What is Web service? Variety of tools and its advantages and disadvantages. 8 recommended tools to use!

The Web service is to show discount coupons to users who visited the site, or a tool to support customers through chat. Other than those actions, you can also acquire needed information for marketing. In this article, it would explain what is a Web service tool and its characteristics of a tool and used cases.

What is Web service?

What is Web service in the first place

Web service is [to approach to users online like approaching to users in person]. Web service is guiding and entertaining customers like you do in person, online.

Web service is by guiding and entertaining customers who have visited your site to each needs, it would increase customer's convenience, and at the end it aims to lead to conversion.

The background of situation where Web service tool is needed

Various customers are visiting your Web site. For example, a customer who have visited your home page for the first time, a customer who have purchased and came back, or a customer who is comparing with competitors, various customers in different purchase stage will visit your site.
When you are communicating with customers in the store, you could take the communication appropriately according to customers who are in the different stages of purchase, and you can hear what they want.

However, compared to the store, on EC site which is online, it is hard to communicate to users and guide through it individually. So it often happens that you could not appropriately guide customers to the right direction and they would not purchase your product.
In order to avoid that situation, Web service has been drawing attention. Right now, many companies have installed Web service tool.

The things you can accomplish with Web service tool

It is just an example, but by installing Web service tool, you can accomplish these things above. It would introduce [Understanding customer's data in detail] and [Service action based on data] which are the core characteristics of Web service tool.

Understanding customer's data in detail

The information of site visitors' is the nationality, gender, age and what page they looked at, or the rate of leaving the site and the leaving point. In Web service tool, you can check for access information, visiting pattern, user information (membership information and purchase history) of each customer.
By acquiring detailed customer data, the unclear user segment would become clear, and would be very useful for marketing. For example, you can recommend specific brand's product by using user's information and its purchase history, or notify customers with specific product's latest information.

Creation of service action based on data

You can create service action on each customer attributes based on detailed customer data.
The operation of service online can be difficult to contact with customers compared to the stores which has physical contact point with the users. Therefore, even you prepared campaign or discount coupon, the users would not notice or would not use those.
Depending on user's attribute, they would get notification of campaigns and coupons that they do not want, and they would feel the promotion is too much. So, based on the customer information, you can distribute coupons and display banners in an appropriate timing, so that you can effectively guide the customers to purchasing.

Merit of installing Web service tool

When installing Web service tool, it would have these merit below.

Increase of average price of users and consumption rate because of Web service

According to the [ec-CONCIER™] which Japan's leading big data holding company [NTT docomo] and developing algorithm solutions related to machine learning/deep learning [PKSHA Technology] co-developed, the EC site which installed Web service tool has been increased 26% of purchase rate. Also, according to EC concier, the average price of users has been increased by 50%.

Customers would not leave the site by guiding

For example, talking to customer from home page owner's end through tools, and the appropriate navigation to the shopping cart and purchase. By talking to customers, the rate of leaving the page would improve by 40%, and it is effective.

Decrease of support cost

One of the merits is the decrease of support cost by automating tools and half automation half manual customer support.
It can be responded automatically to fixed questions and urge customers to solve their problems themselves, which would increase customer satisfaction. It will explain in the section used cases, however there are some sites which increased sales times three compared to before installing the tool.

You can easily come up with marketing plan by acquiring customer information

Because you can acquire customer information, you can easily come up with market strategy. What age segment they are in, are they new or regular customers, or have they purchased or not, once it was unclear, with Web service, it would become clear.
The young age segment and adult age segment has completely different site usage. The adult age segment tend not to go to the purchase smoothly compared to the young age segment. In those cases, you can display guide line that can be useful to the adult age segment,

Demerit of installation of Web service too

When installing Web service tool, the demerit of it is the functional/machine actions, which means that it is not as much flexible as the manual operation customer service. It cannot make an action to users when they have questions , or answering what is not in the fixed questions and answers. Therefore, it is important and more effective when you do both Web service tool and manual operation.

Not enough with Web service tool! It is even more effective with manual support

As mentioned in the demerit section, there could be times that the Web service tool is not enough. For example, the flexible responses corresponding to each customer, or answering questions that are not fixed. By doing manual operation along with the tool, it would lead to the increase of customer satisfaction. For more information about this, please refer to

look in detail AI and manual hybrid

The variety of Web service tools

Most of tools have visitor analysis functions. There are four different types of approach to users on Web.

Pop up style

source：8dio.com

A type of tools to display specific message in pop up style like the visiting pattern of users, transition within the site, or the time duration of staying on the page. When accessed to specific information, it would display link to request documents, or display coupons to first time visitors.
There are various type like displaying in full screen, or displaying small not to disturb the home page etc.

Chat style

This is a type of tool that would have conversation with customers through chat. There are type which automatically respond like Chatbot, or operators are manually respond to customers. Some of them uses AI which operates on linguistic analysis.

Feedback tool

source：PageProofer

There are tools to get feed back from site visitors called [Feed back tool]. For Web site users, you can do survey or take votes in pop up style or in chat window, For example, you can do a survey on asking what was the purpose of visiting the site, or why the customer left the page, and by getting opinions from users, it would be useful for improvement of UI and increase of usability.
There are types which shows in pop up style and choose in radio button style, or click the specific button for survey and the customers would give opinions in that.

