Technology has always been influencing changes in the retail industry. The internet made it possible to shop online and paved the way to the new industry called eCommerce which is backed by conversational commerce. Conversational commerce, also referred to as chat commerce or conversational marketing, offers online retailers a means of leveraging conversation to promote their products and services.
What Is Conversational Commerce
Messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, WeChat and others give customers the ability to interact with chatbots, human agents or both. As for businesses, conversational commerce allows for delivering their value through familiar conversational channels. What matters is that customer communication is customized, beneficial, and directs the consumer through the sales funnel to achieve its desired outcome. This can be achieved through the implementation of Сonversational AI solutions for eCommerce and Retail.
Mobile, in particular, is facilitating eCommerce growth and use more advanced technologies like chatbots and artificial intelligence in the shopping experience. AI chatbots for eCommerce can guide the future mix of product exploration, storytelling and service to make it possible to refine customer engagement and solve issues by connecting to a human assistant very rarely!
In this article, I will be examining current possibilities with chatbots in eCommerce and as well as ways brands already utilize them as a means of conversational commerce to benefit their organizations.
Conversational Commerce Statistics
- According to Statista, worldwide expenditure on conversational commerce channels is projected to reach approximately 290 billion U.S. dollars in 2025.
- Engaging customers in conversation has been shown to yield a better return on investment (ROI) and return on advertising spend (ROAS). In fact, inviting customers to participate in a conversation has led to impressive results, with 78% of individuals clicking on an ad that directed them to a conversation. Furthermore, out of that group, 75% went on to make a purchase.
- Experts predict that a positive past customer service experience will continue to be a significant factor in influencing purchase decisions, as indicated by Shopify’s “Future of Commerce” report, which found that 60% of shoppers consider it a driving factor. The report also revealed that 54% of shoppers believe that the ability to easily access customer service through their preferred channel is important.
Types of Conversational Commerce
Conversational commerce offers several ways for eCommerce businesses to engage with their customers, including the use of chatbots. One common method is to embed an eCommerce chatbot into messaging apps like Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. Voice assistants such as Siri, Alexa, and Cortana can also be utilized for voice payments and commands, which is a popular trend in mobile eCommerce. eCommerce AI chatbots and live chat options are also available to provide personalized customer support. Mobile eCommerce platform assistants, including onboarding bots to help users get started, are another useful feature of chatbot technology in Conversational commerce.
Quick tips to set up a chatbot for your eCommerce website.
Top Conversational Commerce Use Cases with Examples
Conversational Commerce Use Case #1: Product Details
At the F8 conference for developers, Facebook announced the release of a new API for working with Messenger. The API allows brands to interact with clients using chatbots, which has created a stir. Let’s see how KIA used this new communication channel.
The KIA team developed a Messenger bot as part of a pre-launch strategy for their new vehicle called Niro. With NiroBot, the team hopes to “make the new-car research process much easier and more efficient for shoppers”. To impress users with it’s clean and simple layout, the information is separated into sections such as Hybrid Engineering, Design, and Technology. The bot is packed with the information related to the car’s features and specifications. Also, it is backed with richly detailed photos which can be expanded to full screen. This allows car-lovers to really admire the car.
If you are a prospective buyer, the NiroBot will offer you a rundown of the car in a user-friendly manner. For environmentalists and prospective buyers on a tight schedule, the chatbot is a knight in shining armor.
Conversational Commerce Use Case #2: Payments
The latest data from Statista shows that the average value of U.S. online shopping orders as of the 2rd quarter in 2022 via desktop was $155.75. Smartphone and tablet purchases average order value was $112.29 and $95.51 respectively.
Smartphones accounted for 58% of retail website visits worldwide and generated 38% of e-retail shopping revenues. Chatbots are significantly important in relation to conversational commerce, but less important in the mobile payments space. Rather, it is one more opportunity for businesses to satisfy their customers’ needs, who drive the whole world with their smartphones.
Western Union Transferring Money Bot
Western Union like no other knows how difficult it would be to keep track of finances with all these varying exchange rates and fees while traveling. The Western Union bot comes in handy when transferring money internationally. The AI banking chatbot enable users to transfer money between bank accounts to almost anywhere in the world. If you’re near one of their retail agent locations, you can transfer in cash. The bot will provide you with the location details, then you will pay a small fee for the transaction, but not higher than any foreign ATM machine would charge you.
