In the digital commerce sector, an increasing number of eCommerce businesses are choosing to implement a 24/7 AI chatbot to enhance the shopping experience. Online shopping has streamlined the purchasing process for customers and made it possible to access a wide range of products and services within minutes.
Despite the growing numbers of online purchases, many customers still prefer shopping in traditional stores. To understand how to increase online sales, it is necessary to identify the reasons that bring customers to buy in physical stores. This, in turn, could help improve the online shopping experience and boost revenue.
The role of salesperson in the buying process
Despite online shopping being very easy, fast and often more cost-effective, many customers still prefer traditional in-store purchases. At the core of this phenomenon we can find the professional figure of the salesperson.
A salesperson plays a central role in the buying process, providing customers with assistance in finding the best product and offering advice among various purchasing options. First and foremost, salespeople help customers find the product they are looking for by knowing what options are available and by listening to the customers’ needs.
Customers turn to salespeople when they need help or advice and the quick support they receive enhances the shopping experience. The in-store experience becomes personalized, further contributing to increase sales and loyalty. Therefore, salespeople are crucial for traditional stores because they boost sales.
AI chatbot for online shopping: the advantages
Customers who shop online may feel the absence of a salesperson and this can make the shopping experience less enjoyable. This can also be one of the reasons why shoppers do not convert on eCommerce websites.
A first solution was found by introducing customer service, allowing potential buyers to get in touch via chat or phone with the staff. However, this solution has limitations: the operating hours of customer service are limited - and often exclude peak shopping hours and days like evening and during the weekend - and the human resources represent a high cost to the brand.
To overcome these limitations and meet customer needs, the first 24/7 virtual chatbots were introduced. The assistance provided by these digital tools was based on predefined responses, not always relevant to customer inquiries. Forget about them.
The next step is the introduction of AI chatbots. AI chatbots are one of the applications of artificial intelligence, which is finding an increasing number of uses in eCommerce. AI chatbots can be considered the evolution of the traditional chatbots we are accustomed to.
The main advantage of using artificial intelligence is the personalization of conversations. Responses provided by generative AI chatbots to customer inquiries are not stereotypical. Generative artificial intelligence comprehends the customer’s question and processes the response, taking into account both the information provided by the potential buyer and the (large amount of) data it has been trained on.
AI chatbots also have the advantage of progressively improving the quality of their responses, learning from each conversation. This explains why responses become increasingly precise, enhancing customer satisfaction with this tool.
Another strength of AI-powered chatbots is their 24/7 availability. Customers can ask questions at any time and receive satisfactory answers within seconds. Real conversations can take place, inquiring about product recommendations, payment methods, shipping details and much more.
AI shopping assistant on WhatsApp: how it can improve sales
AI chatbots are finding applications in various sectors and one of the primary areas of their use is in conversational commerce. Nowadays, customers seek engaging, personalized and simplified shopping experiences.
Online shoppers want the ability to choose from a wide range of competitively priced products and complete their purchases seamlessly. E-Commerce businesses are investing in simplifying the buying journey and exploring new sales channels to make online shopping even faster.
Conversational commerce enables customers to purchase products during real-time conversations. Customers can chat with the AI chatbot on the virtual store, identify products of interest and proceed with the purchase within the chat.
WhatsApp is one of the most widely used messaging applications globally and offers an excellent opportunity to connect with customers. TextYess has developed an AI shopping assistant on WhatsApp to allow eCommerce businesses to harness the full potential of artificial intelligence and optimize conversion rates through conversational commerce.
The results achieved by TextYess so far are promising: eCommerce businesses that have introduced this AI virtual assistant have reached a 25% conversion rate in chat. Providing customers with constant and personalized assistance can be an excellent choice to enhance the eCommerce experience and boost conversion rate. TextYess is among the best AI marketing tools that eCommerce businesses should use today to increase sales.
Increasing conversion rates and personalizing customer support with an AI chatbot can be achieved at a reasonable cost. Investing in traditional customer service and keeping it operational 24/7 can result in high expenses. AI chatbots are more cost-effective, deliver high-performance, are customizable to meet customer needs and are active 24/7 in any language.
The choice of WhatsApp for conversational commerce also has another advantage. This messaging application is already widely adopted by customers, so they are not required to install a new tool. Customers can effortlessly turn to the virtual assistant using their WhatsApp account, assured of receiving a response in less than ten seconds.
These are only a few aspects relative to the relevance of having an AI chatbot to offer 24/7 shopping assistance but should be enough to help brands reconsider their customer care expenses and the quality of their shopping assistant.