Benefits of Integrating Live Chat Feature in an App [2024]

According to a survey by HubSpot, over 80% of buyers demand a quick response time of under 10 minutes from their vendors.

Do you know that the consumer satisfaction rate of the live chat is 92%, which is the highest among all the channels? Also, “more than half of all chats come from mobile.”

These stats clearly highlight the prominence of the chat features in an app.

Today, focusing more on user experience works best to attain desired app success and that’s what startups and other businesses do to keep their target audience in sync. Therefore, businesses are trying hard to make their online brand presence even more impactful and user-oriented.

Offering rich user experiences like smooth navigation, uncluttered design layout, easy to use dashboard and attention-grabbing CTAs are undoubtedly an inevitable part of an app, but lately, the shift in the in-app chat feature has made the conversation more convenient for the users.

In this article, we will be discussing various facets of live chat features in an app and its benefits that make it a priority for every app owner.

What is Live Chat In-App Feature?

Live chat can be defined as an online communication service that allows the users to engage with the brand/company directly. It is a highly useful service for users to get the queries cleared on the app itself.

From the app owners' point of view, the in-app live chat feature allows them to answer questions in real-time, and due to this quick response rate, the users get instant gratification for their queries as well.

In addition to that, it is observed that customers favor the modern communication approach in comparison to the standard communication channels like emails, on which the response rate is quite higher. 

Benefits of Integrating Live Chat Software in a Mobile App

A mobile app can do wonders for the business by improving customer experience. And by integrating an in-app chat feature, the app owner can ensure seamless support and in-app conversations for the users.

Merits of Integrating Chat App Feature in an App

• Offers in-app Customer Support
• Refines User Experience
• Improve Marketing
• Increase Conversion Rates
• Reduce Negative Reviews
• Introduces Dynamic Outreach

1. In-app Customer Support

An in-app mobile chat feature enables transactional support without your customers having to leave your app. Acquire provides you with chat-SDK to implement your own in-app chat.

On seeking assistance within an app, many business apps redirect users to an external link or a completely different platform. The redirection might be to a third-party chat app or some other support channel. 

Such diversion often disrupts the user’s experience by causing frustration, which may even lead to app uninstallation. Thankfully, an integrated chat feature can prolifically transform this scenario into a streamlined real-time communication experience.

The below image shows the varying customer service response time with respect to different channels. Here, the customer service response rate for live chat is just 2 minutes, whereas the customer service response time for email is 17 hours. 

With such a short response time, it makes more sense to include an in-app chat feature, which allows an uninterrupted chatting experience for the users without even leaving the app.

2. Refines User Experience

Every customer wishes to have a pleasant experience with the apps they interact with. They expect not only highly personalized experiences but also want additional support in case of any query.

To better the user experience, the app owners can use the live chat feature to gain in-depth information about user behavior and track the visitors’ browsing history to push personalized shopping suggestions.

Live chat also makes it possible to collect feedback from the customers without any survey, which can be further used to improve the app’s user experience.

3. Improved Marketing

The benefits of live chat are not limited to please customers through real-time support; the app owners can also use live chat popup integration to proactively share information with users to supplement the lead generation efforts.

With live chat activated on a mobile app, the app owners can connect with the users and ask them to give an idea about their preferences before sharing the information they seek.

It lets the app owners know about the preferences of their target audience and makes them aware of the market burgeoning requirements.

4. Increased Conversion Rates

This is possibly the biggest reason to implement that encourages businesses to include a chat feature to enhance the in-app customer experience.

When customers raise their concerns and get satisfactory answers in real-time without navigating away from your app, there is a higher possibility that they would make the purchase. 

Here comes the role of live chat service, which opens a gateway for the users to interact and thereby provide them with the best and healthy communication environment.

Integrating live chat feature eliminates distractions and enables quick decision-making capability in users that ultimately make it a proven medium to boost business conversion rates.

The above image shows the varying customer satisfaction ratings as per different communication channels. For customers, the highest rate of satisfaction is through live chat which is around 73 percent.

5. Reduce Negative Reviews

Lack of in-app support may lead the users to leave a negative review on different online platforms, restricting others from downloading the particular app. But if the app is packed with an in-app customer support option, resolving customer queries will be a task of seconds for you. 

This process drastically cuts down the overall response time and simultaneously increases the customer's trust and positive reviews on your app. App owners also consider positive reviews when it comes to attaining the desired business revenue. 

6. Introduces Dynamic Outreach

We are well aware of the fact that with the live chat feature, customers are able to reach a brand instantly. But many online businesses don't know how it can be used for proactive outreach purposes.

The advanced live chat software allows the representatives to not only accept chat requests from the visitors but also exchange messages with them. All of this is possible through tracking feature that alerts the representatives whenever a user visits a particular page. It is a proactive outreach method to convert visitors into potential customers.

Why Integrate Live In-app Chat in a Mobile App?

The way users communicate with brands has changed drastically over the years. From handwritten letters to instant texting– the transition clearly reflects the growing need for instant communication.

