Consumers consider a multitude of factors while shopping for shoes: Overall style, color and fit, among others. While some consumers prefer to browse and buy in stores, online shoppers seek the same level of service and education while searching online.
Footwear retailer Nine West has seen a substantial increase in conversions, as well as an improvement in customer satisfaction since implementing the LiveEngage solution from LivePerson. Click-to-Chat buttons are located on the footer the e-Commerce site, on product pages and in the shopping cart are of the site. Proactive live chat invitations also are delivered to high-impact customers who are ready to buy.
Average order values among live chat users are 10% higher than those who did not use live chat, according to results from Nine West. In addition, live chat users have an overall 15% higher conversion rate than others.
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With LiveEngage, customers can interact with brand representatives during the browsing journey. As a result, Nine West has seen a decrease in the number of calls and emails being submitted to the customer service team.
“Our overall goal was to increase sales and reduce overall call volume for sales-related activity,” said Milton Pappas, President of E-Commerce at Nine West Holdings, in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “Customers just want to transact and be done. By using the LiveEngage tool we can provide a better overall experience.”
Because LivePerson is a Demandware LINK Partner, Nine West was able to easily integrate the chat solution into its existing e-Commerce environment. The retailer initially signed with LivePerson in August 2013 and was able to deploy the solution by the end of September 2013 — just in time for the holiday season.
“We decided to move forward with LivePerson because we knew it would be a simple implementation and quick training on the agent side,” Pappas said. “We found LiveEngage extremely simple to use but robust enough to meet our needs.”
LiveEngage also has provided Nine West with another touch point to engage with customers and add more value to the overall shopping process. All live chat agents are trained on the Nine West brand, so all messaging is consistent and product information is accurate.
Agents “should know the product line inside and out and should know how to find the answers customers need quickly,” Pappas said. “We are constantly monitoring and providing feedback and tools that can help more them to the next level.”
Building on the success of the LiveEngage implementation, Nine West has extended live chat to sister brands Easy Spirit and Jones New York.
Live chat is fast, easy and gives customers the option to engage anytime throughout the day. As a result, site visitors can participate in timely sales and promotions, which are typically available for a short period of time, according to Pappas. “Many of our promotions are for short time frames, so customers usually need an answer fast.”
To further improve the online shopping experience, Nine West plans to integrate PCI-compliant forms to enable seamless order capture within chat windows, Pappas reported. In the near future, Nine West also aims to introduce mobile chat, which will “provide real-time answers to customers on the go, while also driving down call volume.”
