Technology continues to advance at a blistering pace in just about all fields, including digital tools used for e-commerce websites. Today’s businesses must be able to stay on the cutting edge of technology, or they risk lagging behind their competitors as their customers start to stray away in search of better overall customer experiences.
Consider the success of Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, the Google Assistant or Microsoft’s Cortana. As people become more accustomed to using these voice-based technologies, companies are,in turn,finding brand-new ways to leverage these technologies in their operations.
One tool that has seen a significant surge in popularity in the last couple years has been Chatbot; thanks in large part to the popularity of devices that carry this AI functionality. Chatbots can be highly useful in many regards, such as helping customers more easily find product recommendations and solutions to various issues while also adding more personality to the brands that use them.
At Celebros, we have our own Chatbot called eConverse®. Powered by best-in-class Natural Language Processing (NLP) and semantic search algorithms, eConverse® is designed to increase e-commerce conversion rates by pairing customers with exactly the products they’re looking for.
For those companies who care about staying ahead of the technological curve, here are just a few reasons why Chatbot features have become absolutely essential.
Quicker path to sale
Perhaps the biggest benefit associated with Chatbot functionality is the speed with which shoppers are able to find exactly what they’re looking for.
Today’s customers are reluctant to search through menu hierarchies or even through bulk search results because of how long it can take to find the items they actually want. The more choices there are, the more results and categories there are to search through.
Chatbot quickly connects shoppers to the items they want to buy. The ability to instantaneously understand a customer’s search query, comb through available inventory and return a viable result takes all of the time out of the equation and delivers the quickest path to a sale. This is an incredibly valuable benefit to business owners looking to drive conversion rates.
Voice prompt CTA (Call to Action)
Narrowing down the results with an immediate voice prompt CTA (“would you like to buy it?), has been proven to increase conversion and will continue to increase it as visitors become more accustomed to using spoken language for longer, clearer query phrases (e.g. Do you have a red dress size M under $60?).
Increasing customer engagements
Voice interaction is more natural for humans than typing and it reflects a greater level of engagement to the brand. For example, most users will politely wait for Siri to say the last word, even though they’re aware they’re speaking with a robot!
Increasing mobile conversions.
While mobile accounts for roughly 45% of U.S. shopper traffic, the conversion rate is less than half of that of desktop users. Many shoppers start their journey on a mobile device, with the actual purchase being completed from their desktop. Many others, however, will follow through with mobile conversions so long as they’re seamless and appropriately prompted.
Hands-free convenience
Many of the latest innovations in software involve hands-free or virtual technologies. We’ve already discussed the rise of AI connectivity in devices such as phones, computers and home assistant tools. This trend has started to streamline how people are using technology in their everyday lives.
Shoppers can now essentially carry on conversations with their devices to get them to operate, rather than actually having to sit down and physically engage with that device. Plus, they can use voice technology with mobile devices to compensate for the lack of visual space the screens on those devices provide.
This sort of hands-free convenience is only going to become more strongly desired in the coming years, so it makes sense for ecommerce websites to cater to those desires now by offering Chatbot technology. In this way, shopping online will continue to follow the natural trend of intuitive technology.
Easy integration and setup
Most Chatbots also use messenger applications that are already used on billions of devices around the world. This means your customers are most likely already capable of using the technology—all you have to do is give it to them. They don’t need to purchase any new devices or hardware, so you can simply meet them where they are and provide them with a more efficient, convenient means of finding the products they want on your ecommerce website.
Savings for business owners
Beyond the potential Chatbots have to increase the conversion rate of customers—and therefore increase your sales and earnings—the technology also will offer you financial benefits in other areas of your business.
For example, if you have a fully functional Chatbot feature capable of instantly providing products to your customers, you will not need to invest as heavily in sales rep staffing and can instead focus your energy, manpower and finances on other important areas of your business.
Plus, the process of onboarding Chatbot technology is extremely simple and very inexpensive. Compare this to the cost of training a new sales representative or spending heavily on UI updates for your ecommerce site, and you’ll find additional savings to reinvest into your company.
Stronger customer relationships
Studies show that interacting via speech versus text creates more positive sentiments among consumers and actually increases their overall engagement. By conveniently and intuitively connecting them directly with the products they demand, Chatbot will make customers more likely to come back again and again, increasing their engagement with your company.
As popular and influential as Chatbot technology already is, it will only become more so in the future. In the coming years, expect to see the predictive and suggestive capabilities of this technology become more expansive and sophisticated, offering consumers stronger suggestions based on their interests and queries.
The benefits of technologies like eConverse are clear—now it’s important for businesses to take advantage of them.
