31 Live Chat Statistics [2022]: Market Trends and Insights

Business Metrics

Research Summary. Being able to reach a live company representative via online chat has revolutionized the world of customer service inquiries, cutting down wait times and frustrations. Now, live chat features are expected and are beneficial to both customers and companies. Here are some statistics about live chat:

41% of customers prefer live chat support over other communication options.
Getting immediate answers to questions is the main reason why 79% of customers prefer live chat.
85.6% of customers are satisfied with their live chat sessions.
Live chat improves conversion rates by 40%.
30% of customers expect live chat options on a website.

41% of consumers prefer live chat support over other communication options

Live Chat Statistics by Consumer Opinions

44% of online customers say live chat is one of the most important features a website can have.

Both potential buyers and current customers utilize live chats to find out about products, check their order statuses, or ask a question about a problem they’re having with the company’s services.
69% of customers feel more confident about a brand they can message via chat.

Whether it’s via live chat or a chatbot, customers want to know they can get ahold of a company quickly with their questions and concerns. Being able to do this helps brands come across as more reliable and transparent, encouraging customers to buy from them.
The global customer satisfaction rate with live chats was 85.6% in 2020.

This is the highest it’s been in the five years between 2015 and 2020. In 2015, the overall satisfaction rate was 85.4%, but it steadily dipped down until it reached a low of 80.6% in 2017. It then steadily increased until it hit its 2020 levels.

Live Chat Statistics by Company Benefits

38% of surveyed customers decided to make a purchase because of a live chat session they had with the company.
63% of people who contact a company via live chat are likely to return to the site.
62% of people who participate in a live chat session with a company are likely to return to make another purchase.
Offering live chat sessions can lead to a 40% increase in conversion rates and a 10% increase in average order value for companies.

Live Chat Statistics by Adoption of Live Chat Features

61% of live chat users are B2B companies, while 33% are B2C.

5% of companies that offer live chat options are nonprofits, and 2% are B2G companies.
On average, it takes a customer service agent 23 seconds to respond to a customer via live chat.

All told, it takes just an average of just 42 seconds to entirely resolve a customer service query via live chat.
The live chat software market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.29% from 2021 to 2026.

The live chat software market has three sectors: Informational Service Live Chat Systems, Sales Live Chat Systems, and Customer Service Live Chat Systems. The customer service segment is the largest of the three.

Live Chat Statistics by Consumer Behavior

45% of customers will leave a website part way through making a purchase if they can’t talk with someone live about their questions or concerns.
53% of U.S. online shoppers will abandon their cart if they can’t find a fast answer to a question.
77% of online shoppers want to talk to a person before making a purchase.
53% of customers would rather use a live chat than call a company.

Live Chat Statistics by Comparisons to Other Communication Channels

41% of customers say they’d prefer live chat support for their customer service inquiries over any other communication method.

32% say they’d prefer to use the telephone, 23% would rather use email, and 3% choose to reach out to companies on social media.

59% of U.S. customers regularly use live chat to connect with a brand or company.

This makes live chat the third-most-popular customer service communication channel for consumers, behind telephone and email. Here’s how the top nine channels rank:

Customer Service Communication Channel	Percentage of Customers Who Regularly Use the Channel
Telephone	78%
Email	75%
Live Chat	59%
Online Support Portal	57%
Search Engines	46%
In-Person	46%
Mobile App	8%
Communities	11%
Social Media	3%

Live chat has the highest satisfaction level of the top customer service communication channels.

Here is the breakdown of the satisfaction rates of each communication channel:

Communication Channel Satisfaction Rate

Live chat 73%

Email 61%

App 53%

Post 50%

Social media 48%

Phone 44%

SMS 41%
It takes the average company 12 hours to respond to a customer service request via email.

And that’s if they respond, as 62% of companies don’t reply to customer service emails at all.
Customers ages 18 to 34 use live chat the most of any age group.

Here is what percentage of each age group uses live chat to contact companies and brands:

Age Range Share That Regularly Uses Live Chat to Contact a Brand

18-34 60%

35-54 43%

55+ 32%

Communication Channel	Satisfaction Rate
Live chat	73%
Email	61%
App	53%
Post	50%
Social media	48%
Phone	44%
SMS	41%

Age Range	Share That Regularly Uses Live Chat to Contact a Brand
18-34	60%
35-54	43%
55+	32%

Live Chat Statistics by Consumer Expectations

The top reason why customers prefer live chat is that they get their questions answered immediately with this option.

