By now, you probably know what chatbots are, and there is a chance that you have interacted with one.
Chatbots were invented for customer service, and people love using them because they do what they do the best ─ offer a solution. Since last year, chatbot expansion is bigger and bigger each day, and many big and small retailers have a chatbot.
Do you know why?
Because we live in a consumers’ world, and the first one who treats the customers better wins ─ in this case, it’s chatbots.
A mobile-Driven Opportunity
People love messaging; it keeps us closer to each other, and we can chat on the go. Thankfully, chatbots live in a messaging platform, and conversation commerce was created and has had significant success.
If we take into consideration that Millennials, as a consumer group, makes most of the sales’ revenue and that they are mostly the young generation who are tech-savvy, then it`s not surprising that retailers are using chatbots to keep their Millennial clients happy.
You will never see a younger generation waiting in line at the bank.
Again, why?
Because they can do everything online; it saves time, and they can do it on the go.
One of the most important aspects of having a chatbot is engaging on a personal level. We all love 1-on-1 VIP experiences, and a chatbot is doing just that. By remembering consumers’ choices and selections, as well as consumers’ behavior while shopping, a chatbot is remembering consumers’ profiles and offers selections based on their preferences.
Let`s say that you are browsing for dresses in yellow ─ a chatbot will take notice that yellow is one of your favorite colors and suggest everything related to that color ─ or suggest dresses in the style that you prefer.
On the other hand, imagine how you feel when you come home from work, and you are hungry. You just want to order a pizza, but the person over the phone is asking the same questions even though you are a regular at that pizza place.
What chatbots are doing in this situation is that they remember your choices, and next time, you just need to interact with them, and they know what kind of pizza you like.
Personal and Better
Chatbots will never replace humans, as humans have limitations. Humans can`t work 24/7 and remember the name and preferences of all clients, especially in customer support, but thankfully, chatbots don`t have those limitations. In fact, they can cater to any number of customer requests and serve customers whenever they are needed.
Even though you have the best-trained customer support agents and you have very detailed Q&As on your website, there is always a possibility that your consumer will need help and can not find a solution on your site or from an agent.
On the other hand, when a company has a promotion, a chatbot can send a promotion to all users but with various content and make it all personal for each customer.
To do that manually, you would need hours of work and many customer support agents.
One other thing that chatbots are doing best is that they can guide you through your purchase. From the moment you start interacting with them, a chatbot is your personal assistant who is guiding you through all the purchasing processes until the payment is completed, and they can also accept payments, which makes the experience more convenient to users.
Final Thoughts
Chatbots were a big surprise when they first emerged; no one thought that they would be such a success. Their ability to multitask, and more importantly, to help clients, makes a chatbot irreplaceable in the retail sector.
Chatbots are shaping the way that we shop and the way we are treating our customers. And, it`s true that they are shaping the consumer way, click by click.
Posted by Maya S.
