AI Chat is Here, and it’s Bringing Conversational Commerce with it

E-commerce transformed traditional shopping beyond recognition. The development and growth of online retail relies heavily on advances in technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning in particular. Technology is used in a number of ways by e-commerce businesses, from stock and supply chain visibility to defining buyer profiles and providing customer support.

This trend has accelerated since the onset of COVID-19, when retailers all over the world were forced to close brick-and-mortar stores in the name of public safety. Consumers migrated online en masse, and many who had never previously used e-commerce platforms have now become comfortable digital natives.

Appealing to the digital consumer

This shift delivers an imperative for brands to either introduce or optimize their e-commerce offerings to appeal to growing digitally native populations and ensure results in an increasingly dynamic landscape. Bringing retail online is beneficial not only for customers that can buy any item comfortably from their computer or phone, but also for businesses, which can gain exposure, reach international audiences, and ultimately increase sales.

With thousands of online shops on the market and changing customer needs and expectations, price and quality are not the only factors for winning a customer. E-commerce demand is often volatile, fluctuating according to seasonal and market trends which are more or less predictable.

Thankfully, brands can take advantage of recent technology advances to mitigate or even overcome elastic demand pressures. AI is the phrase on everyone’s lips when it comes to technology trends in 2021 and beyond, and it has massive and broad potential applications in business and e-commerce specifically.

Upgrading the user experience with AI

One of the most exciting of those potential applications is Conversational AI. Conversational AI and Conversational Web frameworks are amongst the latest advancements in the field of e-commerce tech, and can help online retailers understand consumers better, provide the best communication between a brand and a buyer, and create ever-improving user experiences.

Frictionless customer journeys are, of course, one of the key elements of great user experiences. This is not ground-breaking knowledge, but the fact remains that many brands and customers still experience friction in their journeys as a result of outdated communication processes which prevent real-time engagement.

Conversational AI enables brands to overcome that challenge by moving from traditional e-commerce to Conversational Commerce. Conversational Commerce represents an evolution from the now-commonplace chatbot widget in the bottom right of a webpage to a more seamless integration between the chatbot and the website itself. This changes the way customers interact with a site when they visit it and ensures that relevant, real-time information exchange is possible.

Where a traditional e-commerce website might act in a similar way to a catalogue in the hands of a potential consumer, a Conversational Commerce website is more akin to a digital shopping assistant. It offers an interactive experience that will forever change the online shopping landscape.

Underpinned by AI and machine learning algorithms that have access to all relevant products in the store at any one time, the Conversational website features a bot which has access to a user’s site browsing and shopping history.

Furthermore, zero-party data in the form of transcripts of representative-customer interactions, as well as information regarding past preferences and choices, are available to enable the bot to build a comprehensive and context-appropriate profile of the customer in any given moment. The system allows the bot to use all relevant information to create an individualized conversation with a customer.

Creating a unique and personalized shopping experience

The product recommendations on conventional e-commerce websites are automatic and lack personalization. Moreover, offers are made according to the buyer’s shopping history, and the recommendation engines are not suited for suggesting gifts that shoppers buy for others.

Conversational Commerce goes one step further, using every available data point and real-time user input to create tailored recommendations. For example, data on the customer’s previous budget, style preferences or issues that made them contact a support center can allow cross-selling and up-selling recommendations.

This intelligent technology uses AI and machine learning to understand that, for example, a person who used to buy green male clothes in the past might be interested in purchasing a red dress for their wife or partner on their current visit. A bot which is fully integrated with the website understands that every shopper has a unique profile, and they might buy for themselves or others depending on when they visit the site.

An AI chatbot or voice assistant on a Conversational Commerce website can provide support to shoppers in a variety of different contexts and moments. In this way, a user-friendly interface using a conversation can create a personalized online shopping experience. For e-commerce businesses, Conversational Commerce platforms provide the necessary means to build a digital twin of the best salesperson, delivering customized support and guidance to online customers.

The next step for e-commerce businesses

With the rapid and inexorable rise of e-commerce, coupled with the trend for increased personalization, brands must not miss out on the potential of Conversational Commerce to create better connections with their customers. Demands on e-commerce stores are high, and when a customer is shopping online, they can instantly switch away to different sites if they don’t feel like they’re getting what they want.

By using AI chat, businesses can recreate the in-store shopping experience while maintaining the data-based insight delivered by analytics tools, unifying the two to create a newer, Conversational Commerce that drives customer satisfaction and increases sales.