Getting started with web chat
You will learn
Learn about web chat, which is a 2-way communication channel you can add to your website. Web chat can be set up on its own for you to use with Customer Agent and Helpdesk, but it's also designed to be a seamless part of Customer Hub. Web chat allows your business to engage in live, personalized conversations with visitors on your website so they can easily get answers to their questions or assistance with issues.
Before you begin
Web chat is a real-time communication channel that allows you to engage with visitors on your website. You can use web chat as a standalone feature without enabling the full Customer Hub interface.
This allows you to set up chat for your support team (via Helpdesk) or Customer Agent without enabling Customer Hub. If you choose to use Customer Hub later, web chat will integrate with it.
Web chat is also designed to work great with Customer Hub as the "chat" tab. Learn more about Customer Hub
Customer experience with web chat
A signed-in site visitor can browse FAQs in Customer Hub or start a web chat conversation, depending on your settings:
- FAQs (if enabled):
If you have published FAQs, visitors can select a question in Customer Hub to view its automated answer in the chat thread. - Welcome message:
Visitors can start a web chat session without selecting an FAQ. If you have configured a welcome message (e.g., "What do you need assistance with today?"), it appears in the chat, where visitors can type their message.
When web chat is routed to Klaviyo Helpdesk and Customer Agent is not handling the conversation, the visitor's question becomes a ticket for your support team to assist. When a support representative replies, the visitor receives the response in the chat thread, creating a real-time, back-and-forth conversation.
Visitors can end the chat at any time. Once closed, the conversation cannot be reopened. The visitor must start a new web chat session for additional support.
If you have Customer Agent enabled, the web chat experience is different. Customer Agent serves as the first responder to incoming web chat messages. It uses your site data and training to answer visitors' questions. If it cannot resolve an inquiry, it escalates the conversation using your configured handoff setting. For example, if your handoff selection is Klaviyo Helpdesk, the conversation is handed to your team there. If you use another handoff setting (e.g., Zendesk, Gorgias, or a custom message), Customer Agent follows that setting.
Enable web chat
For Shopify stores, the Klaviyo app embed must be enabled for the web chat widget to appear onsite. If you see an app embed notice in web chat settings, click Check Shopify Integration to review your integration.
If you have already set up Customer Agent, turning web chat on also turns on its web chat channel. Review your Customer Agent configuration before enabling web chat.
To enable web chat and configure your settings:
- In Klaviyo, go to Settings > Web chat (located in global settings next to other channels).
- If you see Add Web Chat, click it to start setup. Customize your chat on the Design step and click Next, then configure the Widget step and click Finish. If your web chat settings are already open, continue to the next step.
- On the General tab, under Availability & routing, select Enable web chat.
- Choose Widget visibility: All shoppers, Logged in shoppers only, or Hidden.
- Choose your Helpdesk provider. Select Klaviyo Helpdesk to manage human support replies in Klaviyo, or select your connected Zendesk or Gorgias helpdesk.
- Under Welcome message, enter your greeting and set the Welcome message delay if needed.
- Click Save.
- Select Design to customize the look of your chat and the floating onsite widget. For standalone web chat, make your changes and click Save. If you use Customer Hub, click Edit beside the chat or widget design to open its controls in Customer Hub.
Check Widget visibility before launching. Turning web chat on does not override a widget that is set to Hidden.
If you have Customer Hub enabled, you can also choose Login status in Settings > Web chat > General: All shoppers or Logged in shoppers. This controls whether shoppers must sign in before messaging; Widget visibility controls who sees the floating widget. Click Save after changing these settings.
Without Customer Agent, visitors must sign in before sending a message to your team unless your account allows email identification for handoff. Visitors must also meet your Login status requirement. You can enable Customer Agent to respond to anonymous visitors when web chat is available to all shoppers.
Manage web chat messages in Klaviyo
Each new web chat conversation routed to Klaviyo Helpdesk creates a ticket, where a member of your team can reply. Subsequent messages in that conversation stay in the same ticket. If Customer Agent is enabled, human replies follow your configured handoff setting.
Note that both SMS and web chat tickets feed into the Klaviyo Helpdesk, offering a consolidated place for managing these 2 direct communication channels. Learn more about managing tickets in Helpdesk.
