How to optimize e-commerce conversion rate on Shopify with live chat?
As competition is getting more and more intense in every industry, companies have to invest in conversation rate optimization to turn existing traffic into paying customers.
At every step of the customers’ lifecycle, there are rooms for improvements. Through rigorous analysis and experimentation, your Shopify store is able to better serve your customers.
Conversion rate is global, it’s not just about modifying the design of a landing page or do some copywriting, it can also be linked to great customer service and here is why live chat can help you to increase conversion rate.
But don’t fool yourself, if we follow the AARRR framework, conversion rate can be applied to every step of the funnel. Live chat can work on the second step, regarding activation, and on the third, which is retention.
Working on these two steps can have a huge impact on your revenue as the framework on an e-commerce website is a bit modified due to its structure. It would be more: Acquisition, Activation, Revenue, Referral, Retention.
To introduce to those who would not know these different steps, here is a quick definition of them:
Acquisition: How to make people come to me
Activation: How to make people do an action
Retention: How to make people come back
Referral: How to make people talk about me
Revenue: How to make people buy my products
Globally, to optimize your online conversion rate, you should always be testing. Regarding this article, we will have a focus on retention and activation through some specific use case.
What is conversion rate optimization?
Conversion Rate Optimization (also known as CRO) is a crucial tool for an e-commerce website. There’s no good way to start conversion rate optimization.
As long as you get qualified traffic, you can start to try some hypothesis that will help you to improve your conversion rate.
One thing that is crucial though is the ability to measure your result. So be sure to properly set Google Analytics or any other tool that can help you to track your customers’ interactions.
A quick introduction to A/B testing
One fundamental aspect of CRO is the ability to test the impact of a version compared to another.
It is also known as split testing.
So A/B test is a way to compare two versions of the same page to see which performs the best. With AB test, two different versions of a page are shown to a set of individuals.
But you can also do it on a specific period. For example, you can modify a page with design A on period A, track the results, then modify the same page with design B on period B. This method is easier to put at work but can be dangerous if you are facing seasonality issues like massives discounts like Black Friday for example.
Finding your current conversion rate
To start an experiment, you have to know what are your actual statistics. As mentioned before Google Analytics is a great tool that will help you to figure out what is the efficiency of your Shopify store.
To find this data in Google Analytics, you will have to go to your Google Analytics account, look for Behavior on the left menu, then site content and click on Landing Pages.
From then you’ll be able to drill down into your key statistics based on each page of your website.
Then you can add a secondary dimension which is called “second page” that will tell you which pages the visitor navigated to and which percentage of visitors went to those pages.
With this data, you can now simply start to understand where your store is losing strength and where you should set your focus.
What is a good online store conversion rate?
Following this study that has been published recently, e-commerce conversion rate was on average for Q1 2019 4,27% on desktop which is quite high!
It also shows some interesting data about the differences depending on the device and the browser, showing some interesting demographic data that can impact the conversion rate.
In my opinion, a good online store conversion rate should be one that evolves regularly, meaning that you are working at improving your Shopify store efficiency.
What is a live chat?
Live chat is a tool that allows customers to have real-time conversations with companies. Generally, live chat widgets are installed on websites using javascript technology just as a simple google analytics tracking code for example.
Example of a live chat
Once it’s installed, it simplifies the communication. rather than having to call the company on the phone or wait for your email to have an answer, you can instantly have a chat with a support agent that is ready to answer your question.
Why Live Chat is useful
This communication channel provides another great option for customers to contact customer service. It’s much more convenient and fast than traditional ways of contacting a customer support team.
As live chat is the future of customer service for e-commerce, customers don’t want to be treated like numbers and want to enjoy an effortless experience that makes them feel human.
It helps you to gain more lead
Live chat is like the advisor that you can find in any physical store. By setting a live chat, you offer real-time advice to your website visitors which is great because this is the moment where they are the ablest to buy your product.
It humanizes the customers’ relationship
Human is crucial in nowadays e-relationship as faces play a crucial role in human communication. More than humanizing, it also reinforces trust which is vital if you want to optimize e-commerce conversion rate.
