Conversational Commerce isn’t a new buzzword anymore. Rather, it’s a business imperative that has transformed how people shop.
The axiom ‘communication drives commerce’ is proved right when businesses start a dialogue with consumers. It’s the conversations that cement your bond with them. This includes contextual and personalized engagements as part of an overall customer engagement strategy.
Conversation-driven commerce has always existed; however, it was reintroduced as an important aspect of marketing, sales, and service in 2015, when Chris Messina coined the term conversational commerce.
Fun fact: He invented hashtags (#) in 2007, which we all liberally use on social media.
Unrestrained digitization and the sudden availability of multiple platforms as shopping avenues for customers have upped the level of competition among businesses. Selling merchandise isn’t the sole objective anymore. Brands are strategizing harder than ever to tailor intimate and professional experiences to make customers wow!
Commerce has transformed. Service and support have become intelligent, contactless, efficient, and technology-driven. Messaging has also transformed. It is no longer about communication; rather, it has become transactional.
For 2022 and beyond, you don’t need a crystal ball to see that an omnichannel engagement strategy that meets customer expectations is the way forward. Today's customers are at the intersection of multiple touchpoints where brands meet tech through apps, artificial intelligence (AI), bots, messengers, etc. They demand smart communication with a human touch—that’s the bottom line.
Also Read: What Are Customer Touchpoints – And Why They Matter
Conversations are instrumental in business growth and are very important for service teams, too. Virtual assistants, AI-powered chatbots, and Live agent support via text and messenger platforms are tools that aid customers through their journey. Hence, they have a direct impact on your organization’s overall customer satisfaction (c-sat) score.
Customer support has evolved from automated chatbots to conversations, where the interactions are not just limited to chat interfaces but also include various messaging platforms like smart email responses, automatic follow-up messages, AI-driven communication technology, virtual assistants that use data, machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), and a variety of input signals ranging from text and touch to voice. Such technology uses AI to mimic human interactions and tries to remain with the customer through their brand journey.
Consumers today know that businesses’ strategies revolve around them—and why not? considering the adage “Customer is supreme.” Their immediacy of requirements, or in simpler terms, their ‘want-it-now’ attitude, dictates terms of service delivery.
Scenario: Joe is browsing an eCommerce site to buy a laptop. While making payments he faces a problem and decides to abandon the cart. Having an AI-powered smart bot that can predict customer behavior and offer appropriate solutions to help Joe complete the purchase. Thereby, the eCommerce company profits financially as well as gains the customer’s loyalty.
In this case, a smart assistant pops up and inquires Joe why he is abandoning the cart and offers automated solutions like easy payment links, change in ease of delivery address, one-day delivery, or even suggests better products than the one selected by Joe, chances are he will make the purchase and be very satisfied with the experience.
Technology has evolved, and so have business strategies. Rule-based or decision-tree chatbots that function on pre-set rules are basic and slowly getting replaced by more sophisticated conversation bots.
Today, we are in the age of ‘predictive omnichannel customer service,’ where technology predicts customer needs and delivers personalized experiences wherever possible.
Scenario: Let's take the example of Amazon’s Alexa, Android’s OK Google, Gemini, or even Apple’s Siri. All of them are digital assistants that possess near-human intelligence. Both recognize a variety of inputs, including voice, and are adept at following various commands, scaling service, and delighting customers.
When you use smart conversation bots in your helpdesk, you not only drive agent satisfaction but also deliver an improved customer experience. Conversation bots today are capable of integrating with websites/apps and social media and bringing product discovery, payments, and shopping together for the customer in one place.
Virtual customer assistants or conversation bots fill in for live agents and intelligently guide customers toward case resolution. They have the potential to augment your organization's capabilities. You can use conversational virtual assistants to address soaring ticket volumes, address customer inquiries, and even help your teams work remotely.
Also Read: Contact Center’s Secret Formula To Ensure Excellent Customer Experience
Conversational bots have made smart communication with a human touch accessible to all. The familiarity, comfort, and convenience of mobile-based messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Messenger, and Viber among many others have made customer service accessible to everyone – through their mobile phones.
Not only do they serve as excellent channels for customer engagement but also significantly reduce your contact center’s call volumes. With rigorous training and the study of huge sets of customer data, conversation bots make use of AI and deep learning to determine user intent and resolve customer queries efficiently. When that happens, your business delivers the fastest customer response times, improves agent satisfaction through the highest possible automation, and exhibits intuitive operability.
Conversational commerce has become a necessity for businesses and that can be seen by the number of companies that have ramped up the adoption of automation and smart conversational touchpoints.
With ThinkOwl, you can support your customers across multiple channels, lower operational costs, enhance productivity, and boost customer satisfaction without breaking a sweat.
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