When you create a website for your jewellery store, you understandably want customers to be able to reach you if they have a question – and for that reason, most jewellery store websites will include a telephone number, an address, and an email form.
However, there is another form of contact which is more likely to increase sales and customer engagement – and it doesn’t involve the customer picking up the phone or waiting for an email response.
Adding a live chat function makes a jewellery store’s website an extension of the sales team as it provides the customer with the immediate response they may be looking for when browsing.
As a result, it helps to attract and retain more customers, and increases sales.
Making contact
Many think of live chat as the equivalent to a salesperson asking a customer, “Is there anything I can do to help?”, and that customers will reflexively answer, “No, just looking, thanks.”
However, live chat typically goes much deeper than that – especially when customers are shopping for fine jewellery.
Imagine someone is browsing your website for an engravable necklace for a Christmas gift. They’ve found something they like and are spending a great deal of time on the product page, but are not sure of the chain length, how long it will take to complete the engraving, and the font options.
In a bricks-and-mortar store, the customer would ask a salesperson and have those questions answered right away. Similarly, online, it is crucial to answer the customer’s questions while their attention is focused on the product page.
This is where live chat succeeds. Staff can answer questions immediately as well as create a dialogue with the client, just as they would if they walked into the store.
However, there is a key difference; during the live chat session, the salesperson can gauge the customer’s interest level, their prospective purchase timeline, and test the waters before jumping in with recommendations.
For the customer, facing a barrage of questions and recommendations in person can be off-putting and feel like a ‘hard sell’ – but in the online environment, this personalised attention is very appealing.
The power of history
One of the things retailers should be aware of is customers’ ‘pain points’ – real or perceived problems and frustrations customers encounter on their path to purchase.
Often, business owners guess at what these might be, but live chat can tell you concretely. Through the use of an organised chat history, jewellery store website owners can filter and identify the most common or significant problems that customers may have.
This, in turn, can help you to improve your service and thereby increase sales. For instance, if you constantly have website visitors chatting about your returns policy or customised jewellery options, and you do not have that information clearly displayed online, you have a clear signal to update your website.
Engaging the customer
Another benefit of live chat is that it provides you with the perfect opportunity to direct the potential customer toward other pages on your site. For example, you could suggest a shopper searching for engagement rings consult your sizing guide.
A shopper searching for gifts under $500 for their mother could be directed to your Holiday Gift Guide, which helps to create the personal experience that every jewellery store strives to provide.
While these suggestions may seem insignificant, they can have a great long- term impact on the customer’s experience, which in turn encourages word-of-mouth recommendations and better reviews on social media, as well as customer loyalty.
Standing out from the competition
Despite live chat’s increasing popularity – and the ease with which this function can be added to a website – it remains uncommon for jewellery store websites.
Yet if there is anything that 2020 taught business owners, it is that communicating with customers is essential for maintaining sales – particularly when in-person shopping restrictions are in place.
Live chat means potential customers can reach out to sales staff at any time and the business can still function – whether the physical doors are open or not.
Reflecting the personal
Jewellery often represents milestone celebrations, marks the beginning of a couple’s life together, and becomes beloved heirlooms. Because the process of buying it is meaningful, jewellery stores and staff become part of the story and build close relationships with customers.
Live chat helps to foster those relationships and personalises your website by providing customers with instant access to your staff’s expertise, making your website the best possible online representation of your store.
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