Push notification service

source：Growth Push

There are service / tool to notify customers latest information on their smartphone in the pop up style. Or it would urge customers to settle in specific service by getting them information regularly by push notification. There are type which correspond to Web browse. When notifying to smartphones, the hurdle to utilize that would be higher since not only the operation of Web site but also the development of application and offering to users must be done.

8 recommended Web service tool

Recently, there are numerous tool companies releasing Web service tools on their own. Many EC site have been installing Web service tool positively and improving their purchase rate.
There are numerous Web service tool developing domestically, so the things you can accomplish would differ depends on the type of tools and service content. When you are thinking of installing tools, you need to consider those factors carefully.

This time, it would focus on 7 companies which offers Web service tool opening up their used cases and its price. And also it would introduce company overseas which offers feed back tool.

ChatPlus

We offer chatbot which powered with AI chat type customer support tool. You can see customer's various information like countries, regions, and accessed device of visitors who visited the home page. Every one can use it without struggle, so it is correspondent with elderly users.

Look at ChatPlus's function in detail

KARTE

This tool is superior in access analysis on real time. You can see where the users came from and what page they are looking at, easily.

Flipdesk

This tool enables you to analyze the users automatically, and analyze number of times visited, purchase history and number of views of the page. They have partnered up with Tokyu hands, and Shibuya 109, over 240 companies.

Sprocket

This is Web service tool which has two patterns, pop up style and Chat style. It can do the setting according to each customer and it can display a scenario for first time users and display only to membership users.

iperceptions

iperceptions is the company which has expanded in Canada and the United States. Other than the Web service tool corresponding with browse and mobile, it is offering a service called [Comment card] which you can get feed back from users. It is only offered in English.

FeedbackLite

This is an Australian company which offers feed back tool. You can get feed back in various forms like in ranking/rating style, a format where users can write whatever they want, or accepting messages in contact form. It is only offered in English.

hotjar

hotjar is the company from Malta, Europe. It offers not only the tool to get feed back from users, but also a function to see the heat map of what page is frequently seen and accessed from users, and how the users are moving their cursors on a Web site, which you can record.

Getfeedback

This is the feed back tool which numerous brand companies have installed. Adding survey widget and light box to Web site and you can acquire feedback according to situations of each touch point.
Also, you can check reporting in real time, so you can check the summary report at once. You can also customize design of survey for mobile users.

7 used cases of Web service tool

Here, it introduces 7 used cases of Web service tool in pop up style and chat style.

The used cases of Web service tool in pop up style

BOXIL

BOXIL magazine introduces knowledge and information regarding marketing and reviews of business tools, and it also displays pop up which you can request documents for users who visited the site. When clicking the link, it would transfer to the document request page.

LIFULL HOME’S

LIFULL HOME'S enables you to search renting site inside the country, it displays campaigns to users in the pop up style. When clicking the pop up, the different page will appear and it would display the details of campaign and apply method to that.

Indeed

In Indeed, it urges customers who searched for job to register their email address in the pop up. After registering, the customers would get the word they searched and the latest job information around the area.

Used cases of Web service tool with Chat style

Rakuten Life Insurance Co., Ltd.

Rakuten Life Insurance is handling various insurances. You can request document from the pop up notification at the bottom left of the page, and it installed chat tool at the bottom right of the page which respond to customers 24/7. Chat tool respond to customers automatically when the users directly wrote in the chat what they want to know.

Silver Life co. Ltd.,

Silver life is one of the biggest food distribution company in Japan, which has 600 franchise stores and distributes 80,000 foods every day. They have installed Chatbot and automatically responding to most of the inquiries. After the installation, the new inquiries has increased by 20%, and it is operating smoothly without hiring new operators.

Shimamura Music- online store

Shimamura Music does the sales of instrument, operation of music classes, and held live contests. They have installed Chat type Web service tool to respond to the inquiries which came during night time. In result, the problems that the customer had has been solved smoothly and decreased the number of email inquiries by 20-30%.

MORINAGA & CO., LTD.

Morinaga is one the biggest snack company in Japan. Installed Chatbot for the service for individual called [Snack print], and it has successfully increased the number of inquiries by 4 times more than before. By using the tool in depth like the number of time visited the home page of each user and making a use of it as a marketing tool.

Install Web service tool according to your needs!

Web service tool is the tool enables you to operate customer support like you do in the store. There are two types, one is the pop up style which offers customers coupons, and second is the chat style which respond to users in the fixed answers. Also, there are feed back tool which you can get feed back from users directly, and the push notification tool to the smartphone directly. By looking at and knowing 8 companies that are offering Web service tools and used cases of it, you can not easily compare what would and would not fit for your company.

You might have already known but the EC market is intense. Therefore, having a Web service tool where you can respond and analyze customer's information is a huge advantage to the rest of the market.
Please step into installing Web service tool by carefully considering the types and used cases, and which would fit for your company.

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In ChatPlus, 70% of inquiries can be responded by Chatbot. One person can handle multiple support, so you can keep the support cost down by 1/5 and 1/10 compared to before.

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