20 Live Chat Statistics on Customer Support

The advancement of technology has brought about a massive shift in customer behavior. While until recently it was enough to list your call center number and social media icons on your website, which no longer cuts it — customers demand real-time communication, and more often than not, they want it online. If you are not there to meet their demands, they will just leave. Live chat statistics show that this form of communication has become a top customer choice. But to give your audience a high-quality experience, you need to find a perfect balance and harness the power of technological advancements just right. Here’s what you need to know to figure out how to go about it. 

Live Chat Statistics (Editor’s Choice)

• About 69% of shoppers in the US prefer live chat to chatbot support. (Freshworks)
• Live chat is the number one service choice for shoppers between 18 and 49 years old. (Gartner)
• Around 73% of customers find live chat the most satisfactory form of communication with a company. (Invesp)
• Millennials are 20% more likely to use live chat. (ICMI)
• The global live chat market is projected to reach $987.3 million by 2023. (Knowledge-based Value Research)
• Customers who use live chat, spend up to 60% more per purchase than those who don’t. (Software Advice)
• Live chat improves conversion rates by 3.84% (Software Advice)
• Live chat costs companies 15-33% less compared to phone support. (ThriveMyWay)

Live Chat Adoption Statistics

1. By 2022, about 85% of businesses are expected to opt for live chat support. 

Despite having been around for a while, web chat customer service has only gained traction in the last decade. One of the common drivers of this growth is digitalization, with many companies introducing tools to automate their operations and improve efficiency. At the same time, customer demands are increasing, and businesses need to meet them. Tech-savvy customers are more familiar with the messaging platforms nowadays and research shows that 79% prefer live chat due to instant support access. 

(Software Advice)

2. About 90% of customers consider a quick reaction from support to their inquiry to be very important.

After reaching out to the customer support team, about 60% of customers prefer a maximum 10 minutes reply or support, live chat statistics show. Based on the answers from the study respondents 82% of customers consider the same importance in case of contact with the marketing team or sales-related inquires. 

(Hubspot)

3. Only 35% of businesses think customer preferences levitate toward live chat.

There is a strange imbalance between what companies think their customers want and what they actually want. Online chat customer service is in the minds of only 35% of business owners. On the other hand, they are overstaffing their contact centers with phone operators, as this is what 42% of firms consider customers’ preference. Another 14% think customers like to communicate via email, while 9% say the same for social media. 

(Kayakoo)

4. Approximately 63% of people spending $250-500 monthly online will most likely purchase from companies offering live chat. 

They are also more likely to stay loyal to this company. Not only that, but also 51% of customers will probably buy again from the company that has a live chat, based on the live chat sales statistics. For comparison, 38% of people are likely to complete their first purchase on websites that offer live chat support. As a result, 79% of companies report that the presence of this feature has positively impacted their sales, revenues, and customer relations. 

(Kayakoo)

5. Live chat is the number one service choice for shoppers between 18 and 49 years old. 

In fact, 36.5% of women in the US aged 18-29 have used it at least once. Another 37.5% of those between 30 and 39 years old have used it many times.  Despite that, only 62% of retailers adopted it on desktop and 55% on mobile sites in 2019. However, there are some bright examples of online chat customer service, according to Gartner. Home Depot is one of them with its SMS service enabled by Apple Business Chat. 

(Gartner, eMarketer)

6. Mexico has the highest live chat satisfaction rate of 94.11%. 

Based on live chat customer satisfaction statistics, Canada and Australia are not that far behind. The former has around 88.36% customer satisfaction rate, while customers Down Under have a 93.59% satisfaction rate. The most popular time to chat is between 10 A.M. and 3 P.M. Accordingly, 50% of all live chat transactions occur at this time. 

(Performance Magazine)

7. Chatter engagement on desktop is 1.7% compared to 1.4% on mobile. 

As a matter of fact, desktop visitors will purchase 14% times on average, while this rate for mobile chatters is 7%. Aside from that, their engagement with web chat customer service is considerably higher on desktop. However, mobile chatters are 6.1 times more likely to convert, compared to mobile non-chatters. 

(Upscope)

8. In 2018, on average 51.68% of chat queries originated from mobile devices.

Year on year, this is a strong rise of 7.9%, according to the live chat support statistics. For a clearer picture, we are talking about over 23 million chats. This depicts a general trend of shifting from desktop toward mobile for the primary source of live chat use (or in general). Customers of recreational and consumer services were the most common users of live chat from their mobiles. The first group had registered 72% mobile usage in 2018, while the second about 70%. The least percentage was for the transportation industry (23%). 

