'Net Features : bold software

Live-chat Talk for the Holidays

Allison Howen — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 21:00:00 GMT

A new study analyzes the importance of implementing live chat into an online business model, especially during the holiday season.

The Bold Software study shows that large retailers, which are defined by having 10 or more concurrent live chat operators, surprisingly claim that this holiday season is less important than it was in 2010, and therefore are spending less time preparing for the season.

Although large companies claim not to be preparing as much for the 2011 holiday season, 80 percent still agree that live chat increases in importance during the holiday season. Furthermore, 76 percent of companies agree that the volume for live chat increases during the holiday season, and 79 percent agree that live chat sale conversions increase during the holidays as well.

The survey also found that 15 percent of e-commerce firms plan to use live chat for sales rather than support this holiday season, which is up from 10 percent in 2010. Seventy-three percent plan on using live chat for both sales and support, which is up from 69 percent in 2010, and 12 percent plan on using live chat for support only, which is down from last year’s 21 percent.

“Why, if live chat plays an increasingly important role over the shopping season for larger firms, don’t many respondents see the season as important, or actively prepare for it? We believe the answer is simply because these customers have come to realize that live chat interactions are always important, regardless of the time of year,” says Matt Tharp, director of client services for Bold Software. “Consumer findings from our third annual Live Chat Effectiveness report coupled with a recent survey of merchants conducted by the etailing group support the idea that larger companies offering live chat are taking the channel seriously at all times – the holiday season being no different.”

Additional key findings from the report found that the top two planned activities amongst survey takers for the holiday season are “discounts” and “specific product promotions,” with Internet-only specials coming in third amid top planned promotions.

The top five things that website owners are focusing on to prepare for the holidays include moderate design changes, landing pages, site navigation, optimization of live chat and site search.

For more 2011 holiday-related articles, check out:

Five Steps to a Successful Holiday Email Campaign

Report Gives Insight for the 2011 Holiday Season

5 Social Media Tips for the Holiday Season

BoldCCM and BoldChat Receive Upgrades

Linc Wonham — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 03:00:00 GMT

Bold Software has released some new features for its website communications software BoldCCM and BoldChat versions 7.0.

Heading up the list of new functionalities available in BoldCCM version 7.0 is an enhanced Agent Workspace that allows operators to manage multiple customer interactions in a prioritized, rapid manner – all from one screen. It also offers a new SMS capability, which enables companies to provide a text-based solution for customers and manage in-bound texts as they would other communications channels within the software.

These features complement the existing live chat, click-to-call, email management, active co-browsing and remote-control features already available in BoldCCM.

BoldChat version 7.0 also features new functionalities, including additional controls and flexibility around proactive invitations and Adaptive Messaging feedback to agents. BoldChat and BoldCCM versions 7.0 are both available immediately.

Live Chat Gaining Ground with UK Shoppers

Linc Wonham — Thu, 19 May 2011 01:00:00 GMT

Bold Software, a leading provider of world-class Web communication tools, has announced the third annual release of the industry’s most comprehensive research on the effectiveness of live chat technology. For the first time, a part of the research sought to better understand UK-based online shopper preferences and perspectives.

“We work with a significant number of e-tailers in the UK so it was important to take a closer look at the perceptions and effectiveness of live chat amongst the customers they themselves are likely to serve,” says Bold Software president and CEO Steve Castro-Miller. “We learned that while UK shoppers aren’t as likely to initiate a chat for sales interactions on their own, they had quite an interest in being proactively invited to chat. High traffic ecommerce sites in the UK might have hundreds or even thousands of visitors a day just waiting to be invited into a chat interaction, presenting a significant opportunity for online merchants to impact conversions.”

The research uncovered the following:

1.    77 percent of UK respondents chose email as their favorite way to communicate with a merchant.
2.    The circumstances under which UK shoppers are mostly likely to initiate a chat session are service- or support-related.
3.    However, depending on the type of product they’re shopping for, between 24 percent and 37 percent of UK respondents said that live chat has a positive influence on purchase likelihood.
4.    42 percent of UK shoppers are more likely to trust a website that offers live chat and prefer to shop at websites with live chat.
5.    Speed of response (83 percent )and quickness of the entire chat (75 percent) is very important to UK respondents.
6.    With regards to proactive chat receptivity, one in five UK shoppers gave the technology the highest rating possible.

