As a $2 trillion market, e-commerce is expected to grow up to $3 trillion by 2027, with a significant focus on AI [1]. With the use of AI in e-commerce, businesses can get more accurate predictions about future sales, provide an enhanced consumer experience, help re-target churned clients, and increase conversions.
On top of that, consumers get a smoother and more convenient experience with conversational AI. As a result, They’ll be more willing to purchase as the overall process is seamless and fast.
Let’s discover more about conversational AI and how it will transform e-commerce.
Definition of Conversational AI
The use of technologies like chatbots and AI assistants, that consumers can speak with and get a reply from, is called conversational AI. It allows brands to provide their customers with a pleasant experience while shopping.
The principle of conversational AI’s work
Chatbots can intervene whenever a user struggles with something while surfing a website. It can be anything from being stuck on a product page or hesitating at the checkout. Consumers usually need a slight push or a piece of advice at such moments, and AI-based chatbots are perfect for addressing those kinds of situations.
Expectations of E-commerce Consumers
Nowadays, consumers are well-informed about their needs, they like quick answers and swift shopping flows. They prefer looking for answers online rather than jumping on a call with a customer support agent and require quality content that can help them resolve the query themselves.
Moreover, with constantly emerging brands in the overcrowded e-commerce market, consumers expect personalized experiences that help them make decisions faster and brands need to offer instant engagement touchpoints to boost e-commerce fulfillment. They need solutions that take previous data such as purchase details or previous conversations with the business into account and won’t make users repeat themselves while reaching out for help.
Traditional vs AI e-commerce
Outstanding consumer experiences depend on effortless purchasing journeys. While this is not something new, many companies still face difficulties. It happens due to outdated communication processes and choosing traditional e-commerce over AI-backed capabilities.
A traditional website in e-commerce serves as a catalog. People flick through the site, not sure whether they will find the item they are looking for or not. A conversational site, on the contrary, is more like a virtual shopping assistant. It offers personalized assistance and guides visitors toward their desired products. It collects every user touchpoint and feedback to develop custom-made offers. On a conversational e-commerce website, recommendations for cross-selling and upselling are built based on client preferences, budget, and the problems they faced before.
What is The Impact of AI on E-commerce?
The introduction of conversational AI enables brands to improve consumer service and have smarter conversations with consumers. It also provides them with relevant content and creates a personalized consumer journey by:
1. Incorporating Digital Sales Agents
With the help of conversational AI, an e-commerce brand will have the opportunity to provide its clients with a digital assistant. The chatbots can understand the requirements of potential customers, address customer queries, suggest the right items, and guide them through the whole process.
A lot of people choose self-service when seeking product questions or delivery guidelines. In this case, digital agents can make the process smooth and efficient. This improves user interaction with the brand and drives better sales.
2. Providing Voice-Enabled Search Queries
AI-powered voice-based search capabilities are making things a lot easier for consumers. It helps consumers perform basic functions such as product searches, placing orders, or checking their loyalty points. Voice-based queries eliminate the waiting time and can be used 24×7. As a result, conversational AI becomes a real game-changer when it comes to consumer-centric practices.
3. Improving Conversion and Lead Generation
With the use of conversational AI, businesses can get better conversions and acquire more leads with proactive messaging. AI-powered chatbots can interact with consumers, capture important data and use it for further segmentation. As a result, prospects get more customized messages and personalized product recommendations.
Chatbots also allow integration with agent-facing systems. Hence, all consumer details and conversations can be synced with calendars, CRM systems, and automation tools. Powered by conversational AI, brands have all the possibilities to reach more prospects and convert them into loyal consumer base.
4. Personalizing Messaging and Recommendations
While your website can generate quite a good amount of traffic, not all people who visit it end up at the checkout. AI-powered chatbots can help you with making the most out of every consumer visit and convert them into purchases.
Conversational AI customizes messages, products, and promotions with data gathered from site visits. Instead of irrelevant recommendations, chatbots show what people are looking for when they surf your site. The latter enables a more personal approach rather than random advertising.
5. Eliminating Abandoned Carts
E-commerce businesses across the globe massively struggle with abandoned carts. The average rate for abandoning carts is over 70%, with companies losing sales for the amount of $18 billion for this reason.
This is where conversational AI comes in handy. The latter allows brands to re-target prospects and remind them about their abandoned carts. It encourages them to complete a purchase by offering a pleasant discount for the viewed goods. As people are usually viewing products from several brands at the same time, it is small details that make a difference. If your brand is the first one to remind people about left items in the cart and do it in the right way, you will be the one they stick to when deciding where to buy.
6. Improving Consumer Brand Experience
Conversational AI implementation can be executed through a number of channels. Brands can implement it on their website, their social media, 3rd party apps. They can do it with voice, text, or visualization.
Given that, brands are able to map consumer lifecycle, from brand discovery to the first transaction, customer engagement, and long-term loyalty programs. It makes it possible to reach people at the most vital touchpoints, offer relevant products and provide enhanced support.
With conversational AI, brands contact consumers at their chosen time and communication channel. They can also choose a language to speak to them for utter convenience. Such attention to detail helps brands differentiate and stay competitive.
7. Providing Positive Pre- and Post-sale Experience
With consumers looking for around-the-clock access to all types of information, brands need to work hard to provide customers with all required support. Therefore, it’s no wonder companies are now looking for ways to improve call center agents’ performance. They need to ensure agent availability and have the ability to address all concerns.
To make things easier, e-commerce brands need to utilize chatbots. These can be used to address repetitive and simple queries. Chatbots provide timely and efficient responses for those in need and do it 24/7. They get the pressure off the agent’s shoulders and ensure consumer satisfaction.
Chatbots are great both for the pre- and post-sale experience. They can assist customers with making orders, tracking parcels, and submitting feedback. When consumers get what they need in the most effective way, they are not only satisfied but are more likely to stay with the brand for future purchases.
Conversational AI Limitations
While the interface of conversational AI is obvious, there still exist several obstacles to realizing its full potential.
There are endless inputs in a conversational interface that are either unexpected or cannot be identified. Questions people can ask when speaking with a bot are unlimited. Languages they use in voice interactions can be unclear due to outside noise, a bad connection, or unusual pronunciation. Voice-based bots might misinterpret what people are trying to say if the system of speech recognition is not working properly.
When creating voice-based virtual agents, brands need to think like their consumers. You need to think through the whole flow of discussing a product and anticipate various questions to respond accordingly. Gather feedback after each session to track gaps in communication and improve.
Another thing to consider is privacy. If you are to rely on chatbots when it comes to collecting user information, the latter should be well-protected. People need to feel safe when sharing their personal details.
Wrapping Up
“We love our bot because he is hardworking, always helpful, and available 24 hours a day. It makes him an indispensable part of our small customer service team.” –
Nina Toiviainen, Senior Manager Service Delivery, Booking.com |
With growing e-commerce and a trend for personalization, brands need to consider conversational AI. The latter helps to establish worthwhile connections with people and improve loyalty toward the brand. AI-based technologies use virtual shopping assistants and chatbots to drive increased brand growth. Conversational AI chatbots makes it possible to engage with consumers across a number of different platforms. It helps to convert them into loyal clients and provide them with top-notch customer service.
Finally, with the help of conversational AI, companies get a chance to automate many inner functions, therefore cutting operational expenses and further driving up business revenue.
