There is no doubt that more customers and companies use live chats due to their speed and efficiency.
For example, live chats enable customer agents to resolve client issues faster, improving brand loyalty and customer satisfaction.
Here are some top live chat statistics, facts, and trends to help you understand why live chats are gaining momentum in modern business circles.
Top 4 Live Chat Statistics (Editor’s Pick)
- The average live chat customer satisfaction was 73% in 2022.
- In 2022, customer live chat satisfaction (CSAT) was highest in the Telecom sector at 62.8.
- In 2022, the Insurance sector had the longest live chat queue length (132.6).
- The average live chat wait time for the consumer services sector was 139.9 seconds in 2022.
Infographic
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/live-chat-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/top-4-live-chat-statistics.png" alt="Top 4 Live Chat Statistics" width="768" border="0" height="501.41458106638" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/top-4-live-chat-statistics-768x501.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/top-4-live-chat-statistics-300x196.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/top-4-live-chat-statistics-1024x668.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/top-4-live-chat-statistics-1536x1003.png 1536w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/top-4-live-chat-statistics.png 1838w" sizes="auto"></a>
General Live Chat Statistics
1. In 2022, monthly live chats per agent increased by 43%.
26+ agent teams experienced the highest growth (138%) compared to 6-10 agent teams (19%).
Here is a breakdown of live chat percentage growth by team size and monthly live chats between 2021 and 2022.
| Agent Team Size | Monthly Live Chats (2021) | Monthly Live Chats (2022) | Percentage Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-5 | 928 | 1062 | +14% |
| 6-10 | 637 | 757 | +19% |
| 11-25 | 837 | 1191 | +42% |
| 26+ | 455 | 1083 | +138% |
Facebook customer chat plugin was second with 18.08%, followed by Zendesk (8.46%) and Tidio (8.09%).
Live Chat Satisfaction Statistics
3. In 2022, Customer service managers reported that live chat clients were most satisfied (85.9%) when agents responded to their queries within 0-5 seconds.
That is compared to 80.7% (5-10 seconds), 76.7% (10-20 seconds), and 75.8% (20-30 seconds) response times, according to an analysis of 2 billion chats.
4. The average live chat customer satisfaction was 73% in 2022.
In contrast, live chat customer satisfaction was 78% and 80% in 2021 and 2020, respectively, according to a study of over 34,000 companies across 150 countries.
5. Live chat agents in 2022 reported that clients were most satisfied (86.4%) when they responded to their queries within the first 20-30 seconds.
This was followed by 30-60 seconds (84.4%), 5-10 seconds (83.7%), and 1-2 minutes (80.4%), according to data from 34,000 companies in 150 countries.
6. In 2022, the real estate sector produced the highest Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score (4.9) on a 1-5 scale.
That is compared to Insurance (4.6), Health, Pharma & Biotech (4.4), Wholesale Services (4.4), and B2C eCommerce sectors (4.4) in the same period.
7. The average positive live chat customer satisfaction (CSAT) score reached 4.2 in 2022 on a scale of 1-5.
The CSAT score for 1-5 and 6-10 agent teams remained unchanged at 4.1 and 4.2 between 2021 and 2022.
8. The positive CSAT rate in the real estate sector was 97.7% in 2022.
Insurance (92.9%) was second, followed by Business & Wholesale Services (87.9%), B2C eCommerce (87.1%), and Government sectors (86.1%).
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/live-chat-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/csat-rate-real-estate.png" alt="CSAT Rate in Real Estate" width="768" border="0" height="544.35912581217" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/csat-rate-real-estate-768x544.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/csat-rate-real-estate-300x213.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/csat-rate-real-estate-1024x726.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/csat-rate-real-estate-1536x1089.png 1536w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/csat-rate-real-estate.png 1693w" sizes="auto"></a>
9. In 2022, customer live chat satisfaction (CSAT) was highest in the Telecom sector at 62.8.
In the study across 16 industries, live chat CSAT was second highest in Technology (60.9%), followed by Insurance (49.1%) and Non-Profit sectors (33.9%).
10. More than 8 in 10 (84%) of live chat users were satisfied with the live chat services they received in 2021.
That is compared to 85.6% in 2020 and 84.3% in 2019.
11. The positive live chat customer satisfaction rate was 81.1% in 2022.
This figure was lower than the 84% recorded in 2021, 85.6% in 2020, and 84.3% in 2019.
12. Live chat customer satisfaction scores fell by an average of 2.9% from 2021 to 2022.
The overall customer live chat satisfaction score stood at 84% in 2021, which dropped to 81.1% in 2022. The most affected agent size was 11-25, which fell by 4.8%, followed by 26+ agents (3.7%).
Live Chat Device Statistics
13. In 2022, 92% of live chats happened on mobile devices, according to customer service managers.
In contrast, only 8% of live chats occurred on desktops.