(Comm100)

9. Customer engagement in proactive live chat stands at around 2%. 

This is not too much considering that reactive chat engagement rates are higher (up to 7.8%). Despite the great opportunities for customers with recommendations from proactive chat, they don’t seem eager to engage. The average live chat response time for addressing customers’ inquiries in a reactive chat is 23 seconds. For proactive chat, it’s harder to calculate the time. 

(Fair Trade Outsourcing)

10. Around 73% of customers find live chat the most satisfactory form of communication with a company. 

In contrast to that, when compared to email and phone, 73% of customers were satisfied with the live chat. Alternatively, 51% were happy with their email communication to the company. Lastly, 44% felt the same way regarding phone engagement with the business. 

Live chat engagement statistics meanwhile confirm that 42% of customers indicated that this is their preferred way of leaving contact info, which makes it the top lead-generation method in this regard.

(Invesp)

11. For 79% of customers, immediate answer to their questions is the main reason they choose live chat. 

Looking at the live chat performance benchmarks we can confirm this. But this is not the only reason. Multitasking is important for 51% of customers. Another 46% consider it to be the most efficient means of communication. Next, 29% think information received this way is more accurate. Some 22% don’t like talking on the phone, while 21% can chat while at work. And finally, 15% thought that the information they received was better than if they had called, according to live chat statistics.

(Invesp)

12. Live chat works for sales but also it’s used 29% in marketing to raise awareness about the products.

Live chat customer support encircles the entire customer journey. In 29% of cases, according to a study, it is used for marketing awareness. Next, conversion to potential leads happens in 39% of cases. Around 32% go to early engagement, and 24% to mid-stage engagement. Finally, in 18%, it’s a tool for closing the deal, while in 39% of cases it serves as aftersale support.

(SuperOffice)

13. Millennials are 20% more likely to use live chat than baby boomers. 

In fact, this age group belongs to the largest, fast-rising segment of customers. Hence, they are the ones who use it the most, citing convenience as the number one reason for using it. The latest live chat statistics show that 63% of millennials prefer their questions answered by live chat, rather than traditional forms of customer support. 

(ICMI)

14. 36% of Gen Z customers would use live chat to contact customer service. 

Similarly, they will more likely use channels like WhatsApp or live chat customer support via video. Apparently, 61% of customers under 24 years old would avoid phone calls to ask for support from companies on purpose. 

(Live Agent)

15. B2B has a 61% base of live chat users. 

This is rather unexpected considering the fact that B2C is a larger category of customers. Live chat adoption statistics, however, show that B2B has almost double the base of B2C. For reference, B2C has a 33% adoption rate by the customers. Further, we have B2G with 2% live chat users and non-profit with 5%. 

(Zoho)

16. The global live chat market is projected to reach $987.3 million by 2023. 

The market will see a 7.3% CAGR during this period. Online chat customer service is gaining more prominence as the customer-centric approach gains bigger momentum. This way, companies can gather insights about user preferences to help them raise sales and conversion levels. In turn, it’s driving the demand for live chat software solutions. The real-time communications needs of customers will continue to drive this growth and the possibilities for the live chat market. 

(Knowledge-Based Value Research)

Live Chat Conversion Statistics

17. Customers who use live chat spend up to 60% more per purchase than those who don’t. 

This happens because customer support can quickly solve customer concerns and answer questions. Then, 38% of customers tend to buy a product after a positive and engaging chat with real-time support. 

(Software Advice)

18. Approximately 57% of consumers would abandon a purchase online if they don’t receive answers to their queries. 

Webchat customer service plays a crucial role in keeping your customer and having their complete orders. More than half of customers will abandon their shopping cart unless they get quick answers. On another note, 63% of consumers said they would gladly return to an ecommerce shop with a live chat integrated. 

(Acquire)

19. Live chat improves conversion rates by 3.84%. 

The main reason behind this is due to opportunities to include some strategies for live chat marketing, statistics show. Companies get leads at a fraction of the cost they would have to invest in a regular manner. After the initial contact between chat agent and visitor, the sales departments can swoop in and convert leads into customers. On top of that, some firms have integrated customer relationship management solutions in place that help them better support agents. 

(Software Advice)

20. Virgin Airlines boosted conversion rates by 23% after deploying live chat. 

Looking at the live chat performance benchmarks, the company states the chat converts using customers 3.5 times the rate of those who don’t engage with this tool. But there’s one important fact worth mentioning. Virgin doesn’t use this chat at the end of the sales funnel, but rather proactively to secure additional revenue and bolster average order value. For reference, since the company started using live chat, AOV has increased by 15% for those customers who use the chat, as opposed to the rest. 

