Chatbots for E-Commerce Sites – Pro’s Explained
The evolution of AI is now in full swing and chatbots are only a miniscule drop in a huge wave of progress. The number of users on messaging apps like WhatsApp, Slack and Skype is expanding exponentially on a daily basis; Facebook Messenger alone has more than 1.2 billion monthly users!
With the spread of messenger platforms and the need for instant answers, virtual chatbots that imitate human conversations for solving various tasks are becoming increasingly vital to the functioning of any business.
Online chatbots save time and efforts by automating customer support. Some forecasts predict that by 2020 (that is literally next year), over 85% of customer interactions will be handled without a human.
However, the opportunities provided by chatbot systems go far beyond giving responses to customers’ inquiries; they are also used for other business tasks, such as collecting information about users, helping to organize meetings and reducing overhead costs. There is no wonder that size of the chatbot market is growing exponentially. When it comes to e-commerce, there is a unique advantage chatbots can offer: AI in the form of foresight.
Advantages of Using Chatbots – General
- Faster Customer Service
A major advantage of using bots is that they help you provide faster customer service. If you have a business, they can provide customer service on your website 24 hours a day. What’s more, they don’t need weekends, holidays, vacations, or sick days off. When online customers have questions, all they have to do is ask the bot on your website. There’s no waiting on a human to look it up because the answers are a few keystrokes away.
- Increased Customer Satisfaction
Another of the pros is that your customers will be more satisfied. When they get satisfactory answers and speedy service, they’ll be happier, shop more, and return again.
- Lower Labour Costs
Using chatbots gives you an advantage when you are trying to keep costs down. Since you don’t have to pay for employee benefits, they may cost less than you’d pay an employee. Of course, lower labour costs translate into increased profits for your business. In the end, that means more money in your pocket.
- Variety of Uses
It’s possible to use chatbots in more than one area in a business. You could use them for customer orders, customer service, and advertising just to name a few.
Advantages of Using Chatbots in E-Commerce
Chatbots can reach a broad audience on messenger apps. They are also praised for the ability to automate personalized messages. What is more, they can be helpful in the case of work efficiency as they can be designed to take over the tasks which are not essential for human workers.
Debi: “What is the latest range of facemasks?”
Cloe the Chatbot: “Hi Debi! Glad to help you with that. I see you last bought a Charcoal Facemask two months ago. With Winter coming up, why not consider a hydrating Collagen mask? They are currently on special for R30.00. Can I add one to your cart?”
Debi: “Sure, could you add one in the basket please?”
Cloe the Chatbot: “I have added the Hydrating Collagen Mask to your basket. Do you want to check out the other related items?”
Debi: “No thanks”
Cloe the Chatbot: “No problem! We hope you enjoy the Hydrating Collagen Mask. If you have any issues or feedback, feel free to pop me a mail! cloe@onlineshopping.com. Have a great day, Debi!”
If you thought the above conversation happened between two individuals, you are wrong.
Chatbots are not like any other chat-based software. They identify with the needs of consumers looking for the product and give a personalized feel to every conversation. In fact, the Al powered chatbots make your customers feel as if they are talking to a human being. This is because they recognize the typing pattern of the customer and make a conversation accordingly.
You can send push notifications about the latest offers and discounts to your customers. Garnering information such as e-mail addresses is a hidden benefit; this can help to build your re-marketing database for paid ads!
You get to avoid having to structure cart-abandonment campaigns, because Cloe the Chatbot will have pre-empted this move and upon abandonment, engage with the user immediately. Even if this fails, you will have gained invaluable insight into WHY people are abandoning their carts, which will allow you to rectify the issue. Is it a payment gateway error? Are they put off by not being able to see their order total before checkout? AI, people, AI!
Chatbots allow for you to up-sell; Cloe might have offered Debi a discounted moisturiser to accompany her face mask purchase, as well as a free online voucher to use if they meet a minimum spend. Can you hear it? The ching ching rolling in.
Payment issues are a thing of the past; the utility of chatbots is not just confined to assisting customers with online shopping. One can also make payments by using it. It makes the task of ordering easy and time saving. A great example of this is Snapchat; they recently introduced a tool named Snapcash. It is a virtual wallet which has the card details of the users. By using it, people can send money to brands they buy from or transfer it to their friends and relatives. This can improve online sales. Although, chatbots are used to select and shop for things, there is a little skepticism involved when it comes to making payments through them. This is majorly because the transaction happens through messages. We say “just give it a few years”!
It’s clear there are more benefits to using chatbots on e-commerce platforms than we had previously imagined. Have you installed a chatbot? We would love to hear from you!
