Offering customers a superior shopping experience is often the core aim of every eCommerce business. And if you can adopt a tool or method to up-sell and create new market opportunities whilst providing a stellar customer experience is nothing short of a miracle. WebRTC or Web Real-Time Communications is a transformative piece of technology that allows real-time communications over the web and empowers eCommerce businesses to boost online conversions. It allows for video, audio, and other data to be transferred directly between browsers, without the need for plugins or separate applications.
Ben M Roberts, Head of Marketing for Talkative, a SaaS Startup that specializes in using web calling to convert site visitors into customers, spills the beans on how eCommerce startups can benefit from using WebRTC. Read on!
If an eCommerce business relies on inbound calls to generate revenues, what steps should they take to ensure people hit the call button?
eCommerce businesses can take a number of steps to make sure that customers hit the call button. Firstly, the call-to-action (CTA) needs to be prominent and enticing. It needs to be bold and obvious. CTAs should also be written in the first person, like ‘I am interested’ or ‘I want to participate’.
Secondly, you need to reinforce the ease, speed, and accuracy gained from calling. This is the benefit you are offering to your website users. In all your CTAs you need to be really clear of what the benefit is to the end user.
Can you tell us more about WebRTC and how it can help eCommerce startups to provide real-time customer support over the web?
For eCommerce startups, WebRTC means that customers can call you directly through your website without them having to do anything apart from clicking a ‘call button’ (and allowing the browser to use their mic). Also, because WebRTC allows for more data to be passed to agents, your phone agents will be able to see how the user has interacted with the website prior to calling you. For your business, this level of information will allow you to offer a far more personalized customer service experience.
How can WebRTC benefit eCommerce brands and their customers?
More information can be passed along with a call using WebRTC than a standard phone line. This means as a business you can have access to information such as where the user is located, how they’ve interacted with your website and which page they’ve called from. This information will allow your agents to best understand the situation and offer a more effective resolution to a customer’s issues.
Another benefit for you and your business would be that you don’t have to force anyone to leave your website or use a different channel in order to communicate with you. This means that all interactions can now take place within the browser itself and you do not have to force customers to leave your website in order to communicate with you.
For customers, the use of WebRTC means that if they are interacting with an agent in real-time through a web chat, they can now escalate the call to a voice call with the exact same agent. This way a customer does not have to keep re-explaining their story and get frustrated in the process. All these little roadblocks have a really negative effect on the customer experience. If you can minimize these frustrations, you will find that customer satisfaction increases.
Another benefit for customers is that they will not get charged international call rates for calling a business based in another country. By removing this barrier, you make the customer experience much better for international purchasers.
Can you share examples of brands that are using WebRTC and how their business is benefiting from it?
‘Yellow Zebra Safaris’ are one of several travel agencies using WebRTC to drive inbound leads from their website. ‘Style Our Home’ is an eCommerce company that uses WebRTC calling to offer convenient assistance for online customers shopping for furniture.
Does WebRTC represent a specific implementation strategy in the enterprise? (e.g. call centers)
WebRTC has many different possible applications. However, the two most common in the enterprise are Unified Communications (e.g. video conferencing and internal communication tools) and Contact Centre (voice and video web calling).
Can the implementation of WebRTC create new market opportunities for eCommerce startups?
Yes, because WebRTC is real-time and personal, businesses are able to use this as a new sales opportunity as well as for a customer service and customer experience. This is because agents can help users navigate the website, find the right products for their needs and even find new upselling and cross-selling opportunities.
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