Modern consumers now expect a whole lot more from their online shopping experience than they did in the past. One-to-one live video shopping is the way for retailers to ensure their eCommerce platforms provide a standard of service to match what would be expected from in-store shopping.
What is one-to-one live video shopping?
One-to-one live video shopping provides a face-to-face online shopping experience through live video call with sales representatives and an immersive, interactive shopping basket where the customer can complete purchases in-call,
This simplifies the online shopping experience, enables customers to receive quick and reliable responses to product queries, and sales representatives to provide personalised and effective standard of service.
What do consumers in 2023 expect from their online shopping experience?
Most retailers strive to provide a standard of service in their physical stores that meets and exceeds the expectations of their customers. But with eCommerce now representing the majority of sales in retail, brands are struggling to keep up with what their customers expect from the digital shopping experience. So what do customers expect from digital retail, and how does one-to-one live video shopping address that?
For over half of customers today, the digital impression from brands is now more important to them than that derived from in-store shopping. But what does a good digital impression look like?
A good place to start is to think about how you can ensure that your customers are provided with a personalized and empathetic shopping experience when visiting your website. Despite 2/3 of customers saying they expect brands to meet their unique needs and interests when shopping online, 2/3 also believe that at present most brands fail to do so.
Importantly for your business, 62% of customers said they would be willing to pay more for a high standard of service from eCommerce retailers, including 75% of generation Z who represent the group most likely to purchase through eCommerce.
“62% of customers said they would be willing to pay more for a high standard of service”
Retail customer service expectations are still changing | CSN (customerstrategynetwork.com)
But what do customers expect this to look like? Firstly, 82% of consumers want the same level of customer service when shopping online as when shopping in-store. In essence they want the same human and attentive approach to customer service online as when in store. Secondly they want quick and seamless access to support when researching products or providing queries to retailers, with 87% of customers stating that they get frustrated when this is not possible.
So how does one-to-one live video shopping help your brand meet these expectations?
Firstly it gives customers the seamless access to support and retail staff that they are calling for. By introducing one-to-one live video shopping to your website your customers will be given the option to call directly through to a member of your sales team at any time.
Furthermore when in the call, your sales team will be able to deliver exactly what the customer needs. After speaking to the customer about their product requirements, your colleague will be able to use the in-call search function to bring products directly onto the screen of the customer using the live display. From there they will be able to talk through the product with the customer, add it to the shared shopping basket and complete the purchase all in the same call.
“94% of consumers say they want seamless access to a customer service agent”
Managing Customer Expectations In A Changing Digital Landscape (forbes.com)
This meets both the need of prompt access to customer support and providing personalised product offerings in one go. With 94% of customers stating that this level of seamless access to customer support is highly important to them, this is a key component of meeting the current expectations of customers.
Furthermore with eCommerce now becoming dominant in the retail market, consumers are expecting brands to keep up with this technical shift with 88% saying they expect brands to accelerate their digital initiatives. By ensuring your brand meets these consumer expectations, they can expect their NPS scores to soar to an excellent benchmark of 80 as a result of increased customer satisfaction.
But we already use chatbots, don’t they achieve the same thing?
Whilst chatbots certainly have their uses, they are limited in their ability to meet all the needs of your customer. Whilst 7/10 customers say they have used chatbots when shopping online, and 72% of those believe that they will continue to use them in some form, only 6% say they trust chat bots when it comes to more complex customer support needs.
Furthermore when asked what feelings were associated with using chat bots the two most widely reported terms amongst consumers were ‘frustrated’ and ‘angry’. Clearly chatbots are not the solution to what consumers are crying out for.
“Only 6% of consumers say that they trust chat bots”
Managing Customer Expectations In A Changing Digital Landscape (forbes.com)
In particular customers reported that they most commonly used chatbots with the hope of reaching a human service agent to address their query, with almost 2/3 of customers stating they end up simply repeating their issue when through to a live service agent.
Confer With’s one-to-one live video shopping platform cuts straight through this, enabling your customer to get straight through to the face-to face customer service they are expecting, and feel able to complete their purchase as part of a personalised virtual shopping call.
This way your customer is kept happy, and you are able to ensure that website visits and queries are converted into purchases.
