Live chat statistics: 25 interesting facts to know

Facts and figures speak much louder than words, and there is no better way to describe the benefits of live chats for businesses than with figures. In today’s customer-facing business, a live chat is getting into the league of “must-have”, and we have some statistics to prove it.

How live chat influences business growth?

Customers like the possibility of chatting with businesses, and business feel it in their sales figures:

• 41% of customers name live chat their preferred communication channel with support teams.
• The customer satisfaction survey on multiple channels of communication showed that 92% of the customers were satisfied with live chat.
• 79% of businesses felt a positive effect on their sales and customer loyalty after they implemented live chat.

Why is that?

Customers appreciate the live chat option for many reasons, the main one being time-savings:

• 64% of customers find that customer experience is more important than the price.
• At the same time, 73% believe that the best thing a business can do to provide good service is to value the customers’ time.
• 51% appreciate live chat for the possibility to multitask.
• The same 51% believe that a business should be available 24/7.
• 52% appreciate it when a business creates a more personalized experience.
• Live chats save the customers from waiting on hold — that’s why 42% prefer live chat over phone calls.

How does live chat benefit businesses?

Businesses that have implemented live chats notice the improvement in many aspects:

• 30% of businesses noticed at least a 5–10% increase in their revenues within the first year after adopting the live chat.
• For 48% of businesses, the revenue per chat hour rose by 48% with a simultaneous 40% growth of the conversion rate.
• 61% of B2B companies and 33% of B2C companies use live chat in their customer communication.
• Live chat software market is predicted to reach as high as $997 million by 2023.
• 44% of businesses claim they have a better understanding of their customers within 2 years after implementing a live chat.
• Businesses offering mobile apps have a huge advantage — 94% of companies received customer requests from mobile devices.
• For 77% of businesses, features and functionality are the main criteria in choosing live chat software.

However, there is still room for improvement

Sometimes, the chat software choice or live chat management create substandard customer experiences:

• 42% of businesses still think their customers prefer phone calls as their main channel of communication with companies.
• 16% of chats started by customers remain unanswered.
• The highest number of unanswered chats — 21% — occur in the healthcare industry.
• 28% of businesses had to change their live chat software due to insufficient features.
• 38% of customers complain about the poor experience they had in a live chat.

Live chat facts that you may find useful

Customer behavior in live chats forms interesting trends that you may use to optimize your customer service:

• More than 50% of live chats occur between 10 AM and 3 PM.
• Averagely, it takes an agent 51 seconds to respond to a chat initiated by a customer.
• The highest chat volume has been observed in the entertainment industry — 135 chats per month on average.
• In the retail industry, the highest number of chats occur in November and December with an average increase of 9.8% as compared with the rest of the year.

Wrapping up

Statistical data is hard to dispute, as it is backed by the information received from real users and consumers. The live chat statistics definitely prove that the popularity and importance of chats are growing steadily, and if you haven’t chosen an effective chatting solution yet, it’s time to do it. Contact our experts for assistance in selecting the best chat feature set for your business and customizing it according to your requirements.