Conversational Commerce is a new business model which uses messaging apps to provide a better experience for consumers. Chatbots are used as messaging frontends to engage consumers in conversation which helps e-commerce companies increase sale conversion rates significantly. The future of Conversational Commerce holds many possibilities as the technology continues to develop further. It will be interesting to see how chatbot evolves into offering better-personalized shopping experiences on behalf of the company.
What’s in it:
- What is conversational commerce?
- Benefits of conversational commerce
- How to use a chatbot for your business?
- Future of conversational commerce with chatbots
- Conclusion
- FAQs
What is conversational commerce?
Conversational Commerce is a new business model where you can engage customers at their convenience, across messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Whatsapp, and more. This gives you access to 400 million chat users worldwide that are looking for instant assistance with shopping and customer services, without ever having to pick up the phone or interact with an unhelpful website.
Benefits of conversational commerce
Conversational Commerce has the following benefits:
Increased Conversion Rates
Pre-selling is becoming more popular in Conversational Commerce, where brands provide information to customers before they have even committed to purchasing. This also helps reduce shopping cart abandonment rates by 55%.
Personalized Interactions
With machine learning, you can create automated customer service chatbots customized for each individual. It’s not just about quickly responding to questions but getting to know your target audience so much better that it feels like an extension of the brand.
Easier Transactions
Over 80% of people would rather use messaging apps to shop than all other traditional channels combined because they are faster and more convenient. The entire process (payment, delivery) can be automated with AI, making it even simpler for customers to buy your products or services.
How to use a chatbot for your business?
Some of you might be wondering How chatbots can help your business? How to use a chatbot for your business? How can chatbots benefit my business? How does it work, etc…
Well here is the answer! Chatbots or also known as virtual assistants are mainly used by many companies in order to meet customers’ needs and requests. They are designed with Artificial Intelligence (AI) which means they learn to respond based on their user conversation. Businesses like Santander Bank, HSBC Bank, TSB Bank, RBS bank Canada already started using this technology in order to make their customer service 24/7 available via one simple messaging app called WhatsApp.
Here are How chatbots can help your business:
- Customer service is faster than the real person!
Chatbots can handle customer inquiries with just a simple text message. They can learn to greet new customers every day and analyze what customers’ needs and requests so they can better respond next time. NO MORE Queue or hold time when you call a company about their products and services which saves you A LOT of waiting time! How cool is that? - Chatbots understand customers’ language!
There’s no need for businesses to hire more staffs who speak different languages as chatbots understand various languages from each country such as English, Spanish, French, German, etc. You can also adjust chatbots’ language settings based on your customer’s country location. - Chatbots are more efficient!
Chatbots will be able to send follow-up messages after the conversation with customers which gives a more personalized experience as they know what you/your company offers and what products and services best suit their needs and requests. - Marketing through text message
You can use chatbots for marketing by sending regular updates and reminders about your products and services. - Save time & money with chatbots
As chatbots don’t take holidays or sick leave, they create opportunities for businesses to save money with reduced running costs. - Build your brand face with chatbots
Chatbots can help businesses to personalize the way they communicate and interact with customers as they will see your company’s name via a chatbot on their messaging app such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, etc.
Future of conversational commerce with chatbots
Conversational commerce is the future of e-commerce. Chatbots are rapidly changing how we communicate with each other and so it is only natural that they will have a profound effect on how we shop for goods and services.
For example, Amazon is using chatbots to enhance consumer purchasing. According to a case study by Amazon, a good example of this at work is in its use of chatbots to lure new customers into Prime membership. A chatbot helps you find the right product based on your hints, then tells you which other people bought after receiving their purchase, and encourages you to buy things together as well.
A slightly different approach is taken by Zomato, an Indian restaurant search service that has partnered with messaging platform Hike Messenger to launch a chatbot that will allow users to place orders for food. The developer behind this bot sees it as “the future of conversational commerce,” saying that people are already used to quick messaging apps so it’s easier to put these bots there than on mobile websites where people have to navigate.
Conclusion
Conversational Commerce is about utilizing new tools that allow you to have conversations with your customers that are more personal, more human, and less about selling. These tools can help build customer loyalty by changing the way you interact with your customers to benefit all sides of the relationship-building process.