It helps you to increase first response time
First response time is a key metric when measuring customer service efficiency. It gives the time you took to send your first message after a user has sent his message. Generally, Live chat comes with built-in features live saved replies, knowledge base software or chatbots.
Saved replies help you to save time by creating templated answers that you can reuse at will and still personalize depending on customers’ question.
Knowledge management systems are a way to promote autonomy and self-satisfaction among your users as they are able to browse a list of articles that can resolve customers problem without having to contact customer support.
Here are some knowledge base examples
How to add a live chat to Shopify?
Now that you are convinced about live chat, I can hear your question: ”how can I add a live chat to my Shopify store?”
- Go to your Shopify store
- Click on “Apps” then “Visit the Shopify App Store”
- Choose the Shopify live chat that suits your needs
- Click on “Add App”
- Configure it
- You’re live!
Examples of Shopify store with a Live Chat
Key pages to insert a live chat on Shopify
With an ever-growing number of live chat tools, companies can now offer a delightful experience for, customers across the entire customer lifecycle, from the first visit to the customers having issues with the product, live chat can offer a great experience.
With a live chat, the focus moves from passive inaction to proactive messages sent depending on customers behaviors.
More than just a trend, data shows that website visitors are 82% more likely to convert when having previously chatted with your business.
Bonus tip: Live chat is not only for customer service, but it can also play a big role in the lead generation machine. There is a large portion of your website that deserves to offer a live chat.
- Home page
Did you know that companies are 7 times more likely to win a deal if you respond to prospects in less than an hour versus responding in two hours? (HBR, 2011).
More than likelihood, 53% of consumers are more likely to shop with a business they can message.(Facebook Nielsen study, 2017)
By offering a live chat on your Shopify homepage, you let your customers get in touch with you and answer customer question regarding delivery methods, products, and pricing.
- Product page
By targeting high intent pages, an e-commerce website will improve the quantity of high-quality conversation, product page, and checkout pages are a really good way to start to offer a chat app.
- Checkout process
Being part of the e-commerce competition, increasing conversion rate is vital. But there are only a few companies that have set a live chat on their checkout funnel. Here is why every company should add one.
In fact, live chat at check out helps you to focus your effort on things that really matter.
Checkout is the most important part of your Shopify store, there lots of ways to improve, but you can with these tips.
How live chat can optimize conversion rate on Shopify?
As you’ve understood, those two tools can have a big impact on your business. Shopify is a perfect tool to sell goods and services online when live chat seems to offer the perfect way to delight your customers while they are browsing your website.
Let’s have a look at what would be the different experiment you could run to optimize conversion rate on your Shopify store.
Optimize conversion rate through higher customers engagement
Dealing with customers on your Shopify store is no quite easy thanks to your live chat. Now here are some of the best tips about customers engagement that chat app can act on.
The first thing is live chat trigger also known as automated chat messages.
Examples of how you can engage with customers automatically through live chat
On product pages: Stop users leaving after viewing a product by sweetening the deal somehow (eg: coupon code).
Cart abandonment: Reduce cart abandonment with a last-minute offer or ask people to save their shopping list.
Landing pages: When your landing page message doesn’t quite work, exit popups provide one last chance to make an offer.
Running discounts: People might be more willing to hand over their email address for a special offer that lasts a week, rather than forcing them to buy now.
Price/availability alerts: When prices or availability often change (flights, properties, job positions, etc.), offering alerts is a great way to get people involved with your brand.
On ads campaign: Keep a continuity between your ads campaign and your landing page. Based on URL parameter, you can offer a great message to engage with your leads or your customers.
Optimize e-commerce conversion rate through better customer satisfaction
Example of how you can make customers happier through live chat
if you ever sent an email to a customer support team only to receive an automated response that you will receive an answer within 24 to 48 hours, how would you feel?
In this fast-paced world, no one wants to wait. Studies reveal that 79% of consumers who preferred live chat over other support methods said they do so because they are able to receive instant response to their queries.
This is especially true when your client is experiencing technical issues that couldn’t be answered by your FAQ section. When you offer live chat support, you can help your customer troubleshoot the problem in real-time rather than making them wait for your response.
By providing an instant answer, you can make your customer happy :)
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