Optimise Consumer Browsing During the Holidays
The UK already holds a strong position for e-commerce purchases within Europe, coming second only to Norway. However, globally the market potential for British e-commerce is expected to improve dramatically in the next 12 months. The Office for National Statistics data shows that online sales increased by 21.3% during 2016 and should reach 30% by 2017’s second half.[1]
The run up to Christmas sees an increase in expenditure; in total £25 billion was spent online between November 13th and Christmas Eve 2016[2]. Christmas is one of the rare times in the year that people come together, as they escape from life commitments such as work and education. With gatherings amongst friends and family, discussions soon turn to aspirations for the upcoming year including holidays. There is more time to research and plan together, easily browsing and sharing ideas.
Online Travel Demographics
Many travellers will book their arrangements online; some of the reasons are due to the ease of booking, more choice and feel they are getting a better deal. Studies from Statista have shown that more men than women in Great Britain have used online services related to travel arrangements in 2017[3], and have purchased travel arrangements online between 2011 and 2017[4].
The studies also show the 3 age demographics ranging between 25 and 54 years old dominate the online travel statistics. 48% of 25-34 year olds in Great Britain used online services related to travel arrangements in 2017, followed by 47% of both the 35-44 and 45-54 categories. Whereas 55% of 35 – 44 year olds in Great Britain, have purchased vacation accommodation online between 2011 and 2017, followed by 54% and 52% of 45-54 and 25-34 year olds respectively.
Increase Conversions Easily
More consumers are browsing during the holidays and with around 50% using online services and renting vacation accommodation, it is an ideal time to integrate live chat on your website. Representatives can instantly help travellers at any stage during their planning, whether they are researching ideas, making a booking, or have already purchased.
During busier peaks within the year live chat integration allows your representatives to handle multiple enquiries simultaneously. The text based communication tool can aid staff to optimise their time, as one visitor’s enquiry can be answered whilst others are responding to their chats.
Live chat has been proven to convert more sales and not just over the Christmas period. Holiday goers prefer to communicate via live chat rather than telephone and email, due to its instant nature. Having your representatives answer every question and reassure the visitor about their travel decisions, encourages them to go through with the purchase.
The Click4Assistance solution can help travellers get their answers at a convenient time and allows them the privacy of not being overheard; they may not want their children or other family members to overhear their conversations or see email correspondences, if a surprise is being planned.
Whilst the holidays may be more convenient for your visitors to browse, your staff may also be away on annual leave. When no operators are available to handle enquiries, the chat solution will default to its offline status, the button can be configured to show “Leave a Message” which will present a call back form. This allows your organisation to continue gathering lead details out of hours.
Aid Your Representatives
There is a range of functionality within the Click4Assistance solution that helps your representatives to answer visitor enquiries in a more timely and efficient manner.
Firstly, whilst in chat operators will be able to see what the visitor is typing before the message is sent. This allows them to understand the enquiry and start to compose how they are going to answer, however it is advisable not to start typing this out until the visitor has sent their message, as they are notified when the representative is typing and can deter them from continuing.
A library of agreed answers can be stored within the Click4Assistance solution. During a chat operators can access these Predefined Replies, where they can select an appropriate answer and edit it before sending to the visitor. This ensures the enquiry is being responded to in the most accurate manner. The most commonly used replies can also be accessed with the chat using keyboard shortcuts.
To help representatives make informed suggestions, the Co-browse feature displays replica pages of the URLs the visitor has viewed in that session and the current webpage. This aids the operators understanding of which holidays, destinations or packages the traveller has been browsing.
The Auto Navigation functionality allows the representative to push pages to the visitor’s browser. The specific page will open in a new tab and won’t interfere with the visitor browsing journey. This helps operators to make suggestions easily and discuss the options.
Live chat integration is very beneficial to travel agents to get a competitive edge online and whilst consumers have more leisure time to browse holiday options, your organisation can get ahead by implementing the instant communication channel.
Click4Assistance has been supplying live chat to the travel and tourism industry for over 10 years. For more information on how integrating live chat software can optimise on consumer browsing during the holidays, call 01268 524 628 or email theteam@click4assistance.co.uk.
Sources:
[1] Nasdaq, 2017, UK Online Shopping and E-Commerce Statistics for 2017
[2]Econsultancy, 2017, UK online retail sales hit £133bn in 2016, up 16% year-on-year: stats
[3] Statista, 2017, Travel arrangements: Online purchasing in Great Britain 2017, by demographic
[4] Statista, 2017, Purchasing travel arrangements online in Great Britain 2011-2017
