Chatbots are one of the technologies that are changing online trading right now. They are popular among buyers because they help to find the necessary goods, get a quick answer to a question of interest, etc. For online store owners, chatbots have huge potential.
Why? Due to changing consumer preferences. Now instant messengers are at the peak of popularity. Many of the most popular instant messengers have more users than social networks.
How about digging a little deeper? Here are some statistics:
- The global AI revenue will increase significantly from $1.4 billion in 2016 to $59.8 billion by 2025 according to Tractica.
- A study led by MarketsandMarkets reported that chatbot promotion is expected to grow from $703.3 million in 2016 to $3.172 million by the end of 2022.
Learn more: How Magento 2 can increase your sales?
What social networks are the most popular for chatbots today?
In addition, the average open rate of private messages is 98%. This is five times more than the average email campaign (20%).
Benefits of chatbots:
Reducing the number of managers
They are not at all difficult to imagine and use. They can work for quite a long time without human supervision. When using chatbots, fewer managers are involved in customer service than in a live messenger.
1. It is possible to use standard responses (scripts) that are sent to a specific message of a person.
2. The payment system can be connected to the chatbot and send payment details separately and control the payment.
Optimization of processes for attracting, qualifying, and developing leads
For many companies, the main channels for attracting potential customers are websites, social networks, and paid advertising. For example, due to the high volume of traffic, slowdowns are possible. Eventually, the resulting leads quickly lose interest, and the company loses potential customers. Chatbots, thanks to their instant response, are able not only to generate leads efficiently but also to keep their attention. They can:
- Increase the conversion of lead generation through interactive and exciting communication with the client on several platforms at once: Internet resources (advertising, landing pages, website), social networks.
- Optimize the lead qualification process. By asking natural non-intrusive questions, and then processing the received data using the tools of the CRM system, bots can identify the most qualified leads in real-time.
- Ensure balanced lead development. Each offer, reminder, or recommendation of the bot should give the client a sense of belonging. To do this, the bot uses the previous experience and preferences of the client in the current dialogs.
Grow sales by delivering a flawless customer experience
Thanks to the rational approach to leadership development, which we talked about above, with the help of chatbots you can effectively:
- Introduce new products and services.
- Provide customers with up-to-date information about the product, or for example, about delivery methods.
- Generate personalized offers.
- Provide customers with discount codes.
- Be available 24/7 – the client can always quickly contact support.
Learn more: 8 tips for promoting your product
Engaging when interacting with the client
Another major advantage of chatbots is the support of several communication channels at once. The bot can simultaneously work on the website, in the application, on social networks, and instant messengers such as WhatsApp, Telegram, or Facebook Messenger.
Today, a bot can do the same work that a human once did, but at the same time significantly increases efficiency. On average, well-designed bots show a user response rate up to 80-90%. Even not the most successful solutions can reach 35-40%.
Scalability
In addition to attracting and disposing customers to the brand, the chatbot functions as a powerful automation tool. Therefore, another advantage of the bot is scalability. When it comes to bot scalability, the first thing that comes to mind is probably the helpdesk.
With the help of a chatbot, you can give the client what he needs at each stage of the purchase process:
- For example, when each new lead passes the qualification, the bot can send him primary materials about the company or product
- Leads who are already in the middle of the journey – you can offer a free trial or something else that will stimulate the purchase.
- Well, the “hottest” clients who are ready to make a deal right now will be sent to the sales department by the bot.
What features to choose for a chatbot
At this stage, you should define the role of the chatbot in your online store. The bot can work like this:
- product Search Assistant
- order Status Checker
- support Representative
- assistant in the search for stocks
- personal shopping assistant
How to choose a platform for creating chatbots
Chatfuel
Users can set up dialogue rules and templates in the administrator’s office. Thanks to natural language processing technology, your future chatbot can recognize and understand customer requests.
Chatfuel will be the perfect solution for Facebook, Messenger, Telegram.
Cost: from $30.
Pandorabots
Online store owners often use this platform for B2B communication, advertising, marketing campaigns, customer support, etc.
Cost: Three plans that suit different types of businesses. The free plan includes up to 1,000 messages. The developer plan includes a sandbox builder with a charge of 0.00025 per message, while the enterprise plan is available to customers upon request.
Sendpulse
Use the SendPulse chatbot builder to create automated message chains for Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Telegram on the same platform. You will be able to develop a message script for each messenger and create a multi-channel subscription widget on the site so that users can choose a convenient communication channel.
Cost: from $7 per month, depending on the chosen plan.
Ready to increase sales in your business?
Thanks to chatbots, online store owners can attract more customers, keep them and make them adherents of their brand. There are a huge number of applications for integrating AI chatbots with social networks and online stores.