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Survey: Most Web Sites Miss the Boat and Underuse Chat to Sell

CHICAGO, and AGOURA HILLS, Calif., April 9, 2008 PRNewswire — inQ, a pioneering chatCommerce company, introduced today the launching of Human Interaction (HI) Metrics(TM), and associated findings from a survey inQ commissioned with the e-tailing group that assessed how 31 retailers and telcos that offer chat on their respective websites use the technology to sell.

As a leader in the newly emerging field of incorporating human selling skills in a web sales environment, inQ (http://www.inq.com), has created the HI Metrics(TM) or Human Interaction Metrics(TM). Christophe Cremault, senior vice president of marketing at inQ, said: "We determined key dimensions of human interactions with online shoppers that are critical to inQ's customers' or live chat's success. We wanted to measure to what degree these dimensions have been adopted across the industry, and commissioned the e-tailing group to conduct a survey."

"One of the most surprising — and disappointing — findings when I conducted these chats was how seldom a chat culminated in the agent asking for the sale," said Lauren Freedman, president of e-tailing group. Freedman added, "When a consumer is engaged in a live chat, the merchant should be opportunistic and when appropriate ask for the sale. You wouldn't expect to visit a retail store and not have the associate encourage you to buy the merchandise you had just tested or tried on. Not doing so is missing an enormous opportunity and in today's retail climate getting the sale is imperative."

2008 HI Metrics Key Findings

Here are the HI dimensions measured for non-inQ sites and key findings from the e-tailing group:

— Chat is not located to sell. 88% have chat on customer service pages while only 42% offer it on product pages — Too-low usage of proactive chat. Only 15% leverage this technology — Offering alternative or better products occurs too infrequently. Average rating of rating 1.7 out of 5 — Insufficient encouragement to buy. The 2.7 out of 5 score means a substantial number of potential sales are ignored — Unacceptable response time. 39 seconds average is below par, especially when half the sites surveyed connect in 3 seconds or less — Near-perfect customer service. With 1 exception, everybody did a great or excellent job at answering the initial question — Technology works (mostly). With a couple of exceptions that required (unsuccessful) downloads, the technology does not seem to be any issue

Survey Methodology

inQ asked the e-tailing group, a research firm based in Chicago, to survey the industry and measure inQ's HI Metrics across the e-tailing group's Top 100 that did offer chat. Some 31 retailer and telco websites were surveyed. (Five of the 31 selected employ chat commerce service by inQ.) The survey measured a series of Human Interaction (HI) dimensions and compared them between inQ clients and non-inQ sites. inQ's goal was also to suggest preliminary benchmarks based on its own experience.

More information

For a complete copy of the HI Metrics report, or to learn how inQ's HI Metrics differ from the industry at large, please email Lisa deSouza at ldesouza@inq.com.

ABOUT E-TAILING GROUP

In 1994, Lauren Freedman leveraged her 15 year retail and catalog career and passion for merchandising to found the e-tailing group, inc. The firm's mission was, and continues to be, providing strategic and e-commerce solutions to online merchants as well as businesses targeting that market. The e-tailing group provides research and consulting to companies engaged in E-Commerce; Online merchandising; Multi-channel retailing; Category-specific selling strategies; and Industry benchmarks.

ABOUT INQ

With chatCommerce, inQ is the world leader in pay-for-performance, fully outsourced chat solutions. chatCommerce humanizes the online experience by engaging with targeted online shoppers and replicates a quality in-store experience. By utilizing state-of-the-art proprietary technology as well as trained and experienced online sales representatives, inQ offers solutions that are completely customized to meet its clients' specific needs. Fortune 500 clients have seen increases of overall online revenue by as much as 30% in 90 days. inQ works with companies in the telecom, cable, retail, travel, media, and financial services industries. More information can be found by visiting http://www.inq.com.

SOURCE inQ

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