Chatbot!!
It sounds like a robot from a Sci-Fi movie. Isn’t it?
NO. It’s no longer a Bot from a science fiction movie. Businesses integrate chatbots to help their customers in ordering food, ticket booking, online payment, etc. Besides, in the eCommerce industry, chatbots have become a revolutionary tool in customer service.
A study reveals that globally the conversational AI market size was $4.8 billion in 2020, which is assumed to grow to USD 13.9 billion by 2025 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 21.9%. But, specifically, the chatbot market value was $17.17 billion in 2020, and surprisingly it will hit $102.29 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 34.75%.
Nowadays, people prefer to chat instead of voice calling when seeking customer support. Messaging has become a trend. A study by Facebook revealed that at the end of 2018 78% of the smartphone users worldwide have been messaging every month. By the end of 2021, the messaging through smartphone apps will be 23% globally.
In your eCommerce store, customer support is one of the essential components to continue your business successfully. But 24/7 customer support isn’t possible if you have a small business like selling T-shirts online. Hiring people for 24 hours to support your customers is costly. Here is where the chatbots take the stage.
In this article, I will discuss what chatbot is and how chatbot automation can increase your sales.
What is a Chatbot?
A chatbot is a software or program designed to carry out a conversation or provide virtual service via auditory or textual communication with a person or customer. The program works successfully after putting a predefined set of codes or possible fixed conversations, questions, and answers. Chatbots are now serving industries like medicine, human resource, travel and tourism, real estate, banking, food tech, etc.
Chatbots ⎼
- Reduce the cost
- Don’t get tired of repetitive tasks
- Handle multiple clients at a time
- Support 24/7, 365 days non-stop
- Can learn or update
- Ensure customer satisfaction
- Build customer loyalty
- Recommend Relevant Products
- Sell Your Products
Chatbot Automation For Your eCommerce Store!!!
At the very beginning, you might feel a little weird and doubtful about the success of chatbot automation in your business. Though in the last few years, chatbots have played significant roles in the eCommerce industry. Chatbots are now helping companies gain undeniable traction, kickstart sales, and meet target revenue.
#1 Reduce The Cost
Your B2B eCommerce business handles a satisfying number of customers regularly. From time to time, your clients seek support in making decisions or answers to their questions regarding your products or service.
Day and night have no difference when it comes to online shopping. So, you recruit people for customer service 24/7, which is costly, no doubt. And if it is a startup business, hiring people for customer service is not a cost-effective business strategy.
A study by IBM reveals that businesses globally attend 265 billion customer service calls every year. It costs $1.3 trillion to provide the service. According to Chatbots Magazine, Implementing chatbots or conversational virtual agents can reduce customer service costs by up to 30%.
A study by Oracle showed, 56% of the businesses say that engagement through messaging is ROI friendly, and 58% say it reduces the customer service costs.
Integrating a chatbot lets you provide consistent, error-free, and satisfactory support to your customers in a more cost-effective way. The sales continue without you being present all the time.
#2 Don’t Get Tired of Repetitive Tasks
Repetitive tasks are annoying and tiresome for everyone. The boredom often leads to errors in work or production or any service. A chatbot is capable of doing repetitive tasks without making any mistake within the fixed and right time.
#3 Handle Multiple Clients at a Time
No matter how many employees you have to provide customer service, each individual can serve a limited number of customers at a time. This limitation is the opposite characteristic of a chatbot. A chatbot can serve multiple clients simultaneously without making any mistake or taking a break.
The best thing about a chatbot is none of your customers will be left unattended. So, the chance of missing sales or losing customer satisfaction is low.
#4 Support 24/7, 365 Days Non-stop
64% of the internet users consider chatbots’ 24 hours service as the best feature, according to Drift. An Oracle study showed, 50% of the people expect 24/7 service from a business.
A chatbot is programmed to work 24/7 relentlessly. Unlike humans, it doesn’t feel tired or needs a break. and is capable of providing uninterrupted services. So, customers are always satisfied when they receive expected assistance. Also, the sales need not stop even for a minute.
#5 Can Learn or Update
Artificial Intelligence (AI) based chatbots are one step ahead of their predecessors. They can learn and update independently by the interaction with the customers. Besides, throughout the interactions, AI-based bots can construct an answer without having predefined input of information.
Moreover, you can put an algorithm to empower your AI chatbot to develop a sense to learn from each customer individually and remember their preferences for the next time. An omnichannel chatbot is also possible to create to provide customer service across all the mediums, i.e., Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Instagram, along with your eCommerce store.
An employee is needed to train every time there is an update in your business and strategies. The best thing about AI-based chatbots is – they are programmed to learn and update automatically. There are certain limitations, but can be overlooked easily.
#6 Ensure Customer Satisfaction
Human beings are emotional by nature. Emotions are the reasons behind mood swings. Sometimes good, sometimes bad – based on whatever a person is going through in his or her personal life.
In a sensitive department like customer service, there’s a tremendous chance of losing an existing or potential customer due to the lack of mental involvement of the service provider. A person with a bad mood may not answer all the customers’ questions in a good way. Which means – it is a disaster. And when it comes to customer service, there is no word like “compromise” exists.
Chatbots, on the other hand, are programmed to follow the rules and orders. It does not matter if a customer is rude in the conversation, but a chatbot will never act rudely, as it is not programmed to do that. The chance of losing customer satisfaction gets low with a chatbot integrated into the business. It is a Win-Win.
#7 Build Customer Loyalty
Customer loyalty or customer retention is a sure-fire for the success of any business. Your existing customers need constant support and service. A chatbot integrated with the system will provide the customers 24/7 instant support, assist and recommend products if necessary.
Outgrow study showed, 53% of people would purchase from a business they can send messages to. Cognizant reveals 69% of people prefer chatbots to get instantaneous messaging responses. So, it indicates that a customer will be satisfied when receiving instant support or assistance in their time of need. It is easier to turn a happy customer into a loyal customer.
#8 Recommend Relevant Products
Customers often go through catalogs and spend time looking at relevant products before they finally choose to purchase the product they want. Though, it is a lengthy process and often annoying for them. Even customers might abandon the shopping cart without finding the product they were searching for.
Time is valuable.
A programmed chatbot can recommend or suggest relevant products and save customers valuable time. In this case, a chatbot is working as a shopping assistant. Besides, it decreases the time of the tedious and lengthy shopping process.
#9 Sell Your Products
At present, it is not a surprise anymore that a chatbot can sell your product. It significantly increases the sales rate as well!!!
How so?
As we have already mentioned earlier, customers do not have time to select from countless products. It often makes them confused enough even to leave without buying anything.
Similar product recommendations let customers choose the product they need without getting frustrated. The faster they can decide, the faster the product is sold. So, undoubtedly the sales rate is going higher.
Final Thoughts
There are many ways to increase your store sales, and chatbot integration is one of them. To make your customer service automated, the inclusion of a chatbot takes the process one step forward because a chatbot itself is automated.
According to Conversocial, 71% of customers are happy to use chatbots only if it improves their customer experience. Also, 41% of customers believe that chatbots provide better customer service and 48% feel comfortable interacting with bots.
So, it is already clear chatbot automation has succeeded in achieving a different level of customer satisfaction. It can provide error-free customer service and continue your eCommerce store sales even when you are sleeping.