Whether you run an e-commerce store or handle marketing, keeping your customers engaged is important. From social media to your storefront and other digital touchpoints you established, it’s challenging to stay connected with customers throughout their buying journey. But there’s a savvy way to handle it all efficiently: chatbots.
These are the hottest trends in the e-commerce world, and according to a report by Business Insider Intelligence, they’re projected to drive global retail spending to a whopping $142 billion by 2024.
Confused about whether to add chatbots to your e-commerce store? This article will walk you through 9 reasons chatbots are crucial for your e-commerce success.
What Are Chatbots and Their Different Kinds
Chatbots are computer or software programs that simulate human conversation or “chatter” through voice or text interaction. These conversations happen based on some predefined conditions, events, or triggers around online customer’s buying journey.
Lately, chatbot technology has been constantly changing and improving. There are three main types of chatbots, and we’ll give you a quick overview of each without diving into all the technical stuff:
Simple Chatbots
A chatbot is a basic chatbot with limited abilities. Also known as rule-based bots, they’re highly task-specific. These follow the rules and pose queries based on pre-determined options. Consumers choose from these options to get the answers they need. Remember, they don’t understand the context or make inferences from previous conversations.
Let’s say you order a pizza. Simple chatbots will guide you through questions about pizza crust, toppings, and size until you provide your delivery address and payment details. Moreover, a chatbot can also help with order status. Simple chatbots ask for your order number and give you an update or a tracking link, depending on what you want.
Smart Chatbots
A smart chatbot is more advanced than a simple chatbot. They use technologies like conversational AI to understand human interactions and intentions better.
Smart chatbots can have more natural conversations, learning from past interactions and specific rules. For instance, shopping assistants in e-commerce stores. You can talk to them in a more free-flowing way, and they’ll understand your requests and provide recommendations based on your needs.
Think of Siri – it’s similar to smart chatbots. They can find relevant answers no matter how you ask the question.
Hybrid Chatbots
Hybrid chatbots are a mix of smart and simple chatbots. They can handle both rule-based tasks and understand the context and intent behind your messages.
Back to the pizza example, a hybrid chatbot can ask about pizza size and toppings like a simple chatbot. But it can also ask how you like your pizza (sweet, spicy, bland, very spicy) and suggest toppings based on your preferences.
One of the best things about these chatbots is that you can customize them to fit your needs. So, whether you need a simple, smart, or hybrid chatbot, you can choose the one that works best for your e-commerce business.
9 Reasons Why Chatbots Are Important For E-Commerce Businesses’ Growth
Competition is fierce nowadays and customers have less attention spam, so replying to their requests as soon as possible is crucial for the success of your business. From e-commerce and banking to logistics and automobiles, a large amount of industries are using chatbots. They provide the best way to give fast, efficient, and 24/7 responses.
They can do wonders for your e-commerce sales, brand loyalty, and customer service without costing you too much. It’s the perfect balance between cost and business optimization. Here are a few stats to prove how valuable chatbots can be for your e-commerce store:
- The chatbot market is predicted to grow to $15.5 billion by 2028, mostly because consumers want self-service and around-the-clock support.
- Gartner predicts that 25% of organizations will use chatbots as a major part of customer service. It’s also predicted that these numbers will continue to increase over the next years.
- Surprisingly, If people had to choose between waiting 15 minutes for a response, 62% of people would prefer chatting with a chatbot instead of a human.
- 88% of customers had a chat with a chatbot at least once in 2022.
If that doesn’t suffice, here are nine compelling reasons why you should have chatbots to grow your e-commerce sales and bottom line.
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Provide 24/7 Customer Service
As previously mentioned, when customers require assistance from an e-commerce brand, waiting 24-48 hours for a reply can be frustrating. Many customers won’t wait that long -they’ll go elsewhere.
This is where chatbots come in!
According to one study, 29% of customers want 24/7 help from chatbots, and 24% expect quick responses. Chatbots can provide support right away, making you keep considerably more of your leads and sales.
They can answer common questions and handle up to 80% of routine inquiries. Not only that but special chatbots can be created to develop your especially complex queries as well.
We all know how frustrating it is being a shopper looking for information about a product or shipping on your website, but there’s no live agent to help.
It always makes us want to leave and shop elsewhere. However, a chatbot can answer their questions instantly and turn a lead into a satisfied customer.
Chatbots use the information already on your website to provide answers, keeping customers engaged and more likely to make a purchase.
So, having 24/7 chatbot support can make a real difference for your business.
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Cost Savings
Did you know that businesses spend a staggering $1.3 trillion each year on customer requests? Chatbots can slash customer support costs by 30%.
Letting chatbots handle most – or even all – of your customer service tasks can help you save a ton of money. They’re highly efficient, so you won’t need as many humans to help. This means you can focus on improving your e-commerce website’s other crucial aspects like page checkout and layout. Plus, with chatbots, you can cut down on mistakes and provide top-notch customer service without breaking the bank.
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Collect Customer Feedback & Reviews
A chatbot is extremely efficient at gathering customer feedback. Think about the usual emails asking for product feedback. Or, when you walk into a store, there’s a representative who asks how your shopping went before you leave.
