Stop generating traffic…now!
Nowadays every company in the world tries to redirect traffic on their website. Regardless of the channel, most of the times they always try to promote their website. On TV you will see ads that invite you to visit a specific url and the same goes for any type of offline or online advertisement.
Did it ever happen to you to look for sneakers on Google? Just try to see how many companies advertise using Google Adwords. And the list of examples is infinite.
What happens next? Are these visitors going to convert by themselves? Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen. In The Netherlands the average conversion is between 0.5% and 3%, which means that around 97% of visitors don’t convert.
Why is that?
Website visitors have an intrinsic need for your offer
Usually website visit a website when they have a need for what you have to offer. Otherwise, they would simply not check you out. But still, many visitors don’t take any action even after spending a lot of time on your website. There are many reasons to explain this behaviour. Maybe the visitor is simply missing information or maybe there is a technical error that makes it difficult to complete the desired action.
The truth is that often companies don’t have a clue on why their visitors leave without taking action. That’s a shame considering the amount of time and money spent to generate this traffic.
Moreover, they tend to focus on optimization and A/B testing believing that the truth about their visitors is only in quantitative data. However, this is just one face of the same medal and qualitative data are just as important.
A shop without staff
When companies only focus on technical optimizations, it feels like entering a shop with no shop assistant. Despite the fact that online shopping is constantly growing, there are still people going to physical stores. One of the main reasons for this is the level of service you get in an actual shop. Have you ever stepped in a shop without staff? No, right? Strangely enough, this happens in online stores.
Let’s think for a moment about the shopping experience you usually have in real stores. You enter and the shop assistant asks you if you need anything. Probably you don’t, nevertheless that attention gives you a pleasant and welcoming feeling. And maybe, if you don’t find your size, you actually ask for help from the assistant.
Now, imagine entering the same shop, but this time the assistant is behind the counter, with their phone on their hands and don’t even notice you enter. Most of us would just turn back and never get back into that store.
Conversions through live chat
The question is if you can apply the physical shop concept also in terms of conversion, which in real shops with assistants is about 20-30%. To be honest, online it’s more between 0.5 to 3% conversion rate and I can add that most companies are already very happy with it. The bottom line is that not having a shop assistant, whether in person or online, actually harms your conversion.
A study from Forrester Research shows that 44% of website visitors would like a LiveChat option when making a purchase. So while companies are investing in attracting new customers, not many seem to realize the power of having an “online shop assistant” to help customers actually buy from them
By having a live chat, you basically create a sort of digital shop assistant that will be able to better service your potential clients.
Give customers the boost they need
Very often your visitors need an extra push to buy from you. Sometimes they want to be reassured about delivery times, or return options or how to make an appointment with you. Providing them with the opportunity to instantly contact you will make their buying process easier and ultimately, get you more sales.
In short, there is really a lot to gain by providing live chat to your visitors. Not doing it is literally shooting yourself in your feet and leave money on the table. So next time you think of driving more traffic, make sure you also think on how to best convert it. The answer is: give your visitors a way to make their buying process easier using a live chat.