Report

Live Chat Benchmark Report 2017

Introduction

Chapter 1
Key Metrics

Chapter 2
Key Findings

Chapter 3
Demand for Live Chat Grows

Chapter 4
Chat Volume Fluctuates by Seasons

Chapter 5
Live Chat across Countries

Chapter 6
Live Chat across Industries

Chapter 7
What to Do in 2017

Conclusion
Data and Methodology

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Chapter 6

Live Chat across Industries

We conducted a comparison of main live chat metrics between 2015 and 2016 among different industries.

Industry	Satisfation Rate	Wait Time	Chats per Month	Chats per Agent per Month	Chat Duration
Business Service	75.29% – 9.28%	104.08 + 48.69%	694 – 2.94%	165 + 72.89%	21min 55s + 16.79%
Consumer Service	84.63% + 4.38%	23.38 – 22.07%	238 – 24.92%	157 – 10.29%	13min 8s – 9.32%
Ecommerce	87.55% + 0.05%	63.68 – 13.59%	2,264 + 336.22%	283 + 45.13%	16min 6s – 3.4%
Education	84.74% – 3.6%	45.82 + 38.85%	2,529 + 624.64%	193 + 16.27%	14min 22s – 5.69%
Finance	88.57% – 0.08%	42.68 + 58.07	1,874 – 35%	546 – 34.84%	14min 55s – 2.08%
Government & Organizations	91.59% + 2.94	54.78 + 128.25%	424 + 68.25%	259 + 90.44%	17min 51s + 2.98%
Healthcare	93.38% + 8.08%	45.52 + 62.57%	244 + 7.06%	89 + 93.48%	13min 13s + 0.5%
Manufacture	88.63% + 2.57%	39.20 – 23.14%	314 + 8.65%	106 – 10.92%	14min 52s – 16.79%
Recreation	82.09% + 1.54%	23.74 – 23.42%	6,194 + 24.78%	640 + 23.79%	9min 25s – 5.2%
Technology	82.62% – 4.65%	56.60 – 4.07%	548 + 61.18%	256 + 158.59%	18min 33s – 11.39%
Telecom	85.32% – 0.28%	51.72 + 14.93%	693 + 66.59%	327 + 9%	14min 48s – 3.06%
Travel	77.33% – 1.81%	43.65 – 17.64%	375 + 44.79%	146 + 33.94%	16min 27s – 5.1%

The education industry saw the biggest increase in chat volume

The average monthly chat volume of the education industry increased by 624.64% in 2016, which is quite significant. Consequently, each agent has to handle 16.27% more chats per month than in 2015. Perhaps that’s why visitor wait time increased by 38.85% and customer satisfaction lowered by 3.6%.

The healthcare businesses have gained the most in customer satisfaction

The healthcare industry got the best result in 2016: This industry reached the highest level of average customer satisfaction rate of 93.38% by gaining a positive 8.08%. The increase in wait time seems to have no negative impacts on visitors who are seeking help in the healthcare area. It could have something to do with the fact that healthcare companies have the second lowest number of chats per month and the lowest number of chats per agent per month.

9.28% less customers in the business service sector are satisfied

The business service sector saw the biggest drop of 9.28% in customer satisfaction in 2016, reaching the lowest level among all industries at 75.29%. Possible reasons could be the increase in wait time as well as the increased chat volume.

For companies wanting to satisfy their customers, here’s a few simple ideas: focus on the customer, be understanding, be helpful, solve their problems as quickly as possible and first time and, even better, solve their problems proactively or before they show up.