Over the past few year AI technologies have been democratized. This phenomenon coupled with the use of messaging apps has created Chabots.
This advancement represents a great opportunity for brands. It is a new way for them to reach customers and improve their experience all along the shopping journey.
According to Business Insider, 85% of customer interactions will be managed without a human by 2020, and Chatbots are expected to be the No. 1 consumer applications of AI over the next five years.
1/ What are Chatbots?
Bots are intelligent and automated programs developed to be self-sufficient and respond to a certain type of tasks.
There are many types of bots and Chatbot is one of them. It is a program that can entertain a vocal or written conversation with a human. Brands usually implement Chatbots on messaging apps.
This technology is a big move in the construction of a stronger link between companies and clients. Indeed, people can now correspond directly with their brand, asking advices or information on products. This is a significant improvement of customer services and it provides a new client experience.
There are two types of Chatbots :
- The one that are based on specific rules. These are very limited in term of interaction and depends and are not able to learn by themselves.
- The one that are self-sufficient and use machine learning. This type of bot is the smartest because it is learning continuously from interactions it has.
The current landscape
2/ Chatbots on messaging apps
Social media’s companies are betting on Chatbots.
It the case for Facebook’s Messenger that has integrated a bot development platform in its app. More than 10 000 Chatbots were created since the launch few months ago. The messaging apps also implemented a bot store to ease their access. Finally, the app has developed its own digital assistant called “M” to help users doing casual tasks.
Another big platform that is “bot friendly” is the Canadian app KIK. As Messenger, Kik has a bot store that count over 20 000 chatbots.
Sephora is an example of company that has a bot on this messaging apps. Indeed, the brand has decided to create its own tool to improve its customer services and bet on the future.
“With Kik, our clients can engage with us in a new way to learn beauty tips, watch how to videos, and read ratings and reviews which link to our site within the app.”
“Through our partnership with Kik, we saw an opportunity to engage with new and existing clients, particularly with the highly mobile/connected audience of Gen-Z and Younger Millennials, through a fun, new social platform.”
Bindu Shah, Sephora’s Digital Marketing VP
Chinese market also contains big players. Giant tech companies have developed success tools to build In-app Chatbots. It is the case for Tencent, offering in its platform a way to analyse users behaviour.
The start-up Chumen Wenwen has integrated a native and a Wechat bot. It has the particularity to have a voice recognition system.
4 Chatbots opportunities
- Improve users’ experience
- Drive sales
- Increase the time users spend In-app
- Gain insights on customer
Customer perspective
AI is going further in its proficiencies and so do Chatbots. Now customers can obtain more and more valuable content and Information.
Through Chatbots, users can:
- Get in real-time news, and information on a specific subject
- Have a direct Interaction with brands
- Book any transportation mean or accommodation
- Order food
- Get information on a specific product
- Buy product
- Build a schedule
- Recognize objects
Key takeaways for companies
Chatbots are becoming the new “must-have” in for companies. It is crucial for them to handle efficiently this technology to have a good ROI.
Here are some tips to succeed:
- Think of the value that this tech will bring to your business
- Adopt a customer perspective
- Be sure that your Chatbot is well suited and personalized for your targeted audience
Websites links to build Chatbots :
Chatbots as a concept is going to evolve and become meaningful. They will create more opportunities for new companies to explode from nothing into prominence. They will create many new business strategy opportunities. In my opinion, they will play a large role in online business but not every role.
Engati is a chatbot platform that allows you to build, manage, integrate, train, analyse and publish your personalized bot in a matter of minutes. It presently supports eight major messaging platforms including messenger, kik, telegram, line, viber, skype, slack and webchat with a focus on customer engagement, conversational commerce, and customer service and fulfillments.