ATG Survey Reveals Two-Thirds Of Online Consumers Want Live Voice Help And
Live Text Chat
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – October 7, 2009 – ATG (Art Technology Group, Inc.,
NASDAQ: ARTG), the premier provider of commerce solutions, today announced
the results of a consumer survey that explores shoppers’ perceptions of –
and preferences for – live help options such as click to call and click to
chat when browsing and buying products or services online.
The most striking data from the survey found that 67 percent of consumers
value the option of having both a live text chat and a live voice
conversation to get the help they need when making online purchases. The
survey also found that live help availability on Web sites is not meeting
the demand that exists among consumers – only 21 percent and 37 percent of
respondents have tried click to call and click to chat respectively, despite
indicating a clear preference for live help versus other online service
options, such as email inquiries. As a result of these findings, ATG experts
suggest that online businesses have a significant opportunity to increase
sales and loyalty by offering customers proactive live help options – both
voice and text chat – to their online channels.
Several other key conclusions of the survey of over 1,000 Internet users
found:
* Online consumers rated the availability of live help as the third most
important of seven core Web site features
* 70 percent of consumers rated click to call – defined as a direct
connection with a live voice agent without having to go through an
Interactive Voice Response system (IVR) – as “extremely useful” or “very
useful”
* Certain factors such as higher-priced products or services, complexity
of questions, errors in the transaction process, and sensitivity of
information were identified as main determinants for consumers choosing live
call over live chat
The full results and analysis of this survey can be found in ATG’s newly
released research report, “Consumer Views of Live Online Help: Voice and
Text Chat.”
“ATG is dedicated to identifying key trends in commerce and consumer
behaviors. We’re using that knowledge to deliver the solutions that will
best help online businesses exceed their customers’ needs and expectations,”
said Ryan Hoppe, marketing director for ATG Optimization Services. “The
results of this survey show that consumers not only prefer e-commerce sites
that offer easy, instant voice and chat connections to customer care
representatives; but most importantly, they reward those sites with their
business. It’s now more important than ever that online businesses make it
easy for online shoppers to receive real-time assistance – via both click to
call and click to chat. This study shows that a toll-free number is simply
not good enough to meet consumers’ rising expectations for immediate online
customer service.”
This independent survey asked respondents about their browsing, researching,
and buying behaviors for online retail products and consumer goods,
financial services and banking, travel and hospitality, and online service
providers such as telecommunications and cable companies.
Specific questions focused on:
* Identifying the frequency of browsing / researching products or
services online
* Identifying frequency of purchasing products or completing
applications / forms for services online
* Reporting on the typical price range or value of orders or
transactions placed online
* Ranking specific Web site features that consumers deem most important
to their online shopping experience
* Characterizing factors that drive consumers to seek live assistance
when making a purchase online
* Identifying methods of customer service used and determining which of
those methods are most useful when seeking assistance from a Web site
* Presenting respondents with scenarios and asking whether they would
choose live call or live chat for assistance, and why
* Rating the usefulness of live call and live chat separately
* Rating the usefulness of live call and live chat together
ATG’s eStara Click to Call and Click to Chat services are interactive voice
and text chat offerings that let people communicate directly with sales or
customer service agents while researching, buying or getting service for
products and services online. They are part of ATG’s line of Optimization
Services, on-demand (SaaS) offerings which help businesses lift online
revenue quickly, easily and measurably by optimizing every online
interaction with prospective and existing customers. ATG Optimization
Services can be deployed easily and rapidly to any Web site or e-commerce
platform, even those not powered by the ATG Commerce platform.
About ATG
A trusted, global specialist in e-commerce, ATG (Art Technology Group, Inc.,
NASDAQ: ARTG) has spent the last decade focused on helping the world’s
premier brands maximize the success of their online businesses. The ATG
Commerce application suite is the top-rated platform by industry analysts
for powering highly personalized, efficient and effective e-commerce sites.
The company’s platform-neutral optimization services can be easily added to
any Web site to increase conversions and reduce abandonment. These services
include ATG Recommendations, eStara Click to Call, and eStara Click to Chat.
The company is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with additional
locations throughout North America and Europe. For more information, please
visit http://www.atg.com.
2009 Art Technology Group, Inc. ATG and Art Technology Group are registered
trademarks. All other product names, service marks, and trademarks mentioned
herein are trademarks of their respective owners.
This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the
safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties
that may cause ATG’s actual results, levels of activity, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of
activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Important risk factors affecting ATG’s business
generally may be found in its periodic reports and registration statements
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.