The President of Global Money Transfer at Western Union, shared his thoughts on the chatbot created by Western Union:
The Messenger platform allows Western Union to interact with our US customers where they are, when they need us, in the most natural, conversational way.
Conversational Commerce Use Case #3: Shipment tracking
When you have a business in the eCommerce segment most of customer support queries will be customers asking, “Where is my order?” Bots are a perfect tool for your clients to achieve better supply chain visibility. To provide the existing data integrate your bot with a supply chain or an ERP system. There could be some discrepancies such as when customers encounter shipped products and their deliveries are similar, however not worry. The reclamations and error processes will be handled by a bot automatically. The booking ecommerce chatbot developed by Master of Code for Aveda has led to a 7.67x increase in average weekly bookings since its launch.
Conversational Commerce Use Case #4: Back in stock notes
Tommy Hilfiger launched its TMY.GRL bot, which seems to be the first shopping assistant chatbot from a large clothing brand.
TMY.GRL guides a consumer’s through several looks and fashion collections, which is backed with the information about fashion styles. The bot is also powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to learn how to better understand customer habits and in this situation, fashion style. This will help the bot make better predictions and provide the specific information customers are looking for in the future.”
Want to learn more about how Generative AI personalizes the fashion industry? Read also: Generative AI Personalization for Fashion Retail
In a brick-and-mortar what you see is what you get, in the sense of items or products in stock. However in the virtual store it could present issues when several consumers buy one item simultaneously. This can lead to out-of-stock items and order cancellations due to lack of inventory. The bot can provide consumers with the information about getting the item out of cart or communicate when it is back in stock, in a user-friendly and pleasant way. That is exactly what Tommy Hilfiger did by leveraging conversational commerce:
Conversational Commerce Use Case #5: Marketing Chatbots
Bots can also be utilized for marketing and advertising purposes by being used as a valued tool for consumer discovery, as well as within blogs and social media. Let’s see the example.
Forkable is a food delivery service that offers lunches to offices. With the bot they launched, Forkable is able to learn users’ tastes and further curate and deliver a different lunch each day. The right advertising campaign based on the rich data history of each user makes orders relevant. Don’t like cabbage? Forkable knows that, and you can be sure that you will never get it your lunch again. When a company cares about what its consumers like and what they don’t and address their needs properly, everyone is happy. People are willing to pay for such care, and conversational commerce enabled through chatbots allow organizations to capture the data necessary to facilitate that type of customer care.
Technologies behind AI chatbot for Conversational Commerce
Conversation Design for Conversational Commerce
At Master of Code, we leverage conversation design to give AI chatbots for Conversational commerce the right human characteristics and a personality. Conversation design is crucial for bridging the gap between human representatives and chatbots as customer service agents. Some customer interactions are more complex and need personalized responses.
The eCommerce industry is becoming the most competitive industry all over the globe and success depends on the company’s ability to differentiate itself from the rest. And offering a unique sales experience within AI chatbots for Conversational commerce for the customer is one of the most effective ways of doing this. AI in eCommerce can offer a seamless and enhanced customer experience to thousands of customers daily 24/7.
Complete Guide to Conversational AI in CX
Master of Code uses conversation design to develop chatbots that are more conscious of customer demands and thus become better agents for your eCommerce company.
Machine Learning for Conversational Commerce
Infusing NLP with ML into Сonversational AI provides a human-like personalized conversation experience with a chatbot. That’s why Master of Code’s AI chatbots for Conversational commerce are based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) and leverage machine learning models, driving versatility and scope.
For eCommerce companies to trim customer service costs, they need chatbots that don’t need human intervention and can learn on their own and conversational AI makes this possible. With machine learning (ML), chatbots can handle a wider range of queries and make conversations personalized. IAI also enables developers to continuously expand a chatbot’s knowledge by simply pointing it to a database and effectively letting the NLP engine find answers to new customer queries.
Powerful Integrations for Conversational Commerce
Master of Code’s AI chatbots for Conversational commerce supports powerful integrations with third-party tools and software enabling eCommerce companies to expand conversational connectivity.
