Consumer Views of Live Online Help Voice and Text Chat

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.



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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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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.



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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


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

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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

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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


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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)


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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


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%


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16

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


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


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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

Documents

Consumer Views of Live Online Help Voice and Text Chat