Here is the breakdown of the top reasons why customers prefer live chat to other communication methods:

Reason for Choosing to Use Live Chat Over Other Communication Channels	Percentage of People Who Cited This as a Reason for Choosing Live Chat
Get questions answered immediately	79%
Can multitask	51%
Most efficient way to communicate	46%
It works well	38%
Better information than email	29%
Don’t like talking on the phone	22%
Can be in control of the conversation	29%
Can chat while at work	21%
Better information than phone call	15%

42% of customers want live chat options when they’re trying to reach a company about customer service.

In addition, 33% want live chat options that they can use when they’re considering buying or are actively making a purchase, and 20% want to see it as an option as a part of a company’s marketing efforts.
82% of customers expect an immediate response from businesses when they reach out to ask about marketing or sales-related questions.

This percentage went up when customer support was involved, as 90% of customers said they expect an immediate response to these types of questions.

“Immediate” can mean a lot of different things, but in this case, customers expect a response in ten minutes or less.

Live Chat Statistics by Live Chat Challenges and Mistakes

21% of live chat messages go unanswered.

That means one out of every five live chat messages goes without an answer, frustrating customers (or potential customers) and causing companies to miss out on sales.
29% of live chat users hate scripted responses.

Almost one-third of live chat users say they find scripted responses to their chat queries frustrating, and 38% of businesses agree that they’ve heard the same thing from their customers.
33% of customers say their greatest frustration in reaching out to customer service departments is waiting on hold.

Live chats can, ironically, still have long wait times before an agent responds, which frustrates customers. Live chats are also susceptible to several other customer service pain points that customers mention:
- Repeating yourself to different representatives (33%)
- Slow response times (19%)
- Not being able to resolve the issue online (14%)
- Others (1%)
The average live chat wait time is two minutes 40 seconds.

The fastest live chat response time found in this particular study was seven seconds, and the longest was nine minutes – far too long for customers to wait for assistance.

Live Chat Statistics FAQ

Do customers like live chat?

Yes, customers like live chat. 44% of online shoppers say that live chat is one of the most important features for a website to have, and 69% of customers feel more confident about a brand if they provide the option for live chat.

When it comes to customer service inquiries, 41% of customers would rather live chat with a representative as opposed to calling them (32%), emailing them (23%), or reaching out to them on social media (3%).

Customers are also more satisfied with their interactions with customer service departments when they use live chat. This method sees a 73% satisfaction rate, while email, the runner-up, only sees a 61% satisfaction rate.

In contrast, phone interactions only get a 44% satisfaction rate from customers, and SMS texting interactions only get a rate of 41%.
Does live chat increase sales?

Yes, live chat increases sales. One study found that companies see a 40% increase in their conversion rates when they incorporate a live chat option into their websites.

38% of customers in one survey even said that they decided to make a purchase based on a live chat conversation they’d had with the brand.

In addition to more people buying products, customers also started spending more on each purchase, with companies seeing a 10% increase in average order value when they provided live chat options.

Live chat also improves customer retention rates, which, in turn, increases sales. 63% of people who interact with a company via live chat are likely to return to the site, and 62% will make another purchase in the future.
Why do customers prefer live chat?

Customers prefer live chat because they can get an immediate answer to their questions, they can multitask while they wait for a response, and it’s an efficient method of communication.

79% of customers said they prefer live chat because they can get a quick answer to their questions about products and customer service issues.

Especially for customers who have simple questions like, “Has my order shipped,” and “Which of these two products is larger,” going through a call center or sending an email and waiting for a response just isn’t worth it most of the time. With live chat, however, they can get an answer within a few minutes – or even seconds.

While most customers prefer live chat because of its speed, 51% also said that being able to multitask during the times they have to wait for a response is one of the top reasons they prefer this method of communication.

Customers can continue to work while they’re solving a problem (and don’t have to be on the phone while they do it), which makes live chats handy and satisfying to use.

All of this together is reflected in the fact that 46% of customers said they prefer this communication channel because it’s the most efficient way to communicate.

Not only is a live chat fast and unobtrusive, but you can also send all of the pertinent information about your issue at once to the customer service agent. This can cut down on time you spend explaining your question, and if you do get sent to another representative and have to explain it all over again, you can just copy and paste.
Is live chat a real person?

Yes, live chat is with a real person. When most people talk about live chat, they’re talking about messaging in real-time with a live customer service representative.

However, sometimes companies are starting to use AI to create chatbots so that they don’t have to have as many people monitoring live chat requests.

Often these chatbots act as a preliminary filter to find out who the customer needs to connect with. Others can ask and answer basic, common questions, and some can even manage the majority of a complex conversation themselves.

