Live chat patterns
Live chat is a powerful conversion tool, but the placement decision shapes who uses it and when. The bubble maximises discovery, inline prompts maximise context, and a header link signals chat as part of the experience rather than a widget.
Bottom-right floating chat bubble
A circular bubble pinned to the bottom-right corner across every page, optionally with a teaser tooltip and unread badge. The default behaviour for every off-the-shelf chat platform.
> what's good
- +Always available, shoppers find it without learning the site IA.
- +Off-the-shelf platforms ship this pattern, no engineering work to deploy.
- +Teaser copy and unread badges measurably lift session-to-chat conversion when tuned.
> what's risky
- ·Covers content on small viewports, frequent complaint on mobile carts and PDPs.
- ·Looks identical across competitors, undermines brand differentiation.
- ·Tooltip-on-load patterns feel intrusive and train shoppers to dismiss reflexively.
Inline contextual prompts within the PDP
Chat entry points placed beside the question they answer, ask about sizing near the size selector, ask about care near the material details. Replaces or complements the floater.
> what's good
- +Highest-intent placement, the prompt arrives at the moment the question forms.
- +Routes shoppers to specialists with the right context preloaded into the conversation.
- +Differentiates the brand, contextual help reads as care rather than support.
> what's risky
- ·Requires per-page authoring, scales poorly across thousands of products without templating.
- ·If response times slip, an unused inline prompt looks worse than no prompt at all.
- ·Hard to instrument cleanly, attribution between inline and floater needs careful tracking.
Persistent header chat link
A coral chat-with-us link or button lives in the global utility nav, alongside help center, language, and sign-in. No floating bubble, the entry point is a navigation item.
> what's good
- +Treats chat as part of the IA, not a vendor widget bolted on.
- +Frees the bottom-right corner for cookie banners or accessibility tools without conflict.
- +Common in B2B and high-touch sales, where conversations are scheduled rather than instant.
> what's risky
- ·Lower discovery, shoppers expect chat to live in the corner, not the nav.
- ·Mobile header is already crowded, the link often gets pushed into a hamburger menu.
- ·Implies higher intent before clicking, can suppress chat volume below useful thresholds.