According to a survey by Hubspot, over 80% of buyers demand a quick response time of under 10 minutes from their vendors. It then makes it easy for the users to complete their intended task within the app.

Owing to a wide variety of benefits, modern businesses are gratifying the growing instant communication needs of customers with a live chat option. It renders real-time interaction with potential users. 

The live chat feature also enhances the customer engagement rate because it allows the app owners to answer the customers’ queries without pushing the user to switch to another platform or third-party messenger for support.

Another significant factor that makes an in-app chat feature handy is the availability of session transcripts. It provides the user with an option to revisit a chat session in case of any confusion regarding a conversation that took place earlier. 

The below image showcases the percentage of transcripts that are offered once the chat session is over. 

To provide a better 'post-service' experience to the user, brands can send session transcripts to the users. This is a great tactic to improve the company's 'post-service' customer experience.

Positive Impact of Live Chat on eCommerce Industry

The above-mentioned benefits are for global business ventures. But do you know? eCommerce sector garnered immense success by integrating chat app features in their shopping apps?

Earlier, the customer response time by an eCommerce portal was about a few minutes that sometimes turned into hours. After integrating the live chat feature, eCommerce portals experienced rapid success in their online shopping ventures.

See, what eCommerce shopping ventures have achieved:

• With in-app chat, the e-commerce industry has found better ways to respond to customers’ queries. As a result, the entire industry has the longest chat wait time of around 1 minute 13 seconds.
• As per a study by FurstPerson, approximately 77 percent of customers won’t spend in an app if there’s no option for live chat.
• The overall customer satisfaction rate estimated in the first quarter of 2015 increased by 95%, which is on the rise to date.
• Another study uncovered that live chat feature integration resulted in a 48 percent increase in the revenue per chat hour that ultimately provided a 40 percent increase in their conversions.
• Other staggering results include, the ratio of visitors that engage with eCommerce portals via live chat experience increased to around 4.5 times.

Brands That Soared High After Integrating Live Chat App Feature

If you’re into an eCommerce business and still wondering if integrating in-app chat features would benefit your business or not, take a look at a few prominent companies that have attained a high rise in their sales after making their apps compatible with chat feature:

1. Orbitz

Just after in-app chat integration in their app, the brand reported a 40% increase in the US user traffic (that was estimated 7% before live chat integration). This helps the brand achieve optimum customer satisfaction and consistent market success.

2. Sears

Sears is an American department store chain that has observed an increase of around 20% in its revenue using the predictive chat. And now, the company is experiencing an admirable customer satisfaction rate of 90%.

3. Dell

Dell is another best and well-known real-life example that has been gaining constant benefits through live chat integration. The company admitted that it had got one-third of their sales after adding a live chat feature in its app.

4. TotalGym

TotalGym, a fitness equipment store, is another impressive example that has gained enormous success by using in-app chat integration in their app. They claimed that after adopting this advanced live chat feature, they received around 40% more online orders.

A Quick Tip: Reasons to Avoid External Messaging Service in a Business App

However, instant messaging apps are likely to attract massive customers towards a brand or service. Still, there are downsides of entirely relying on third-party messaging apps as the ideal business communication channels.

Know why a business should limit the usage of external messaging apps:

• Third-party instant messaging apps offer limited monitoring and analytics systems, which don’t provide entrepreneurs a clear insight into the brand marketing performance. 
• When massive users communicate through external messengers, there are chances that they may skip the service and switch to another tab. 

Due to all these factors, incorporating a real-time chat feature would be beneficial as it not only offers innovative user-experience but ensures better user retention. 

All Set to Embrace Live In-App Feature?

So are you all set for embracing the live in-app feature? Let’s take a look at some of the key takeaways from the write-up:

• Live chat is an online communication service mainly used to engage with app visitors. 
• According to a survey, for customers, the highest rate of satisfaction is through live chat i.e., 73 percent.
• With the live chat feature, the app owners can instantly answer the users’ queries without having them to switch to another platform or even third-party messenger.
• Most business apps redirect customers to an external link, or a completely different platform when the user seeks to support.
• Live chat also makes it possible to collect feedback from the customers without any survey. 
• Businesses can use live chat popup integration in their apps to onboard new visitors and share data with users to supplement their lead generation efforts.
• Make sure that the live chat option or the chat widget is clearly visible on the app’s page so users can find it easily when required. 
• On average, a chat agent/representative is able to handle up to 6 different sessions at one time. 
• Dell and Sears are some of the companies that achieved a new height in their sales with live chat functionality.

Apart from real-time texting, businesses can even use app chatbot (a chatbot is a software that simulates a human-like conversation with the user) to readily access customer details and past conversations without floating through a sea of data. It comes with a well-organized dashboard that enhances service agents' efficiency and helps businesses hold a better control on their daily customer support activities.

Moreover, many mobile application development companies across the market offer such a suite that enables easy connections of the live chat with any existing CRM to execute a high degree of personalization in communication.

If there’s still something you want to share about building an app with a live chat feature, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you.