Live chat vs video: which helps your shoppers buy?

A delivery question may need a short typed reply. A question about how a product works may be easier to answer with a demonstration. Both are service moments, but they ask different things of the channel.

The useful comparison between live chat and video starts with the questions your customers bring. Either can support a purchase when it helps someone get the answer they need.

What the chat research shows

Forrester reported in March 2018 that visitors who used web chat were 2.8 times as likely to convert as those who did not. This is an association between groups; people who seek help may already be more interested in buying. It does not establish that chat alone caused the difference, or that video would perform better.

For your store, the finding is a reason to examine assisted shopping. The best channel still depends on the work involved in the conversation.

Where chat earns its place

Text lets customers ask a question while doing something else. They can reread the reply, and an advisor may be able to handle several straightforward exchanges at once.

Chat can also carry images and links. A shopper checking a replacement part may only need to send a photograph and receive confirmation of the model number. Moving that person into a call could add unnecessary work.

Keep chat easy to find, and avoid asking for information that has no bearing on the question. A short request deserves a short route to an answer.

When video helps

Video becomes useful when the customer needs to see a detail from another angle or ask follow-up questions during a demonstration. An advisor showing how a folding table locks into place can pause at the exact point the shopper finds confusing.

That exchange may save a lengthy written explanation. It also requires the customer to be comfortable joining a call, and the advisor to have the product or useful material ready to show.

Offer video as a choice. Some people will prefer text even when a demonstration is available. What that service looks like in practice is described in bringing the personal shopper online.

Compare the full cost

A private video conversation usually occupies one advisor's attention. Include that time when assessing whether the service pays for itself. Review the quality of the recommendation as well as the sale.

Try video in a category where demonstrations regularly help. Compare similar shopping situations, since a complex purchase and a delivery query will naturally produce different results.

Our guide to live shopping explains how an advisor can help during a video call. Use it to identify a specific question your store could answer more clearly by showing the customer.