Global Reviews – The importance of WebChat in Sports Betting

Since 2014, Global Reviews has been measuring the number of sites using webchat as well as the desire from consumers to use webchat when seeking help and support whilst researching a purchasing a product or service online.

Of the 182 brands benchmarked across Australia, Ireland and the UK, only 67 currently have webchat compared to the 115 who do not have it at this stage

Help & Support Online

At the conclusion of each of our Digital Sales Effectiveness studies we ask consumers what they would most likely do next if they encountered a problem whilst using a particular website. Whilst using FAQ/Help is still generally a preferred channel, over the past three years we have seen an uplift in the preference of using a webchat feature.

When we break this down by industry we can see that some industries require a stronger sense of urgency in implementing webchat than others with the lift in preference for webchat as a preferred method of support stronger within the banking and higher learning sectors.

Help & Support Online – Sports Betting

Brands within the sports betting industry are far more likely to offer webchat functionality than any other industry measured. Only two of the eight brands assessed did not have webchat.

Even through FAQ or Help is still the most preferred method of help and support, webchat is still seeing a gradual increase in preferences year on year. Sports betting brands are leveraging webchat as a help channel to provide ‘detailed and complete information’ & ‘information that is easy to understand’.

William Hill

William Hill provides an ‘always on’ help through their webchat service as well as providing a consistent experience across their desktop and mobile sites.

Crownbet

Crownbet promote person-to-person help channels across devices.

SportsBet

Sportsbet group webchat within their ‘contact us’ site content.

Things to Consider 

• There are two key ways to present a webchat service to a prospective customer:
  1. Prompt engagement through an automated screen overlay after they enter the site
  2. Guide engagement through clear launch button location and needs based messaging
  3. Use need based icons and headers to define the tool amongst other contact or help channels
• Provide functions for the user to save/share conversations in the tool
• Be consistent with how you present the service if running it across multiple devices
• Be mindful of using the same tech as a competitor (standardisation)
  1. Understand what you can and can’t customise (branding, functionality)
• Look to trial the service within a test group before launching to the wider public

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Content submitted by Global Reviews