not benefiting your business, it may actually be hurting it!

*A single chat operator can accept an unlimited number of chats at one time

**According to a poll conducted by Andersen Consulting

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http://volusion.com/