Web chat notifications
When unread conversation notifications are enabled, a notification badge appears next to Helpdesk in Klaviyo's main navigation when you have unread tickets. In Helpdesk, unread tickets show a blue dot, along with the sender’s name and a preview of their message.
Web chat and SMS tickets use different channel icons in Helpdesk. The envelope icon identifies email tickets.
A web chat ticket in Helpdesk can have 1 of 3 statuses:
- Open, to indicate an ongoing chat.
- Snoozed, which you can use to temporarily hide a ticket.
- Closed, to mark completed chats.
Replying to web chat messages
Team members with permission to reply in Helpdesk can click on a message to provide real-time support to the shopper, helping you manage customer queries efficiently.
In an open web chat ticket, your support agents can:
- View the message thread with the sender.
- See a summary of the profile details.
- Check the profile’s event history (whether they ordered a product, received an email, etc.).
To reply to a web chat ticket:
- Open the ticket that you want to respond to.
- Click into the text box and create your response. You can:
- Use macros for quick replies
- Use text, images, and emojis in your reply
- Send multiple messages in a row
- Click Send Message to send your reply.
While communicating via web chat, agents can see read receipts, which show whether their messages have been seen by the profile. This ensures clarity in communication and aids in maintaining ongoing helpful dialogues. Replying to a web chat message automatically assigns it to you. Learn more about ticket assignment for Helpdesk tickets.
Note that the same profile can have an active web chat ticket and an SMS ticket in Helpdesk. Once the web chat ticket is closed, however, it cannot be reopened, and site visitors will have to start a new chat session. Each new conversation begins a new ticket.
Web chat best practices
Using web chat with Customer Hub
If you also use Customer Hub, web chat will appear as a "chat" tab within Customer Hub to deliver a more seamless experience. Your onsite widget will automatically unify to prevent conflicts.
- Appearance: If Customer Hub is enabled, manage the visual appearance of your chat and widget there, including colors, icons, and position. In Settings > Web chat > Design, click Edit beside the chat or widget design to open the corresponding Customer Hub controls.
- Behavior: The web chat settings will still control chat-specific behavior, such as your Welcome message.
Use General in web chat settings for chat availability, routing, and your welcome message. Use the Edit buttons on Design for Customer Hub appearance changes.
Link your privacy policy and terms of service
As a compliance best practice, add links to your site’s privacy policy and terms of service in Customer Hub settings. The web chat disclosure links to your privacy policy as Privacy Notice before a visitor sends their first message. The Customer Hub sign-in screen can show both policy links. To add them:
- Navigate to Website > Customer Hub.
- Select Settings > General.
- Under Terms and policy, add your links for each.
- Click Save.
Prioritize prompt responses
Customers anticipate quick replies when using chat tools. If your team can't provide immediate support, manage expectations by:
- Set up office hours so site visitors receive an automated reply when your support team is unavailable for web chat, and are informed of how they can expect to receive assistance from you.
- Enable web chat email notifications in Helpdesk > Settings > Notifications, add your recipients, and save so your team is notified of new web chat messages.
Additionally, if you are chatting with someone and need to take some time to investigate, ensure you regularly check back in. You don’t want to snooze the message or keep people waiting for long periods of time. Instead, make sure to touch base with them at least once every 3-5 minutes. Even a simple: “Still looking into this. Thank you for your patience” lets the user know you haven’t forgotten about them.
Consistently monitor your Helpdesk
Regularly check Helpdesk to ensure no messages are missed and all customer inquiries are addressed promptly, especially after resolving an issue.
Additional resources
- Guide to Klaviyo Helpdesk
Learn about Klaviyo Helpdesk, which helps you manage support conversations across all channels, powered by the data you already have in Klaviyo.
- How to add a help button to the Customer Hub orders tab
Learn how to give your customers easy access to order-related support directly from the Customer Hub view. By configuring a Help setting in Klaviyo, you can add a "Get help" button on the order details page of your site's Customer Hub interface and control where customers are directed when they click it.
- How to connect Gorgias to Customer Hub
Learn how to enable Gorgias in Customer Hub so your customers can access Gorgias help channels directly from Customer Hub. Connecting Customer Hub and Gorgias empowers your customers to quickly and easily get the help they need for order-releated inquiries and issues.