Download the full report to learn more about the UK findings.

One in Five Shoppers Prefer Live Chat

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 12 May 2011 19:03:00 GMT

Bold Software released its annual research on the effectiveness of live chat technology today, collaborating with the e-tailing group on a blind survey of 1,000 regular Internet shoppers.

The 2011 findings include several interesting insights for internet retailers. One in five shoppers, for example, prefers live chat more than any other communication method. These live chat advocates are also a highly desirable population that typically have a higher household income than average, spend more online per year than other shoppers, and generally have a higher positive attidtude about the technology's presence on the website.

One of the more interesting insights from the research was that shoppers in the UK are as similar to their US counterparts as they are different when it comes to live chat. UK respondents agree with US shoppers on what makes a live chat session successful, but they are less enthusiastic with just half as many live chat users in the UK as the US does.

This poses an interesting opportunity for firms doing business in the UK (and internationally) and wanting to engage with on-site visitors in sales-related situations.

Recent Website Magazine coverage of Bold Software:

- Live Chat Advantage: Deeper Engagement, More Conversions
- Bold Software Unveils Latest Salesforce Integration
- Holiday Preparations for Web Professionals

Holiday Preparations for Web Professionals

Linc Wonham — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 14:45:00 GMT

Every business engages in some type of holiday preparation, regardless of the products they sell or the services they provide. Live chat technology firm Bold Software is no exception, and its annual Holiday Readiness Handbook provides some useful data to help Web professionals develop their strategies.

Bold Software surveyed more than 400 people in August, representing more than 300 of the companies that utilize its live chat services around the world. The participants identified the website changes they were making in preparation for the 2010 holidays, and the top 10 responses are listed below:

1. Moderate design changes
2. Site navigation
3. Landing pages
4. Optimization of live chat (tie)
4. Site search (tie)
6. Search engine optimization
7. Video content
8. Purchase process changes
9. Wholesale design changes
10. Mobile commerce optimization

When asked what offers businesses were rolling out in support of the 2010 holiday season, the top six responses were as follows:

1. General discount coupons/codes
2. Specific product promotions
3. Free or reduced shipping
4. Free giveaways
5. Lowest-price guarantees
6. Contests/sweepstakes

The top five methods for optimizing their live chat systems included the following:

1. Evaluate canned messaging
2. Implement proactive chat
3. Empower agents to offer incentives
4. Optimize proactive rules
5. Chat window customizations

Of the entire survey group, 46 percent said that their preparations had been made when asked in August, 28 percent said that they were under way, and 17 percent had not started on them yet. Finally, 61 percent of the respondents are anticipating improved sales this holiday season while 37 percent expect no change, and 2 percent are expecting lower sales during the 2010 holidays than they experienced in 2009.

Consolidated Communication Tools

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:15:00 GMT

Bold Software announced the availability of a product that might just revolutionize how website owners and large scale retailers communicate with customers and prospects. The BoldCCM (Customer Communication Management) suite combines live chat, click-to-call, e-mail management, active co-browsing and remote control into a single interface.

“The goal of BoldCCM – as with all of our offerings – is to help e-retailers leverage web communications tools to take control of online sales and support interactions,” commented Bold Software President and CEO Steve Castro-Miller. “BoldCCM products, tailored for larger scale deployments, are comprehensive solutions encompassing live chat, click to call, email management, active co-browsing, and remote control capabilities.”

New within the full platform is ActiveAssist, the co-browsing and full remote control capability that allows customer operators to control a shopper's mouse or computer to resolve sales and support questions. In addition, a Salesforce.com integration module aids in creating leads, contacts and cases inside a firm's Salesforce implementation.

"The new BoldCCM gives us all the features we need to truly enrich the online experience for our clients' customers," said Dadi Freund, Director of Customer Support for Exent, Inc. As the world's leading games-on-demand company, Exent works with national cable and media companies to help them service their customers. "Our clients' customers are looking to resolve their sales and support questions instantly, and the features included in BoldCCM will enable us to do that."

BoldCCM is available now for $99 or $199 a month depending on the package