The Pros and Cons of Live Chat in a Web Design
Live chat has become the go-to customer service solution for many websites. Users can log in and immediately “talk” with someone about whatever they need help with.
They can be text-based or include a video call. The key reason it is used is to connect with customers immediately and help provide a better customer service experience. But there’s a catch – not all chat is actually a conversation with a person.
Here’s a look at the pros and cons of live chat in your web design projects.
What is Live Chat?
It is basically text messaging for your website. Typically, a user clicks on a chat icon to initiate a chat with a member of the website’s customer service team or a bot.
These chats are intended to be for quick and easy-to-solve customer service issues and seem a little less intimidating to some people than emails for phone calls.
There are a variety of vendors that offer live or web chat services that integrate with website platforms. And it is a booming business that’s expected to reach $1 billion in 2023.
Where Do You See Live Chat?
The most common design placement is in the bottom right corner of a website, such as in the example above. Chat icons are often “sticky,” meaning they stay in place throughout the scroll or as you navigate pages on the site.
Chat icons might be small or simple or more complex and even showcase the image of the “person” you or chatting with or another avatar.
Most don’t indicate whether you are talking with a person or a bot, but you can often tell by the flow of the online conversation. Some may require the user to be logged into a website to initiate a conversation, while others are more open and don’t require authentication.
Pros of Live Chat in Web Design
The biggest advantage to offering live chat in a website design is that customers like having this option available. In a survey, 79% of the respondents found immediate replies of live chats to be the most important benefit.
Article written by DesignShack.net.