Conversation bots have redefined conversational commerce, turning it from a trend into a vital strategy for modern shopping experiences. Nowadays, it is a business imperative that has transformed how people shop. Shoppers get instant answers, anytime. No waiting, no frustration. Additionally, businesses rely on these AI conversation bots to boost sales and engagement.
The axiom ‘communication drives commerce’ is proved right when businesses start a dialogue with consumers. It is the conversations that cement your bond with them. This includes contextual and personalized engagements as part of an overall customer engagement strategy.
Conversation-driven commerce has always existed; however, it was reintroduced as an important aspect of marketing, sales, and service in 2015, when Chris Messina coined the term conversational commerce. Fun fact: He invented hashtags (#) in 2007, which we all liberally use on social media.
Unrestrained digitization and the sudden availability of multiple platforms as shopping avenues for customers have upped the level of competition among businesses. Selling merchandise is not the sole objective anymore. Brands are strategizing harder than ever to tailor intimate and professional experiences to make customers wow!
Commerce has transformed. Service and support have become intelligent, contactless, efficient, and technology-driven. Messaging has also transformed. It is no longer about communication; rather, it has become transactional. Today's customers are at the intersection of multiple touchpoints where brands meet tech through apps, artificial intelligence (AI), bots, messengers, etc. They demand smart communication with a human touch—that’s the bottom line.
Also read: Voicebots — Conversational AI For Customer Support
Conversation bots are instrumental in business growth and are very important for service teams, too. Virtual assistants, AI chatbots, and live agent support via text and messenger platforms are tools that aid customers through their journey. Hence, they have a direct impact on your organization’s overall customer satisfaction (c-sat) score.
Unlike traditional chat systems, a conversation bot learns and improves with every interaction. Customer support has evolved from automated chatbots to conversations, where the interactions are not just limited to chat interfaces but also include various messaging platforms like email responses, automatic follow-up messages, AI-driven communication, virtual assistants that use data, machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), and a variety of input signals ranging from text and touch to voice. Such technology uses AI to mimic human interactions and tries to remain with the customer through their brand journey.
Consumers today know that businesses’ strategies revolve around them—and why not? considering the adage “Customer is supreme.” Their immediacy of requirements, or in simpler terms, their ‘want-it-now’ attitude, dictates terms of service delivery.
Scenario: Joe is browsing an eCommerce site to buy a laptop. While making payments he faces a problem and decides to abandon the cart. Having an AI-powered smart bot that can predict customer behavior and offer appropriate solutions to help Joe complete the purchase. Thereby, the eCommerce company profits financially as well as gains the customer’s loyalty.
In this case, a smart assistant pops up and inquires Joe why he is abandoning the cart and offers automated solutions like easy payment links, change in ease of delivery address, one-day delivery, or even suggests better products than the one selected by Joe, chances are he will make the purchase and be very satisfied with the experience. That is AI conversation bot for you!
Technology has evolved and so have business strategies. Rule-based or decision-tree chatbots that function on pre-set rules are basic and slowly getting replaced by more sophisticated intelligent conversation bots. Today, we are in the age of ‘predictive omnichannel customer service,’ where technology predicts customer needs and delivers personalized experiences wherever possible.
Scenario: Let's take the example of Amazon’s Alexa, Android’s OK Google, Gemini, or even Apple’s Siri. All of them are digital assistants that possess near-human intelligence. Both recognize a variety of inputs, including voice, and are adept at following various commands, scaling service, and delighting customers.
When you use smart conversation bots in your service desk, you not only drive agent satisfaction but also deliver an improved customer experience. Conversation bots today are capable of integrating with websites/apps and social media and bringing product discovery, payments, and shopping together for the customer in one place.
Virtual customer assistants or conversation bots fill in for live agents and intelligently guide customers toward case resolution. They have the potential to augment your organization's capabilities. You can use conversational virtual assistants to address soaring ticket volumes, address customer inquiries, and even help your teams work remotely.
Also read: A Deep Dive Into The Functionalities Of Conversation Bot
Conversation with AI has made communication smarter. The familiarity, comfort, and convenience of mobile-based messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Messenger, and Viber among many others have made customer service accessible to everyone – through their mobile phones.
Not only do they serve as excellent channels for customer engagement but also significantly reduce your contact center’s call volumes. With rigorous training and the study of huge sets of customer data, conversation bots make use of AI and deep learning to determine user intent and resolve customer queries efficiently. When that happens, your business delivers the fastest customer response times, improves agent satisfaction through the highest possible automation, and exhibits intuitive operability. To know more and explore such useful features of ThinkOwl, register for a 30-day free trial.