With the growing rise of Chatbots in the digital space, there are certain trends amongst the type of Chatbots available. The most common form of Chatbot is one that mimics a personal assistant. They are well equipped with handling sales enquiries and are usually given some form of human personality. However, many of them fall short in providing a personalised experience to the user. Even in the case of Ebay, one of the best Chatbots in this space; it does not provide anything more than what is readily available on the website via Messenger. The Chatbot has an impressive design and integration and a great working search feature. But is this all that a personal assistant can do?
Often times internet users are looking for assistance to make their purchases without really knowing what they are looking for. A Chatbot must be able to assist them in this instance too just like a personal assistant would.
Chatbots must be Customised
Even if it’s fun to search for products via the Facebook Messenger platform, the real potential of Chatbots compared to other channels of communication is personalisation. It is on this feature that companies must invest for better growth in sales. We already have websites that provide us with information about numerous products. The experience on these sites is not very interesting because the homepage is supposed to attract many visitors and is made for everyone. In reality, the person who goes to a shopping website like Ebay for for example, does not pay attention to 90% of what they see on the website.
On the other hand, bots are private conversations. For the first time, brands can offer personalised services and individual experience for each of their consumers who come to ask questions. It is also an opportunity for companies to store critical information about their target to see benefits.
The more conversation there is, the more the brand knows the preferences of its users and the better the experience will be! Chatbots are a direct and personalised link between brands and their targets.If you are looking for information on a site, these are not necessarily always obvious. From now on, you have this information directly in your inbox when you want it which is really relevant. Less information and more values. Brands now have the opportunity to provide each of their fan with a unique and personalised experience that improves over time spent in conversation.
Create a Chatbot and not a Website
At the moment Chatbots provide us results that the user may not be interested in. An effective bot for a shopping experience should ask closed questions and get to really know its user.
A good place to start is: The budget, the age, is this a gift or a personal purchase etc. After showing a list of products, the bot should be able to make recommendations and keep this information stored for the next time.
After showing a list of products, the bot should be able to make recommendations and keep this information in mind for a next time. This information gathered can be used in order to improve the its services and the user experience. For example, the shopping Chatbot could recognise the user’s tshirt size and provide relevant suggestions on the user’s purchase. Knowing his user by asking them questions to provide tailor made solutions is the quickest and most effective way to then offer relevant product recommendations. Is not that the role of an assistant?
A Chatbot that does not ask you questions does not really want to know you. What kind of personal assistant leaves you alone facing the products by making you no recommendation? But a Chatbot asks questions, makes relevant suggestions by selecting the products that match your preferences. The Chatbot will also take feedback on these recommendations by adapting to what it learns about you during the conversation. The Chatbot can then remember the whole conversation in order to push you to the final act of purchase.