In addition to mainstream integrations with Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and popular business intelligence apps, Master of Code also provides custom API-based integration that enables companies to migrate and modernize existing chatbots. AI chatbots can also support native integration with voice technology, making them more inclusive and further expanding scope.
According to Juniper Research, the global expenditure on conversational commerce via over-the-top (OTT) channels like WhatsApp or WeChat is expected to increase from $13.3 billion in 2022 to $25.1 billion in 2023, representing an 89% growth. This upward trend will be propelled by verticals like retail and eCommerce, which are enhancing their online customer experience, resulting in greater online visibility and product availability.
Omnichannel Deployment for Conversational Commerce
Every chatbot at Master of Code is built as an omnichannel chatbot that can be deployed across multiple channels, including websites, email, mobile apps, and popular messaging apps – even as voice assistants. This ensures seamless access to information and greater employee productivity. On social media, omnichannel chatbots allow customers to engage with a brand across a variety of platforms, including but not limited to: Google RCS, Apple Business Chat, Facebook Messenger, SMS, WhatsApp, Google Assistant, Alexa, web and mobile chat.
Generative AI for Conversational Commerce
Generative AI technology can empower current conversational solutions for Conversational Commerce by providing more advanced and nuanced ways of processing customer queries. Businesses have two options: they can either build their own AI chatbot for eCommerce or add Generative AI capabilities to their existing chatbot to improve the overall customer experience. Generative AI can enable chatbots to understand and respond to natural language queries, generate personalized product recommendations, and ultimately help businesses streamline their customer service processes and improve sales conversion rates.
This technology leverages natural language processing and machine learning to generate responses that are tailored to the specific needs and preferences of each customer. By providing a conversational experience that closely mimics human interaction, Generative AI in eCommerce can enhance customer engagement and lead to higher sales conversion rates.
Benefits of Generative AI for Conversational Commerce chatbots for customers
- Personalized Customer Experience. Conversational AI chatbots for Conversational Commerce enable customers to find the right product through a natural language interface, providing a personalized shopping experience that increases customer satisfaction. With secure payment processing, customers can make purchases in just a few minutes without ever having to leave their messaging platform of choice.
- Faster Order Finding. By leveraging Generative AI techniques, conversational AI chatbots for Conversational Commerce can enhance the order-processing experience for eCommerce companies. With advanced order management capabilities, these chatbots can seamlessly guide customers through the purchasing journey within the chat window.Through a natural language interface, customers can easily discover and select the right products, and securely make purchases in just a few minutes, without ever leaving their preferred messaging platform. This results in a smoother ordering experience, leading to increased customer satisfaction and ultimately, higher sales for the eCommerce business.
- Improved Order Management. By utilizing Generative AI techniques, conversational AI chatbots can provide enhanced order management capabilities for eCommerce companies. This allows for a more streamlined ordering experience, as customers can complete their entire purchase journey within the chat window.Advanced order management AI further ensures that orders are fulfilled efficiently and accurately, reducing the potential for errors and delays. This leads to increased customer loyalty and higher sales for eCommerce businesses.
- Easier Order Tracking. By leveraging Generative AI techniques, conversational AI chatbots enable customers to track their orders through a simple messaging interface. These chatbots can be deployed on any popular messaging app, website, or even SMS, providing customers with a convenient way to keep track of their purchases.
Technological Expertise
The Master of Code team consists of conversational AI professionals with decades of experience and unmatched proficiency across a wide range of technologies and methodologies. Some of the platforms and tools we use to build intelligent bots include:
Wrapping up
Conversational commerce is a growing trend in eCommerce, where businesses use chatbots and messaging platforms to communicate with their customers in real-time. It has become an important tool for businesses to connect with their customers and provide personalized experiences. Master of Code Global excels in Conversational AI services, a crucial asset for businesses embracing Conversational commerce. By adopting best practices for Conversational commerce, businesses can increase customer engagement, improve customer satisfaction, and ultimately drive sales.
It’s important for eCommerce businesses to adopt best practices for Conversational commerce to stay competitive in today’s market. By providing a convenient and personalized experience for customers, businesses can differentiate themselves from their competitors and build customer loyalty. Additionally, with the rise of mobile shopping, Conversational commerce has become an essential tool for businesses to reach their customers on-the-go.
Increase avg. weekly conversion in 7.67x with chatbot launch for your eCommerce solution.