You’d be more likely to share your thoughts in the second scenario because it’s like having a conversation, and people enjoy being listened to.
With chatbots, you can proactively muster customer feedback across different channels. You can even ask customers to give reviews and ratings for your products. In addition, chatbots help you catch negative feedback before it goes public, so you can fix any customer problems before they make a fuss online.
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Upsell & Cross-Sell To Buyers
When you step into a brick-and-mortar store to buy jeans, you may end up leaving with a cool shirt, too. It’s because the salesperson does a great job not only upselling better jeans but also cross-selling other products.
A chatbot can do similar things online in real time. It can start a chat with customers based on what they’re looking for or what they’re checking out and suggest other options they might like.
Think of it as a friendly chat with a helpful salesperson.
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Reduce Abandoned Shopping Carts
Cart abandonment is a big problem in e-commerce. 69.99% of online shopping carts are abandoned, causing a $18 billion loss annually.
Most of the time, shoppers change their minds and leave the page without buying anything. Chatbots can help you prevent this from happening. They can step in when someone is about to leave the page or is taking too long to make a purchase. Chatbots will come in and offer assistance, like calculating shipping costs, giving discounts, or explaining return policies.
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Keep Consumers Engaged
Instead of just sending newsletters, try using chatbots to keep your customers engaged. Chatbots allow for two-way conversations, which are much more effective than one-way messages. You can send product how-to’s or show them products that match their interests after they’ve made a purchase.
Their responses can help you understand them better and bring them back to your store for more shopping.
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Provide Easy-Order Tracking & Updates
Another great use for chatbots is order tracking. Even though many e-commerce businesses send automated order updates, some customers prefer more control. Instead of bombarding your customers with a flood of messages and calls, use a chatbot. It can fetch data from your shipping service and your store’s backend to update customers on their order status. It can also provide a tracking link so customers can follow their orders or change the delivery details to suit their schedule.
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Make Your Buyer’s Journey Smooth
Customers love the hassle-free buying process and expect it to be smooth across various channels. This is where chatbots can be handy. They make the shopping journey easy by:
- Being there 24/7, so customers are never left in the dark
- Suggesting products customers will love so you can find what you want
- Giving helpful automated prompts to move to the next step
- Showing product demos and tips
- Offering discounts and promotions that match customers’ choices
With these features, customers will have no reason to say ‘no’ to their next purchase. Chatbots make shopping simple.
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Offer Multilingual Support
We mentioned earlier how chatbots can provide 24/7 support to customers worldwide. However, what good is a chatbot if it doesn’t speak the native language? No worries! Chatbots can offer multilingual support.
Most AI chatbots can chat in lots of languages so that you can go global with ease. No matter where your customers are from, you can give them the same great support – no language barrier in sight.
Chatbot Strategies to Use In E-Commerce
Chatbots are helpful assistants that remove barriers between you and your customers and make conversations seamless and proactive.
You can choose the best chatbot software for your e-commerce store if you want. However, to improve customer’s shopping experience and provide fast customer service, it’s best to know some industry-leading chatbot practices.
Here are a few chatbot strategies you can use to make your AI much more efficient:
- Identify Your Goals: Before going further, figure out what you want your chatbot to do. Write down your plans and ideas in a clear strategy. This will help you stay on track
- Determine Your Most-Used, Top-Traffic Channels: Check where most of your website visitors come from. Then, focus on adding your chatbot accordingly. Make sure to start with the most important ones
- Keep Chatbot Flow Intuitive And Simple: Don’t make your chatbot too complicated. When you install chatbots, think about what your customers will like. Ensure it’s easy for them to use
- Keep FAQs Ready: Many customers have similar questions. Keep a list of these common questions and answers. Then, add them to your chatbot. This will help your customers find information quickly
- Use Chatbots Across The Purchase Journey: Don’t limit your chatbot to just one part of the shopping journey. Think about how it can help customers before, during, and after they buy their favorite products
- Ensure Hand-Offs: Sometimes, your chatbot might not know the answer. Make sure there’s a way for customers to talk to a real person when needed
- Connect With CRM: Chatbots collect extensive customer data. To offer a more personalized experience, save this data in an organized way. You can do this by connecting your chatbot to your CRM system
- Track & Optimize: Don’t just install chatbots and forget about them. Keep an eye on how people use it and learn from their interactions. This way, your chatbot can help increase conversions and sales
Wrapping Up
Chatbots for your e-commerce store not only can lead to increased customer satisfaction but also improve sales and operational efficiency.
Nowadays, many e-commerce businesses choose to create chatbots from the ground up. However, this approach demands extra time and resources for setting up a chatbot on every channel before reaping its benefits.
If you want to connect with shoppers on social media and convert their conversations into sales, consider Profitable Media – your go-to chatbot agency installation and more!
They have a team of e-commerce growth experts and can manage all your e-commerce performing needs. They specialize in customized chatbots and shopping carts and can integrate virtually any service into your online store.
For more information, visit our website or contact us directly!
