Customers want mobile live chat.
A new study commissioned by Moxie Software reveals that 62% of survey participants expect live chat to be available on mobile devices, and 82% would use it.
What’s more, 75% of survey respondents stated that they would prefer to use live online chat versus calling to speak with an agent. The study surveyed more than 2,100 U.S. residents about their online and mobile shopping habits, and identified the rising trend of live online chat for sales and support assistance.
According to the study, consumers’ growing preference for online chat provides companies an opportunity to enhance the customer journey and increase customer satisfaction, specifically on mobile devices. More than 70% of respondents indicated they were satisfied or very satisfied with their customer support experience when shopping online, but the level of satisfaction increases to 92% when live chat is used on a mobile device.
“Today, people have their mobile phones with them at all times and they are primarily using them to research information, message family and friends, and 
engage with apps,” Nikhil Govindaraj, VP of products, Moxie said in a release.
Mobile Chat supports mobile best practices across all desktops, tablets and smartphones. The key benefits of the new release, include:
Browse and Chat Simultaneously: Mobile customers can chat without interrupting the browsing experience, which makes it easier to navigate a website while chatting;
Message Waiting Alert: When browsing a website during a chat session, the customer is alerted to agent responses via a visual alert, enabling better conversations;
Consistent Connection: Customers are reconnected to their chat session if they need to answer a phone call or whenever cellular service is interrupted – for example, when a customer gets into an elevator;
Geo Location Capabilities: With GPS-enabled devices, customers can share their exact locations while chatting to receive specific guidance; and
File Sharing: Consumers can share photos, videos or documents during a chat session for better communication.
Mobile Optimized Features for the Enterprise
Personalized Engagement: Agents have access to key information, including device information and webpages being viewed by consumers so they can deliver personalized experiences during chat sessions;
Consistent Chat Offers: A tab-based chat offer allows a consistent place to find chat on websites.
Productivity Tools: Agents have access to a list of mobile-optimized, pre-prepared responses that facilitate interactions with consumers;
Branded Experience: Enterprises can easily align the chat interface with branding guidelines–including colors, fonts, etc.; and
Mobile SDK: Enterprises benefit from a mobile SDK for live chat, which integrates a native chat client into their iOS apps (android coming soon).
Men Shop Often on Mobile Devices: Twice as many men than women surveyed make daily purchases online and are making more weekly purchases as well;
Millennial Men Are Active Online Shoppers: Millennial men are becoming the new power shoppers, and those living in the Pacific region (California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii and Alaska) are among the most active online shoppers in the nation.
Consumers who plan to make purchases on mobile devices this holiday season expect top-notch service and support, the study says. In fact, 60% of consumers will abandon their online shopping carts and never make purchases from an online retailer again if they experience poor customer service.