Live Chat - Addressing the $220 Billion Online Teenage Demographic
Monday 9 August 2010
The teenage online market is expected to hit $220 billion by 2011 this is despite a 3% fall in the overall teenage population, the teenage or teen demographic must now be acted upon by online retailers for future sales growth.
The teen demographic is now the largest of internet use and are therefore a key target for online retailers. It is anticipated that in the very near future this market will represent the largest share of online purchasing, by 2012 they will account for at least 11% of the total online expenditure within the US alone.
Establishing relationships with teens is crucial and the convenience of Live Chat has been widely accepted by teens as the main form of online interaction, as a result online retailers are implementing live chat as their primary means of communication with this demographic.
Live chat is ensuring that all consumers and key demographics are being engaged online and in addition is helping to improve customer loyalty and retention another key focus for any online retailer. Another contributing factor is the higher level of customer service that live chat provides which results in improved online sales.
The teen demographic major influence is technology, having been surrounded by technology and computers than any other demographic, as a result their own online internet presence is also the most dominating. Children as young as five are becoming computer literate and focus by retailers will also need to shift to accommodate future online sales.
Common activities online such as social networking, gaming, blogging, instant messaging, music downloads and online shopping has resulted in teens becoming experts in web culture and this is having a direct impact on influencing online trends.
Teens traditionally used the Internet as a tool for entertainment, communication and information, today purchasing is gathering significant pace teens are now more likely to buy items such as books, clothing or music online and with teen average annual incomes of between $2500 to $4500 per annum this will equate to an estimated $92 billion of potential additional revenue in 2011 for online retailers.
The teen demographic utilise the internet most frequently and this directly shapes their influences and perceptions. The internet has made things faster and more efficient this in turn has led to teens expecting an on demand service. Teens that experience website that are slow to load or information is difficult to find they will simply navigate to another site regardless of whether they are searching for information downloading music or purchasing goods.
Teens are highly susceptible to the bandwagon effect due to social influences, when it comes to technology teens can start or destroy a trend instantly. Teen's attitudes and opinions can change instantly as soon as a trend starts to lean teens quickly shift to a new trend. As a result retailers must ensure that they not only engage this demographic but they also retain their attention to ensure brand loyalty.
Live Chat is now being adopted by retailers as part of their online customer engagement strategy to help improve online sales and customer service to help engage their teenage customers. Live Chat is proving to be a perfect fit for teen's online requirements for instant service and communication and retaining their attention.
In addition to live chat Live chat also provides in built powerful analytics and reporting allowing businesses to understand their website visits journey, from how they arrived, through to page views and exit points. The ability to understand this visit data enables website owners to understand their visitors and engage with those that are more likely to convert.
For teens the use of chat is an everyday social process from MSN Messenger to Facebook, online businesses that haven't already adopted chat need to ensure it forms part of their future online strategy to ensure that they start to build relationships with the teen demographic to ensure future loyalty. To put the use of chat into perspective a staggering 78% of online teens, have used an online chat tool, with more than 1 in 3 chatting daily either chatting at home at school or via their mobile phones.
For any online business return on investment (ROI) forms a crucial part of any marketing strategy, live chat is a proven communication tool that not only helps to increase online sales but also improves customer support and retention and helps lower operational costs.
Live Chat is one of the only online tools available to date that caters specifically to the unique characteristics of the teen demographic, retailers should ensure that it forms part of their online strategy to enable them to deliver higher levels of customer service which will ultimately result in improved customer loyalty and online revenue generation.