(Digital Commerce 360)

21. Intuit’s conversion rates rose to a spectacular 190% after implementing live chat. 

And it didn’t stop there for the QuickBooks and Mint seller. Their sales levels jumped by an impressive 211% after the chat widget was added to the product comparison page. Live chat stats conclusively show that the presence of a chat widget increased the average order value at the checkout process by 43%. 

(Template Monster)

22. By introducing live chat, Rescue Spa achieved 286% revenue growth. 

Rescue Spa is a boutique spa in Philadelphia, focused on selling upscale beauty services and products. At one point the company turned to the online space and decided to launch an ecommerce platform. They brought in the new site vendor, enhanced the checkout process, and enabled the live chat feature. The subsequent revenue growth per year was 175% on average. This is just another proof that companies with live chat support enjoy higher sales and conversion levels. 

(Marketing Sherpa)

Live Chat Customer Satisfaction Statistics

23. Poor live chat experience creates frustration with 38% of the customers. 

Typically, the reasons behind these frustrations lie in the unavailability of live chat support, being disconnected from the chat, or having to fill out a form to initiate the chat. About 29% find scripted responses the most annoying, while 24% of customers are frustrated by the long wait times. Then, 9% get frustrated if they have to repeat themselves. 

(Kayakoo)

24. The longest wait time recorded for a live chat response is nine minutes, live chat stats show. 

Imagine the frustration of this customer. Namely, long waiting time is one of the reasons a customer stops being a customer of a particular company. Live chat response times play an important role in the customer journey. The average waiting time, counter from the moment the customer initiates the chat is two minutes and 40 seconds. Some agents manage to respond within the first 30 seconds, however, not all are that quick. The fastest reply recorded meanwhile came in seven seconds. 

(Super Office)

25. 21% of companies fail to address live chat requests.

This is a big percentage, and it justifies the doubts customers might have. For those that are answered, based on live chat statistics, the average wait time to receive a reply is two minutes and 40 seconds. In addition, 55% of companies don’t offer transcripts after completion of the chat or ask for user feedback (45%). Another 23% don’t even ask for contact data prior to starting a chat.

(Super Office)

26. Roughly 69% of organizations utilize canned messages in live chat. 

Despite the need of customers to have real-time communication and their questions answered, not every time they experience the ‘personal touch. Jeff Epstein, VP of Product Marketing and Communication at Comm100 argues that despite the uniqueness agents bring to the job, they don’t come up with answers from scratch every time. After a while, all their responses get more automated and sound pre-recorded. 

(Forbes)

Live Chat vs Phone Support Statistics

27. Live chat users pay 15-33% less than companies that handle phone calls. 

Based on the example of companies with live chat support that have used solely phone models before, this form is much cheaper. Not to mention the efficiency that comes with live chat. For instance, in legacy call centers, agents can reply to one call or email at a time. Unlike that, in customer service with a live chat feature, an agent can engage in up to six different chats at the same time. According to some estimates, call center support on the phone costs $12 per call, compared to $5 for a web chat. 

(Super Office, ThriveMyWay)

28. Magellan GPS recorded a 55.8% decrease in phone call costs between 2013 and 2015 by introducing live chat.

Based on the live chat stats, the company’s spending on contact centers decreased from $1.5 million approximately to $840,000 from 2013 to 2014. This represents a 43% reduction in just one year since deploying a live chat solution from Velaro. Between 2014 and 2015 it went down by 22% to $650,000. Magellan redirected most of the inbound support queries to live chat, making phone support obsolete, dwindling from 66.9% to 33.1%. 

(Velaro)

The Bottom Line

It’s obvious that live chat has become an essential feature of every customer-facing business. With the current adoption rates, live chat stats show that it’s just a matter that your competitors adopt this feature. So, unless you want to fall behind, you should too. On top of that, with many companies shifting to online modus operandi, customer expectations are also rising. Support needs to be consistent and always present to achieve your business goals and strengthen customer relations. 

FAQs

Sources

• Freshworks
• Invesp
• ICMI
• Knowledge-based Value Research
• Software Advice
• ThriveMyWay
• Hubspot
• Hubspot
• Kayakoo
• Gartner
• eMarketer
• Performance Magazine
• Upscope
• Comm100
• Fair Trade Outsourcing
• SuperOffice
• Live Agent
• Zoho
• Acquire
• Digital Commerce 360
• Template Monster
• Marketing Sherpa
• Super Office
• Forbes
• Super Office
• Velaro
• Campaign Monitor

By Ivan Blagojevic