Story Highlights:
- The demand for live-chat software is poised to skyrocket, driven by millennials’ online habits.
- Last year, 437 million chat sessions were recorded — a 31% increase over the 334 million chats in 2017. And by 2023, the market is projected to grow by 1,334% over what it was three years ago.
- One investment tool that taps this exploding market is up nearly 46% this year alone.
I just used Wayfair for the first time. I couldn’t resist buying a beanbag chair that’s bigger than a twin mattress.
And while the online home goods retailer has some pretty awesome stuff like that on its website, there was one bad thing about the experience that stuck out to me.
The company doesn’t have a live-chat option for customer service.
That’s surprising to me, because Wayfair comes off as a company that wants to appeal to a young audience.
Company management even stated in their last conference call that most of their customers are 24 to 34 years old — the millennial generation. So, if you’re listening, Wayfair, add a live-chat feature to your website!
I’m not the only one who feels this way. In fact, there’s plenty of evidence that this is entirely generational.
Millennials absolutely love live chat, especially when it comes to customer service. But what else would you expect from the generation that grew up with AOL Instant Messenger and the ability to text?
Unfortunately, there aren’t many surveys out there that focus on something this specific. But the best one I was able to find showed that 63% of millennials prefer live chat to phone or email when it comes to customer service.
And that was all the way back in 2015! Four years later, considering how technology continues to grow, I’d bet that number is a lot higher.
The reason I mention all of this is because the millennial way of spending money offers a great way to know where to put YOUR money. Investing in millennial trends is one of the key drivers of our Bold Profits franchise.
Live chat is just taking off. And the software that makes it possible is a great opportunity for us to profit from this trend. I’m not surprised that this industry is about to explode…
Bank on Great Customer Service for Massive Gains
Millennials like me love live chat for a bunch of reasons.
There are no prerecorded menus to listen to, no waiting on hold indefinitely, and most importantly, you can still pay attention to the outside world while you’re live chatting.
You see, millennials are the consummate multitaskers. The ability to multitask alone is enough for me to always choose a chat. To put it simply, if you don’t respond in chat for 30 seconds, that’s OK — but 30 seconds of silence on the phone will end the call. And then the process repeats.
In fact, the response times for phone calls (once you get through all those phone menus), runs about two and a half minutes.
Email responses are even longer, at a 17-hour average wait.
It’s no wonder we prefer chat!
Live chat not only has the top spot for customer satisfaction at 73%, but it’s also shown to generate higher sales. And of all the choices we have today, I’d argue that live chat is the next best thing to talking to a person in a store.
Not having this option has actually been shown to hurt businesses. According to a survey done by Forrester, 45% of online shoppers will leave a website if it doesn’t have an easy way to talk to a customer service representative.
Another survey showed that 89% of consumers will stop doing business with a company after a bad experience with customer service. That, of course, is no way to generate sales. So, live chat is the leader when it comes to making customers happy.
Claim Your Cut of the Live-Chat Market Before It Explodes
Because of the millennial generation’s increasing impact on the economy, demand for companies to invest in live-chat software is set to grow for years to come.
Last year alone, 437 million chat sessions were logged all over the world. That’s a 31% increase over the 334 million chats recorded in 2017.
However, we have yet to see the full potential of this industry.
Back in 2016, this industry was only valued at about $479 million. But in 2023, it’s expected to explode — reaching $6.87 billion, according to a new market study from Wise Guy Reports. That’s a growth of 1,334% in just seven years.
Although the companies that specialize in this area are few and far between, we believe investing in an exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a great way to benefit from this growth. The Invesco DWA Technology Momentum ETF (Nasdaq: PTF) is a great option. So far this year, the fund is up nearly 46%.
It’s not dedicated to live chat specifically, but some of its biggest holdings create the software that makes live chat possible.
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