14. In 2022, 90.3% of live chats in the Media, Entertainment & Recreation industry were mobile-based.
Travel & Hospitality (59.6%) was next, followed by Non-Profit (59.3%), Health, Pharma & Biotech sectors (50.2%), and Telecommunications (50.1%).
15. 67% of live chats in 2022 happened on mobile devices.
That is compared to 57% in 2021, 54% in 2020, and 55% in 2019.
16. In 2022, mobile live chats reached 70% compared to 67% in 2021 for 1-5 member agent teams.
Mobile live chats increased by 5% (60% to 65%) for 6-10 agent teams, 17% (57% to 74%) for 11-25 agent teams, and 17% (42% to 59%) for 26+ agent teams between 2021 and 2022.
Live Chat Adoption Statistics
17. Live website chat usage for customer service reached 44% in 2021.
That is compared to approximately 29% in 2020, according to a survey of 1400 respondents in the UK, US, Australia, and Canada.
Live Chat Industry Statistics
18. In 2022, the Insurance sector had the longest live chat queue length (132.6).
In comparison, Media, Entertainment & Recreation scored had 109.7, followed by Government (91.3), Consumer Services (72), and Transportation sectors (60.8).
Live Chat Duration Statistics
19. The average live chat customer wait times decreased by 17% to 30 seconds in 2022.
For 1-5 customer agent teams, customer wait times fell by 30% (37-26 seconds) and 27% for 11-25 agent teams (22 to 16 seconds) between 2021 and 2022.
20. The average live chat duration increased by 7%, reaching 11 minutes and 53 seconds in 2022.
Live chat duration for 1-5 agent teams increased from 10 minutes and 6 seconds in 2021 to 12 minutes and 46 seconds in 2022, representing a 26% increase.
The table below summarizes the average live chat durations across agent teams between 2021 and 2022.
| Live Chat Agent Team Size | 2021 | 2022 | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-5 agents | 10m 06s | 12m 46s | +26% |
| 6-10 agents | 12m 07s | 12m 32s | +3% |
| 11-25 agents | 9m 42s | 10m 16s | +6% |
| 26+ agents | 12m 20s | 11m 57s | -3% |
21. The average live chat wait time for the consumer services sector was 139.9 seconds in 2022.
That is compared to 139.3 seconds for Transportation, 105.5 seconds for Business & Wholesale Services, and 81.4 seconds for B2C eCommerce sectors in 2022, according to a study across 16 industries.
22. In 2022, the average live chat agents' response times increased to 57 seconds, representing a 4% increase from 2021.
Live chat agent response times increased by 5% (56-59 seconds) for 1-5 agents and 6% (52-55 seconds) for 6-10 agent teams between 2021 and 2022.
23. The Business & Wholesale services sector experienced the longest live chat duration (26:01) in 2022.
Travel & Hospitality (24:34) came in second, followed by Consumer Services (22:25), Technology (19:45), and B2C eCommerce (19:43) in the reporting period.
24. In 2021, the average wait time for live chat customers was 36 seconds.
In comparison, live chat customers’ wait times reached 35 seconds in 2020 and 50 seconds in 2019.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/live-chat-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/live-chat-customers-wait-time.png" alt="Average Wait Time for Live Chat Customers" width="768" border="0" height="544.35912581217" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/live-chat-customers-wait-time-768x544.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/live-chat-customers-wait-time-300x213.png 300w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/live-chat-customers-wait-time-1024x726.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/live-chat-customers-wait-time-1536x1089.png 1536w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/live-chat-customers-wait-time.png 1693w" sizes="auto"></a>
25. The longest live chat wait time in 2021 was in the technology sector at 82.2 seconds.
Telecom (75.8 seconds) was next, followed by Education (49.7 seconds), Government (48.7 seconds), and Transportation sectors (47.8 seconds).
26. In 2022, customer care agents, on average, took 40 seconds to respond to a customer’s first live chat message.
According to research findings, this was a 5-second drop from the 45 seconds it took agents in 2021 across 30 industries and 150 countries.
27. The average live chat duration in 2021 was 10 minutes and 39 seconds.
This figure dropped to 10 minutes and 27 seconds in 2022, according to live chat data from 34,000 companies.
Conclusion
Live chats are often faster and more personal than other customer services channels like emails, phone calls, or SMS, explaining why more clients use them.
That said, there is a lot more that companies and their customer service teams can do to improve the efficiency and success of their business live chats.
Please read our detailed Facebook Messenger article to get more insights into how live chats work and the value they deliver to customers and brands alike.
- Live Chat Benchmark Report 2023 | Comm100 Report
- Live chat customer wait time worldwide by industry | Statista
- Live chat: customer wait time worldwide 2021 | Statista
- Live chat customer satisfaction worldwide 2021 | Statista
- Global live chats software market share 2022 | Statista
- The State of Customer Service in 2022 [HubSpot Data] (bing.com)
- Interactive 2023 Customer Service Report by LiveChat
