Glossary

Live Chat

A real-time text messaging channel embedded on a website or storefront that connects shoppers with support agents or AI instantly.

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What it means

Key insight

Live chat converts support interactions into sales opportunities — shoppers who get instant answers to pre-purchase questions are significantly more likely to complete their order.

Live chat places a chat widget directly on your storefront, product pages, or checkout flow so shoppers can ask questions without switching to email or picking up the phone. Unlike asynchronous email, live chat is synchronous — both parties are expected to respond within seconds or minutes. For ecommerce stores, this matters most during high-intent moments: a shopper hesitating on a size, unsure about a return policy, or wondering whether an item will arrive before a birthday. AI-powered live chat agents handle these questions 24/7 without human staffing, drawing answers from your product catalog, FAQ pages, and order management system. When the AI cannot resolve an issue — a disputed charge, a complex return — it escalates to a human agent with full conversation context already attached.

Why it matters

Cart abandonment rates average 70% or higher, and a significant share of abandons happen when shoppers have an unanswered question at checkout. Live chat placed at the right moment reduces abandonment and lifts revenue per session. It also deflects ticket volume that would otherwise pile up in your email queue.

How OpenAgent helps

AI agent on every page

OpenAgent's AI handles live chat questions across your entire storefront — product pages, cart, checkout, and order status — drawing answers from your product data and help content in real time.

Instant order lookup

Shoppers can ask 'where is my order?' directly in chat. OpenAgent fetches live shipment status from your OMS and replies in seconds, no human required.

Seamless human handoff

When a conversation needs a human agent, OpenAgent transfers it with full context — chat history, order details, and customer profile — so agents never ask shoppers to repeat themselves.

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Guides & benchmarks

See it in the product

Live Chat Automation

Frequently Asked Questions

Not exactly. Live chat is the channel — the real-time messaging interface. A chatbot is one type of agent that can staff it. Modern AI support tools like OpenAgent combine both: an AI agent handles most conversations automatically and escalates to a human when needed.

Both. On ecommerce sites, live chat placed on product and checkout pages directly influences purchase decisions. AI agents can answer sizing questions, confirm availability, surface discounts, and reduce the friction that causes cart abandonment.

With an AI agent, live chat can be staffed 24/7 automatically. The AI handles the majority of common questions at any hour. Human agents only need to cover escalations, which can be limited to business hours without degrading the overall customer experience.

See OpenAgent in action

Join the ecommerce teams resolving more tickets, answering 24/7, and turning support into a revenue channel with OpenAgent.