Live Chat and Order Updates a Major Focus for Retailers

live-chatWhen it comes to revamping their ecommerce sites in 2013, retailers are focusing on keeping the consumer in the loop from the moment an order is placed right until the packaged is delivered to the doorstep, according to findings from Multichannel Merchant’s MCM Outlook 2013 report on ecommerce.

While the top focus was to add video (with 40%) to their site, when asked what functions they plan to add  to their site in the next 12 months, 20% of retailers said live chat or click-to-call, 17.9% said order status, 17% said order tracking capabilities were top priorities.

These results are showing a new trend in the ecommerce world that more retailers are looking to create a seamless, crosschannel experience for the customer, making the website a one stop shop environment. The ecommerce site is now no longer a place to browse images and then, hopefully, order but instead an interactive virtual storefront.

Besides making the website easy to use and functional on all levels, retailers are also looking to make sure their ecommerce site is a safe one in the eyes of the consumer. According to the results, when asked if their site includes a trustmark of approval from a third-party company, 60.4% said yes, 29.2% said no, and nearly 11% are considering it.

Of those trustmarks used nearly half of the respondents said they used SSL Security, 43.5% said VeriSign, nearly 25% said McAffee, 19.9% said Better Business Bureau, 10.1% said Trust-e, and 6.5% said Hacker-free.

The MCM Outlook 2013 report on ecommerce is based on the online MCM Outlook 2013 survey, which was fielded by Multichannel Merchant from Mar. 5 through Mar. 18, 2013, and drew 1,110 respondents. Of those respondents, 556 described their primary responsibilities at their company as ecommerce marketers.

Click here to download the complimentary MCM Outlook 2013 report on ecommerce.

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