In this blog, we will be discussing how to build a chatbot for your eCommerce online shopping store.
What is a chatbot for eCommerce?
Gone are those days when E-commerce businesses had to invest millions and millions in manual customer support operations. With the boom of AI-powered support tools, E-commerce businesses across the globe have now started to adopt AI Chatbots for various purposes like digitization, streamlining internal communications, providing conversational support to their customers, etc.
Chatbots that are curated or explicitly developed to handle operations in E-commerce businesses are called E-commerce bots or E-commerce chatbots or chatbots for eCommerce. Among the various benefits AI chatbots provide, the conversational support that bots facilitate is valued the most by E-commerce businesses. Artificial intelligence enables these chatbots to provide a human-like interaction experience to customers, making them feel valued and heard by the organizations they chose to do business with.
How to build a chatbot for eCommerce?
Building a Chatbot has never been easier, thanks to low-code or no-code solutions. Businesses can now leverage the advantage that low-code no-code solutions have to offer and quickly develop bots in no time and with less or no IT involvement. Chatbots can be developed and customized as per the particular needs of E-commerce businesses. Before heading to the developing stage, it is essential to identify what features your chatbots need to have. Here are a few Must-have features for every E-commerce Chatbot-
- Self-service portals
- Omnichannel support facility
- Access to a Knowledge Base that holds customer-related data
- NPL or Natural language Processing
- Machine learning capabilities
Things to consider before building a Chatbot for eCommerce
- Where exactly will the chatbot be put down or located?
- What other websites or applications can be connected to the E-commerce website? Ex- Home app, Company Website, etc.
- How many customer channels do you want to integrate? Ex-Facebook, Instagram, etc.
- How many use cases do the E-commerce business need to integrate and automate with the Chatbot?
Important Chatbot stats you should know –
- About 34% of online retail store customers accept AI chatbots, more so than in any other industry, making it a must-have for E-commerce businesses. (Source: Invesp)
- Chatbot E-commerce transactions are projected to amount to more than $100 billion by 2023 (Source – Juniper Research)
- Using abandoned cart chatbots alongside Messenger boosts E-commerce revenue by 7-25%. (Source – Chatbots Magazine)
- Chatbots can save businesses as much as 30% on customer support costs. (Source: IBM)
- Chatbots are predicted to save businesses 2.5 billion hours by 2023. (Source – Juniper Research)
- 54% of customers report companies to need to transform how they engage with them. (Salesforce)
- 80% of consumers who have engaged with a chatbot report it as a positive customer experience. (Uberall)
- Nearly one-quarter (22%) of respondents said they already trust chatbot recommendations for product purchases. (Cognizant)
- Business leaders claim chatbots have increased sales by 67% on average (Forbes).
Why your E-commerce business needs an AI Chatbot
Intelligent chatbots for eCommerce enable smooth operations and, at the same time, keep up with efficient workflows. Below are a few benefits of E-commerce chatbots.
They are available 24/7
Customers across the globe expect to receive immediate assistance during an emergency. Since Artificially Intelligent chatbots are not limited to office hours, they can provide and cater to customers’ needs around the clock. This not only adds to a positive brand experience but also helps improve customer satisfaction levels.
Chatbot for E-commerce is cost-effective
E-commerce chatbots do not require maintenance, monthly pay, etc, as they are only a one-time investment. They do an excellent job of not burning a hole in the budget. Chatbots make it easy for E-commerce businesses to drastically cut down on operational costs and customer support costs. In addition to cost-cutting, they also facilitate low-cost customer acquisition.
They facilitate effective lead generation
Catching hold of leads or effectively generating prospects is essential for any business. Businesses tend to spend a considerable share of profits on lead-generation processes alone. Having an E-commerce chatbot can not only facilitate effective lead generation through keyword tagging, but since it is a one-time investment, it can also be a financially savvy move. From significantly cutting down costs to generating leads that are much more likely to convert, chatbots can be of immense help.
They provide quick customer support
If there is one thing that customers respect, then that is their own time. Delayed remediation and slow customer support assistance can irritate customers and might also lead to lower customer retention levels. A study by Oracle states that about 69% of customers prefer intelligent bots because of their ability to provide immediate responses. Unlike traditional customer service, Intelligent chatbots are able to tackle a vast number of customer tickets within a matter of minutes, making the remediation process quick and efficient.
According to a report by Juniper Research, Chatbots are predicted to save businesses $ 8 billion by 2022. The need for chatbots in the E-commerce industry has now come to an all-time high. E-commerce chatbots like that of Chat360 give E-commerce businesses a competitive advantage and help them provide their customers with the best customer service experience. To learn more about E-commerce chatbots, click here to book a demo.
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