Relevance of AI Chatbots in the E-commerce Industry

eCommerce chatbots are digital solutions that simulate conversations to aid and support customers during their buyer’s journey. It is a medium for store owners to engage their prospects and delight them through an immersive shopping experience. 

Given that nearly 70% of the chatbots will be retail-based and will drive eCommerce transactions to USD 112 billion by 2023, AI chatbots are geared to take over the eCommerce industry by the storm! Here is an overview of how chatbots can augment the capabilities of your eCommerce store and unlock more value from it.

First, What Makes AI Chatbots Better Than Regular Chatbots?

For a layman, chatbots and AI chatbots may appear one and the same. However, that assumption is far from the truth.

The former purely operate on predefined rule-based algorithms, while the latter leverage machine learning to gain contextual and intent-based information to reach decisions dynamically. As a result, AI chatbots are better equipped at offering personalized and relevant services and can perform a wide range of activities. Furthermore, they are a self-learning module that develops continuously and becomes smarter as they capture and work with more data over time.

In a nutshell, you can think of AI chatbots as a more sophisticated version of your regular chatbots.

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How can the eCommerce Industry Benefit from AI-Powered Chatbots?

AI-driven eCommerce bots can benefit your business in the following ways:

• Reduced operational costs and dependence on human resources.
• Increased sales through higher conversion rates, reduction in abandoned carts, accurate sales forecasting, etc.
• Unlocking more revenue channels through product discovery, cross-selling, and upselling.
• Optimization of routine and repetitive tasks.
• Improved customer experience and higher satisfaction rates.
• Better customer retention and reduced customer acquisition costs.
• Personalization of content to engage customers and inculcate loyalty.
• 24×7 customer support with instant response and zero latency.

Use Cases and Applications of AI Chatbots in eCommerce

Conversational chatbots are multi-variate solutions for e-commerce businesses. They find widespread application across various verticals, such as:

1. Generate Leads

AI chatbots can be powerful lead generation tools in the eCommerce industry. They can use intelligent prompts at every touchpoint to collect more data on their prospect and profile them intelligently.

2. Drive Conversions

In addition to capturing lead information, AI chatbots can harness this data to understand buyer intent and convert lookers into bookers.

3. Create Awareness

eCommerce chatbots can share product details and make recommendations based on the buyer’s preferences and requirements. AI chatbots come with powerful upselling and cross-selling capabilities.

4. In-Store Assistance

Whether it is tirelessly addressing repetitive customer queries or processing orders through chat or displaying order status, AI chatbots can prove to be the ultimate solution for eCommerce stores.

5. Targeted Marketing

Have a price-sensitive customer who is checking out a product? Lure them in and nudge them through the sales funnel with your chatbot offering deals and promotions specific to their tastes.

6. 24/7 Customer Service

Customer service is one of the common applications of AI chatbots in the eCommerce industry. They are available 24/7, 365 days a year, and retain human touch through technologies like Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Natural Language Understanding (NLU).

Future of AI Chatbots in eCommerce

AI chatbots are quite an upgrade from the clunky button-based chatbots that possessed limited potential. Plus, they top off the advantages offered by regular chatbots with additional benefits ranging from deep learning capabilities, scalability, multilingual support, omnichannel presence, voice readiness, and more!

As a result, the use of artificial intelligence for powering eCommerce chatbots has propelled conversational commerce – a new and upcoming segment within the eCommerce industry. 

So brace yourself because an AI-powered chatbot revolution is here!