It’s still very rare that there is absolutely no need for a live representative, though, so most live chat sessions have a conversation between two live people, even if they also involve a chatbot.
How does live chat work on a website?

Live chat works by connecting a customer with a live representative so that they can message back and forth in real-time.

There is usually an icon at the bottom of the page that customers can click on to start a chat session, or a small window will pop up inviting the customer to start a conversation with a question like, “Can I help you find anything today?”

Customers can then type out their questions or select from a list of pre-populated questions, which will launch a conversation with a live customer service representative.

From there, the conversation will proceed much like a customer service phone call would; just typed out instead of spoken. The representative can ask for any necessary information, and the customer can ask any questions they have.

Usually, the representative can solve the problem right then and there, or they can direct the customer to their next steps or connect them with another representative who can help.

After the conversation is finished, many companies allow customers to save a copy of the chat transcript for their records, or they may send it to them automatically.
What are the disadvantages of live chat?

The disadvantages of live chat are that you have to have someone online at all times and that it’s one more program for your customer service representatives to manage.

The key to offering a live chat service is that companies have to have live people ready to chat. Not only that, but you also have to have enough people available so that your chats don’t pile up, causing customers to get frustrated with long wait times.

Since most companies don’t just ditch their phones for live chat software, that means you’ll likely have to hire additional customer service representatives to make sure all of your bases are covered.

In addition to this, many companies haven’t integrated their live chat software with everything else their customer service representatives use, which means it can take a long time to find information, customers have to repeat themselves if they get transferred to someone else, or customer inquiries get dropped altogether.

About 21% of live chat messages go unanswered, which is frustrating to customers who likely see a live chat as the most direct way to get ahold of a company. If this is the case, then they may assume that any other method will go just as poorly and give up trying to reach out entirely, costing your business one or multiple sales.

Conclusion

Live chat has opened up communications between customers and companies in a whole new way, allowing customers to get answers to their questions at lightning speed.

In fact, 41% of customers prefer to use live chat options when contacting a company, and live chat has the highest satisfaction rate of any customer service communication channel: 85.6% of customers said they were satisfied with their live chat sessions in 2020.

Businesses are reaping the benefits of live chats as well, with many seeing their conversion rates increase by up to 40% and their average order value increase by 10% after they incorporate a live chat option into their websites.

References

Econsultancy. “Consumers Prefer Live Chat for Customer Service: Stats.” Accessed on May 5, 2022.
Techjury. “70+ Live Chat Statistics Your Business Needs in 2022.” Accessed on May 5, 2022.
LiveAgent. “10 Reasons Why You Should Implement a Live Chat.” Accessed on May 5, 2022.
American Marketing Association. “Chatbots and Customer Experience in 2020.” Accessed on May 5, 2022.
Statista. “Global Customer Satisfaction Rate with Live Chat Usage From 2015 to 2020.” Accessed on May 5, 2022.
eMarketer. “How Helpful Is Live Chat?” Accessed on May 5, 2022.
ICMI. “The Stats Behind Chat: It’s Popular and Growing.” Accessed on May 5, 2022.
Zoho. “How to Pick the Best Live Chat Software – 2018.” Accessed on May 5, 2022.
Nicereply. “How Implementing Live Chat Software Can Reduce Your Operational Costs.” Accessed on May 5, 2022.
Business Wire. “Live Chat Software Market Report 2021 – Global Forecast to 2026 – ResearchAndMarkets.com.” Accessed on May 5, 2022.
Acquire. “Why is Live Chat Customer Support Important for Business? 6 Reasons.” Accessed on May 5, 2022.
Forrester. “Your Customers Don’t Want to Call You for Support.” Accessed on May 5, 2022.
Business 2 Community. “77% of Online Shoppers Say They Want to Talk: The E-commerce Problem with Conversation.” Accessed on May 5, 2022.
Kayako. “What Your Customers Love and Hate About Live Chat Support.” Accessed on May 5, 2022.
Microsoft. “2016 State of Global Customer Service Report.” Accessed on May 5, 2022.
HubSpot. “Live Chat Exposes a Fatal Flaw in Your Go-to-Market.” Accessed on May 5, 2022.
SuperOffice. “New Research: 21% of Companies Fail to Respond to Live Chat Requests.” Accessed on May 5, 2022.

Business Metrics

Author

Abby McCain

Abby is a writer who is passionate about the power of story. Whether it’s communicating complicated topics in a clear way or helping readers connect with another person or place from the comfort of their couch. Abby attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she earned a degree in writing with concentrations in journalism and business.

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