We all know why we shop online.  For one, the convenience just can’t be beat.  Why sit through traffic, deal with crowded parking lots, compete with fellow shoppers and wait in long lines when you can shop from the comfort of your own couch?  Record numbers of shoppers are opting for convenience over chaos, spending an estimated 375 million hours shopping online in December 2012 alone.

The expansion of digital channels and an increasingly crowded online marketplace are changing consumer spending habits and online behavior. And the more consumers spend online, both in time and money, the more demanding they become of the online customer experience. Consumers are very articulate when it comes to their online expectations, and they’re quick to abandon your site if your website experience and customer engagement strategy are not up to par.

Happy holiday shopping season!  For any eRetailer, this is perhaps the most exciting time of the year.  After all, 63% of consumers have planned to do a majority of their holiday shopping online.  As you gear up for 2013, this is an excellent time to review if you are maximizing all of your possible customer touch points. 

What skills are important when recruiting and evaluating chat agents? How do you develop exceptional chat agents that have meaningful conversations with customers? Through extensive work with over 8,500 customer call center operations, LivePerson has identified the most important skills a chat agent needs to be successful.