How to Drive Online Retail Sales with a Chatbot

Technology is moving so rapidly that it can be hard for e-commerce businesses to keep up with the latest tools. Some of those, however, can improve an organization’s customer experience and boost revenue - such as chatbots.

More than ever before - purchasing clothes, ordering food to hiring a service, e-commerce has become an important part of every consumer's life. With companies now pivoting to this revenue stream, and the internet widening the opportunity for the creation of even further companies, competition is now even greater than before.

This means customer service is hugely important. No longer can your product help you stand above the crowd, and it’s more than likely you have multiple competitors in your market space. Top-notched customer service will increase sales, encourage word-of-mouth and reviews, and help you build a loyal customer base.

Customer service, however, is no longer about simply answering phone calls. Brands must set themselves apart with better shopping experiences, and easy access to both purchase and issue resolution. This is where chatbots can help.

How does a chatbot work?

Chatbots have changed the way many companies approach customer service. 

A chatbot is a computer program that can use AI to interact with people. This can take place either through a chat window on a website, an app on a mobile device or by voice over the phone.

Through the use of complex algorithms, chatbots are capable of answering tier one questions, creating a back-and-forth dialogue that is similar to that of a human representative, and collate enough information from a customer to redirect a query to the relevant representative or department that can better resolve their issue.

Advantage Communications has listed three ways chatbots can help drive online sales:

1 - Lower customer effort

Chatbots are an omnichannel solution that uses an algorithm to provide the best possible service for a customer. Whether your customer is on an app on their phone, their laptop or their tablet, a chatbot will be able to communicate with them. This gives you more opportunities to interact directly with your customer.

Lowering customer effort is now one of the main priorities for online retailers. A faster, easier, seamless experience will encourage consumers to revisit your website for further purchases and, in turn, will encourage brand loyalty.

2 - On-Demand Availability

The business world operates over many time zones, in different territories and with numerous competitors in each field. With companies now battling for customers, consumers are now requiring that their questions are answered immediately and at all hours of the day.

Fortunately, chatbots provide your business with this opportunity. Consumers can have a conversation with a chatbot at any time for as long as they want - chatbots simply never sleep. 

Don’t worry if your business has a sudden surge in customer questions. Unlike the average human that can only work on three or four tasks at any given time, chatbots are able to work on thousands of queries at the same time. If customers know they can count on your service, they will come back for more purchases.

3 - Product Recommendations

Chatbots can make use of innovative AI technologies. One of these is machine learning, which allows chatbot to collate data which can be used to accurately predict consumer outcomes. This has some significant sales benefits.

With machine learning, chatbots are able to create a personalized approach to customers. They can use data such as customer demographics and past transaction data to create product recommendations for each person. This automated approach to marketing will help drive online sales.

Chatbots won’t replace services, but they do assist and support customer representatives to help drive online sales. They can vastly improve the customer experience and allow agents to work on higher-value tasks.

Ready to learn more about implementing chatbots for your customer service delivery, and find out more about outsourcing your call center? Contact Advantage Communications today.