Having a public chat on ecommerce websites does solve a huge problem for the consumers, as they can interact with other customers who are looking at the same product and take an informed decision before buying.
But, the website(Business) should have very high confidence about the products they are selling. I wonder whether large ecommerce sites which sell products from other merchants would be willing; On the other hand a manufacturer selling their own products on their website could create more engagement with a public chat on their website i.e. again if they really trust their products.
Although the websites themselves hosting public chat could serve their customers immediately, A 3rd party browser add-on could serve this feature for any website out there by creating a common chatroom(window) based upon the URL; But would suffer from chicken and egg problem of having to find users who are looking at the same web page.
Then there are other moderation concerns such as the website publishers/manufacturers/sellers/competitors masquerading as buyers in the chat.
Although the websites themselves hosting public chat could serve their customers immediately, A 3rd party browser add-on could serve this feature for any website out there by creating a common chatroom(window) based upon the URL; But would suffer from chicken and egg problem of having to find users who are looking at the same web page.
Then there are other moderation concerns such as the website publishers/manufacturers/sellers/competitors masquerading as buyers in the chat.