Yes, Shopify has a live chat function for its paying users. If you are not a subscriber to the platform’s services, you will not be able to access the live chat function. All you could do is to rely on Shopify’s knowledgebase and blogs.
If you are a paying user, I will show you today how you can access the live chat function. I will also let you know how often you can contact the Shopify team, and what possible alternatives are there.
How to contact live chat support
The first thing you have to do is to log-in to your Shopify account. After that, you should be taken to step two where Shopify will ask you to choose which store you need help with.
If you have no store, you will not be able to see the chat support option. You will only see a box like the one below where you could type your problem, and then hope that the system will give you an article for it.
If you do have a store, you will see this:
If you want to access the live chat support, just click on the chat button and a chat window will appear. From there, you have to select your store name, then click on the button that says Chat with Us.
Advantages of Chat Support
Some people have problems that can wait until tomorrow. If your concern is urgent, I strongly recommend that you use the Shopify lice chat support.
Below are the benefits of using this type of customer service:
- 24/7 – the live chat function is available any time you need it. There will always be somebody waiting to resolve your issues. The phone support, however, is not 24/7.
- Expert support – the person you will be chatting with is not just anybody. It is a Shopify employee who was adequately trained to fix your problem. Also, there are different departments for their support system. If our issue is about billing, then you will be talking to a billing expert. If your issue is technical, then you will be talking to technical support staff.
- Fix issue in real-time – some problems need to be fixed on your side. For example, a customer service representative cannot add a credit card to your account. However, the customer service representative can give you a guide on how you can do it from your end. This works best if you are on chat. If you use email, it can take days to solve your problem because you will be emailing back and forth.
- Multi-tasking – if you ask for help on live chat, you can do other things. As the personnel is troubleshooting, you have the liberty to do other things on your end. Examples are fulfilling customer orders, downloading or reviewing your analytics, and so much more.
- Negligible wait time – if you call over the phone, the wait time feels like an eternity. But if you contact support on chat, the wait time is negligible because you can do other things on your PC. Also, there are so many buttons to press on the phone just to be able to get to the right department.
As you can see, there are many reasons why you should use live chat support instead of the others. Another thing I want to add is that with live chat, the conversation can be saved. After your chat, you have the option to download that entire chat conversation.
So, how does this benefit you? As you may know by now, some technical issues may re-occur. If the same thing happens, you can always visit your chat session and then go back to the instructions. If there are links showing you how to fix your problem, you can click on them again.
The most important aspect of live chat is fast resolution. It is not like working on a problem via email. By email, you will have to wait for days to solve your issue. The same thing goes with the knowledgebase or blog. You will have to spend many hours figuring things on your own. With chat, you have the guidance f an expert.
Summary
Shopify offers several ways to help you as a subscriber. You can call them by phone, send them an email, use the knowledgebase, look for help in the forums, send them a message on other Twitter account, and use the live chat.
The fastest way to ask for help is over the phone, but this is not as efficient as the chat. With chat, you can still perform your other duties while the customer service representative is fixing a problem. Remember, the live chat option is only available to paying subscribers. If your plan has expired, you will no longer be able to see it as a support option.