E-commerce stores are constantly looking for fresh ways to engage with customers. Right now, one of the most popular methods on the market is to utilize a chatbot to handle online questions, queries, or concerns voiced by consumers.
According to a recent survey by Tidio, more than 62% of consumers would prefer to talk to an AI-generated chatbot than wait for a human customer support agent to answer their questions. With a chatbot, you not only improve your customer’s online experience, but you can also save money and increase productivity.
What is a chatbot and how does it work?
A chatbot is an AI software program with a conversational interface that’s designed to simulate human-like conversations with customers (or any type of user) via text messages.
The primary task assigned to an average chatbot is to answer questions and provide solutions for customers who need assistance. Because they’re programmed as helpers, chatbots can provide consumers with useful, relevant information in a fast and professional way.
There are two main different types of chatbots.
- Machine learning: an ML chatbot is fueled by artificial intelligence and is designed to continuously adapt and evolve based on the data it interacts with over time. This helps to create a more human-sounding, personalized experience for consumers.
- Rules-based: this type of chatbot allows you to engineer a series of triggered responses that automatically occur when a consumer interacts with it. This allows it to give precise, predetermined answers based on a set of commands or rules created by the
Depending on the nature of your business and what kind of customer experience you would like to facilitate, either of these chatbot types may come in handy.
Why chatbots make great servers for online shoppers
Chatbots can do a whole lot more for your company than just answer a couple of questions. In fact, there’s a wide variety of additional benefits that come with introducing a chatbot to your team.
Let’s go through six of the most prevalent ones to gain a better idea of what makes them so popular and why so many companies across the world are using them to boost conversion rates and sales.
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Send automatic responses
According to Sprout Social, more than 77% of consumers expect a response to their query within 24 hours of reaching out. Having an automatic response available for your curious consumers reduces the chance of them abandoning their cart or writing a poor review while they wait.
When it comes to great consumer experiences in 2022 and 2023, speed and efficiency are where it’s at. With a chatbot, you can diminish response wait time by giving customers what they want, now.
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Showcase brand identity
Chatbots can get programmed to have a particular personality or tone of dialogue. Because you have total control over the personality of your chatbot, you can curate it to match your overall brand identity, making it more streamlined and recognizable.
These days, brand voice is integral to business success. Consumers want to engage with brands that they can identify with on a more human level. Chatbots can now do that with ease.
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Increased productivity for the human support team
Chatbots can improve human productivity by freeing up more time for us to focus on other important tasks. Rather than spending time answering basic customer support questions, employees can use their time to work on more complex or technical issues that require critical thinking.
Chatbots can also save time in terms of employee training. Because they can get continuously updated and improved over time, chatbots are a product that never falls out of the loop with what consumers really want from customer support.
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Obtain customer insights
The implementation of a chatbot is great for gaining data insights on customer patterns of behavior. When consumers interact with your company’s chatbot, there’s a symbiotic exchange of information.
The customer gets the help they need to successfully navigate the site, and the company receives valuable insight into online buyer behavior. This can help your team develop a more effective marketing strategy and introduce more user-friendly features to your brand’s platform.
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Provide 24/7 service to global consumers
When it comes down to it, humans can only do so many things at once. And, we all need sleep, eventually. However, a chatbot doesn’t share these problems. These digital customer servers run 24/7, ensuring that no customer’s needs go overlooked, regardless of time or international location.
This can drastically improve your brand’s global reach and improve site response times. Consumers want to know you’re going to be there for them, no matter what.
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Save money
Recent studies indicate that implementing a chatbot can help businesses save up to 30% of costs relating to customer services. Now, customer support is never something a business should skimp on. But finding innovative ways to curb expenditure is always useful.
If you want to provide great quality customer support for your consumers, you can end up spending a lot of money on hired employees. But when chatbots do it as well (and at no extra cost), you can understand why so many businesses are making the switch.
Reimagine the online consumer experience with chatbots
Online consumer experiences have never been more important for e-commerce brands to consider. With the number of online businesses of all kinds showcasing what they have to offer increasing all the time, consumers are becoming used to high-grade customer support and services. This is why your site needs to up its game.
Having a human on the other end of your online customer support line isn’t a bad thing, but it is a somewhat limited arrangement. Chatbots, on the other hand, provide all of the services that a human can (plus a few added benefits), giving real-life employees more time to focus on other tasks.
As 2022 comes to a close and new consumer trends make themselves known, having chatbot technology on your side can only improve your brand’s chances of success.