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Attractive prices and order fulfillment capabilities are key components in building customer satisfaction and loyalty. Yet, if Forrester Research is correct in that online merchants convert only an average of 2.5% of their site visitors to customers then 97.5% of visitors to sites represent “missed opportunities”. New web enabled interactive solutions such as Interactive-Host.com provide e-commerce companies with the needed tools to try and capture some of these potential “missed opportunities” and convert them to customers.

The U.S. Census Bureau of the department of Commerce reported that the total e-commerce sales for 2007 were estimated at $136.4 billion, representing 3.4 percent of total retail sales. One can imagine that a slight increase in conversion rate would mean a significant increase in e-commerce revenues.

Technology solutions play an important role in the success of e-commerce. Online chat solutions deployed on ecommerce sites of companies like Microsoft, HP and Home Depot, allow businesses to identify the most promising prospects, and reach them at the right time with live communication to help close the deal. Furthermore, by creating a personal connection with customers, businesses send an important message that they value their patronage. In an extensive survey of 1,700 marketing executives, 60% of them identified "marketing basics" like customer satisfaction, customer retention and brand loyalty as being the most important areas they need to improve in 2008. Indeed, we all appreciate the efforts of a business that goes the extra mile and reward it with brand loyalty.

While the ability to engage a user in an online text chat has proven helpful in increasing the conversion rate, the ability to connect with a live person in a real online conversation may be much more compelling. Online rich media (audio and video) is proving to have a huge impact on what we do online and what we may buy - Youtube alone is ranked #2 in overall traffic in 2007. The ability to see and hear the world adds a compelling dimension to the online experience. By establishing a real human interaction with selected prospects, a business is able to catch an otherwise anonymous and uncommitted visitor and convert her into a loyal customer.

Presently, companies such as Interactive-Host.com have entered this domain with offerings that enable not only video/audio chat, but offer a variety of real-time tools such as document, file and image sharing capabilities in a 100% web enabled environment that include co-viewing capabilities optimizing the agent-customer interaction and ability to address customer needs. E-businesses can, should and will leverage increased bandwidth and technology to break through the veil of anonymity and touch prospects directly leading to higher conversion rate.