One of the ways that Internet retailers can bridge the gap between their digital stores and competition from traditional brick-and-mortar stores is by offering some type of on-site customer service.
Whether it's live chat or virtual assistants, customer service software can help businesses close sales, increase average order values (AOV) and decrease return rates.
The problem, however, is that there is a plethora of customer service software available on the 'Net, and each one comes with its own unique bells and whistles.
So, before making a commitment to just one platform, it is important to research the market in order to find the best fit for your business's needs.
To get started, check out the big list of live chat solutions below:
With Agendize, visitors have the ability to request a chat, while merchants can also use proactive chat to approach customers at the right time. The platform also comes with analytics so users can measure the impact Agendize has on customer service and sales goals.
BoldChat offers a variety of live chat solutions based on business size. The company offers a feature called "Sale Recovery Technology," which helps users maximize visitor engagement by making agents aware of visitors who have been waiting to talk to a live chat representative. Plus, BoldChat offers a "Chat Opportunity Indicator," which is a real-time monitoring grid that indicates the chat status of every visitor.
If you'd like to spice up your customer service initiatives, consider implementing a virtual assistant rather than live chat on your ecommerce site. CodeBaby, for example, offers a "conversion optimizer" solution, which helps guide customers through the path to purchase.
Comm100's live chat solution can be used to collect information from visitors before a chat even starts so that agents are prepared. Moreover, the platform allows users to store answers to frequently asked questions and even shows what customers are typing before they hit send so agents can be ready with a response.
Kayako's live chat offering enables businesses to track visitors in real-time. Chat operators can identify, prioritize and engage prospects using visitor rules, as well as can proactively reach out to visitors and invite them to a conversation. Plus, Kayako offers surveys, ratings and reporting that can help businesses obtain feedback from customers.
LiveChat's customer service solution is customizable, and similar to Comm100, also gives agents the ability to see what customers are typing before they hit send. In addition, LiveChat gives agents the option to transfer chats to teammates, as well as provides chat history so agents can look up previous conversations with visitors.
LiveOps offers a live chat solution that is part of the company's Engage multichannel platform. The platform aims to provide agents with a complete view of customer interactions across all channels, which means that agents have access to chat history as well as voice, SMS, email and social media interactions. It is also important to note that users can customize chat windows, and supervisors can monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) with the solution's real-time dashboard.
LivePerson hosts 20 million chats per month. The platform uses intelligence capabilities to examine customer behavior, customer data, Web analytics and SEM data to deliver the right chat invitation to the right customer at the right time. Chat buttons are displayed whenever chat operators are available, and customers have the ability to start a chat from any device, including smartphones and tablets.
Businesses can integrate LiveZilla into their site either as an on-site chat widget (overlay chat) or as an off-site chat (external browser window). The solution allows users to send automated and proactive chat invitations to visitors, as well as offers chat bots and virtual assistants that can be used to offer customer assistants 24 hours a day.
Moxie offers a live chat solution specifically for sales, dubbed "Sales Chat Spaces." The platform offers proactive chat, and can help businesses capitalize on up-sell and cross-sell opportunities. In addition, Moxie includes real-time tracking of shopping-cart value, leads, referrals and page visits, which can help agents track and invite the right prospects to chat. It is also important to note that Moxie leverages Facebook's social graph on users and their connections to target visitors with proactive chats. In fact, brands can engage with a Facebook visitor and extend an offer based on their profile information.
Similar to CodeBaby, Nuance's Nina is a virtual assistant that can be used to provide site visitors with customer service. Nina can take on the appearance and tone of any brand and even supports mobile so that customers can have a consistent experience across touch points.
Velaro offers live chat solutions for every business size. The platform is customizable and provides users with advanced reporting so that customer service initiatives can be analyzed and optimized accordingly. Plus, Velaro offers an uptime of 99.98 percent, which means that the service is pretty reliable.
Website Alive's live chat product, called AliveChat, is a fully hosted SAAS solution that can be installed on websites, Facebook, WordPress and more. It is also important to note that users can handle multiple websites and brands with just one account, as well as have the ability to customize the chat offering with their own logo. Moreover, one operator can chat with up to 20 visitors at a time with AliveChat.
WhosOn live chat solution allows businesses to track customers in real time and obtain actionable insights. Users can also set up to 32 different live chat triggers based on what a visitor does. In fact, the solution can even be set to offer promotions or advice based on visitor behavior.
Zoho Chat offers many different features outside of just letting representatives guide visitors around a site. For example, the platform has a feature called "Shoutbox," which can be embedded into a website to let visitors chat amongst themselves. Other features include Group Chat, the ability to chat with contacts from multiple Instant Messaging networks and desktop sharing.