While chatbots are still more popular, all businesses are trying to figure out whether using a conversational agent would be relevant on their website.
The question arises especially for e-merchants, for whom the customer experience on the site is more than decisive.
When building your online store, the question may arise whether to integrate a chatbot to help you with customer relationship management.
Chatbot: What is it exactly?
The word chatbot is made up of two words: “chat” (online conversation) and “bot” (half of the word robot). It is a computer program capable of interacting with people by simulating and processing written or spoken conversations with a human interlocutor.
A chatbot can be a rudimentary program set up to answer simple questions. But there are also much more sophisticated devices that are used as digital assistants. This type of program is capable of scaling through the information and processes gathered over time and lends itself to high levels of customization.
Chatbots are used everywhere on the web and provide support to internet users. For example, on Facebook Messenger, 3 billion people use conversational chatbots every month.
E-commerce chatbot helps customers to make better choices and get clear answers to their questions. When people are well informed, they feel confident and continue to order from your online store.
What are the types of chatbots?
Currently, chatbots are used in almost all business sectors. It is an effective tool which is becoming essential in the digital world. Discover different types of chatbots that differ in their usefulness and functions.
1. Basic Chatbot Model
There are two basic chatbot categories each with a specific purpose and mode of operation.
text interaction chatbot
It works on a command basis without Artificial Intelligence. Thanks to a pre-installed menu of options, questions are predefined and displayed according to sequential logic. This is the most basic type of chatbot that works well if you want to answer simple questions without the intervention of an advisor.
Text interaction chatbots to give you a brief overview of a brand, answer questions about options or delivery times, inform customers about products or services, but also a method of use, a recipe or a user manual allows sharing.
This is a non-exhaustive list as this category of chatbot can answer all the standard queries to unlogged customer service.
Chatbot with artificial intelligence
It is a tool with more advanced functionalities that allows for feedback on more complex topics and which usually requires the intervention of a human consultant.
They have the ability to understand questions and give specific answers. Also called cognitive bots, these chatbot models can learn from past interactions to improve and respond more accurately.
2. Chatbot model based on user needs
Some chatbots are configured to meet specific needs to allow a company to meet the needs of specific customers for a well-defined area. These are the following chatbots:
Customer Contact Chatbot for Instant Reply
It’s an interesting tool that allows you to quickly answer your potential customers’ questions to build their trust and help them find the products or services they’re looking for.
Internet users no longer need to wait for answers to their questions. Using this type of chatbot allows you to promote service, increase sales and build customer loyalty. this is a e-commerce chatbot Efficient which guarantees visitor satisfaction.
customer support chatbot
Ideal for the world of fashion, cosmetics, travel and online sales, this e-commerce chatbot Responds to customers’ queries effectively.
When customers find the product they are looking for and the items they may be interested in, they are more likely to buy it.
Thus, this tool will boost the sales of your online store. Thanks to artificial intelligence, chatbots can present personalized feedback to each customer. Robot’s database is rich with questions.
Conversational chatbots for your marketing tasks
Conversational chatbots can be used for your marketing campaign: sending and responding to emails from your potential customers.
The ads you broadcast automatically thanks to these types of tools will help you attract Internet users to want to consult your web pages. You can use other channels like social media to reach target consumers.
Effective in increasing your online sales, this type of e-commerce chatbot will help you reach your sales goals faster.
3. Social Media Chatbots
The development of information and communication technologies (ICT) has increased the importance of companies’ interactions with their customers on social networks. Using the appropriate chatbot allows you to answer your customers’ queries more quickly on Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc.
This tool helps the customer when he has a problem with a product or when he needs information. The speed of response is always appreciated.
4. Internal Chatbot
These are robots whose purpose is to respond to your employees within your company. These tools also help you improve your company’s image with potential candidates when there is an opportunity or for new employees that need to be used in a work environment.
What additional value does the chatbot bring to the site? e-commerce?
There are many advantages to using an e-commerce chatbot: it promotes interaction with customers, makes it possible to automate certain tasks, and facilitates reminders. It also helps you consolidate your marketing operations, but also helps you improve and automate customer service.
When people ask questions online, responses are faster with e-commerce chatbots. Whatever the day and time, they get a concise answer and can make a decision more quickly to buy the products that interest them.
Hence sales are boosted and even the payment system can be directly integrated with the chatbot.
Using an e-commerce chatbot helps you increase customer engagement and answer large volumes of queries without worrying about the consultant getting stressed. The chatbot can operate 24 hours a day and allows your employees to focus on other important tasks.
Chatbot support during the customer journey
Several studies look at the potential of chatbots for merchant sites. Let’s try to understand how a chatbot can serve your e-commerce site at each stage of the customer journey.
arrival on site
A chatbot can be doubly useful as soon as your potential customer reaches one of your landing pages:
- He can send a welcome message to the visitor to start the conversation;
- He can direct it to a specific page as per his request.
This can have a beneficial effect on your bounce rate: Internet users visiting new sites sometimes feel a little lost, which can prompt them to leave immediately. By welcoming and guiding them, you limit this risk.
read also How much does it cost to build a chatbot?
product research
As an e-merchant, you must be familiar with the concept of cart abandonment. If it is possible to relaunch customers who leave the site before paying, the ideal is still to avoid it in order to reduce the incidence.
And a chatbot can help you:
- Firstly, by making product suggestions based on customer needs;
- But also by offering coupons to promote certain products or get conversions.
get opinion and advice
Once a product is noticed by your customer, they will look for additional information to support their choice.
Here again, the chatbot is in play:
- He himself can, in a standardized manner, answer simple questions that visitors may ask;
- In case of more complex requests he can redirect the customer to a competent person (Account Manager).
Now the way for your customer to make a purchase is cleared.
After purchase
Once payment is confirmed, your job is not done: it is very important to get feedback from your customers in order to not only improve yourself, but to be able to display positive reviews on your products. Online buyers rely heavily on it.
The chatbot can offer buyers suggestions, comments or complaints.
read also :ecommerce: How to create a converting product sheet?
Added Value to Chatbots for Ecommerce Sites
While a conversational agent will never replace the actual relationship with a human, chatbots have some advantages that can greatly improve your customer support.
Firstly, the robot can interact with multiple visitors 24 hours a day. Available at all times, unlike humans, you will be able to help all visitors to your website, regardless of their number and regardless of the time zone in the country they come from.
Another advantage of this is that it can ask qualified questions to identify the most serious prospects and generate leads.
Finally, it does a targeted follow-up of the prospects who are most likely to convert.
read also :motive: 10 chatbots with basic usage
Chatbots are the future
E-commerce has become highly competitive in today’s environment. Differentiate yourself from your competitors by implementing a chatbot.
There are many tools available to build your chatbot, such as:
In 2022, 85% of customer-brand interactions will involve the use of chatbots.
As an e-merchant, it is essential to upgrade yourself compared to your competitors, even to start thinking about tomorrow!
At this stage, studies show that more and more e-merchants are setting up e-commerce chatbots. In fact, as of today, 4 out of 5 companies are already using chatbots on their e-commerce sites!
What are you waiting for to set up yours?
read also How to humanize your site’s chatbot?
our tip
Want to build your own chatbot? Find a freelance developer on Codeur.com and provide your company with a smart and personalized chatbot.
To do so, submit your project to Codeur.com in just a few clicks and for free and get instant multiple quotes from professional freelance service providers.