Derek Johnson Writer

Use Chatbots to Drive Sales, Retention, and Loyalty

Posted on Mar 10, 2021
Notebook with pen

The eCommerce industry is an ever-evolving one, recording large growth over the years, especially during the pandemic. However, this growth has resulted in an increase in the number of brands offering undifferentiated products.--Leading to a paradox of choices, wherein customers have too many options to choose from.

A study by InMoment revealed that 60% of customers purchase more frequently from their preferred brands.

Therefore, as customer needs evolve along with their well of choices, companies must build customer loyalty and relationships to thrive in this competitive market.

This is where conversational commerce comes in.

Conversations build relationships. Think of every relationship you currently have. Would you have any without conversations? Of course not.

In a survey by Marketing Strategies International to assess the growth of messaging as a customer service channel, it was found that nearly half of the respondents (46%) chose messaging as their preferred means of contacting a company. 

Taking a closer look at the details, MSI uncovered that when given the option of different channels, 66% ranked mobile messaging as either their first or second choice, compared to 61% for phone and 46% for email,

Conversations build closeness. And this is particularly beneficial in eCommerce, as retailers can gain insight into real-time customer needs to provide hyper-personalized value and build trust.

"Conversational commerce is a not so new approach, with wall street companies like Burberry already benefiting from its implementation. Burberry collaborated with Apple for a service called "R Message" to allow associates to contact the company's most important clients directly.--Providing them personalized advice and bringing the in-store experience to their doorsteps."

However, that top-end luxury brands are already implementing this approach does not mean that SMEs cannot utilize this approach.

On that note, here's an outline of what we'll be covering in this article.

What is Conversational Commerce? 

Conversational commerce, a term coined by Chris Messina, is the new trend permeating the eCommerce industry. Basically, it implies a new approach to customer interaction involving the brand, technology, and users.

In other words, it's a way for brands to communicate with prospects in the format of dialogue. Rather than the one-sided, delayed messaging, that's slowly becoming a thing of the past. These interactions can either be with a human, chatbot, or a mixture of the two.

In addition to how important it is to brands, conversational commerce is beneficial to customers. It allows customers to; chat with company representatives, get customer support, ask questions, get personalized recommendations, read reviews, make purchases, etc., all from the comfort of their homes.

For an in-depth knowledge of what C-Commerce is all about, let's take a step back to assess the two trends that led to this concept.

The first is messaging. Chatting platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp have evolved to become more than just apps for exchanging messages with friends and family. Most businesses now use these messaging channels to promote and sell their offerings.

This growing adoption between businesses and messaging is impacting the way people communicate with businesses on a global scale. According to a Facebook survey on four countries; the UK, India, Brazil, and the US, more than 60% of the number surveyed use messaging apps to reach out to brands. (Brazil -- 85%, India -- 74%, UK -- 61%, US -- 61%).

Also, in that same report, Facebook noted that emerging markets such as Brazil and India are 2.4 times more likely than those in mature mobile markets to message businesses.

Messaging as a business tool keeps growing with each passing year. According to Facebook, each month, people and businesses exchange more than eight billion messages on Facebook messenger, representing 400% year over year growth.

The second is the use of bots, chatbots. Since Eliza, the first bot, was created in 1966, machine learning and artificial intelligence have seen massive leaps to scary new heights. And bots are now ubiquitous.

So, on the one hand, there is a rise in messaging, and on the other hand, there's a rise in bots. This is really where the conversational commerce concept forms, at the intersection of the two technologies.

Take, for instance, your laptop. How many apps do you have on it? 15, 30, or maybe 100. The number is not important. The main point is that these apps perform discrete functions. For example, to order a cab, order a game, or a movie, etc.

What conversational commerce does is that it takes the different functionalities of those apps and hides them under the covering of a conversational interface. This way, you can trigger those same functions by messaging on one interface. 

Why is Conversational Commerce important? 

Customer interaction has forever been a major ingredient for successful marketing. However, eCommerce brands are so obsessed with ranking on Google that they've made their on-site content search engine centric instead of customer-centric.

The conversational approach makes up for the lack of personalization in the shopping experience. One of its advantages is that it brings the concept of shopping in a brick and mortar store to the comfort of a buyer's sofa. Hence, providing a better customer experience.

Additionally, the rapid development of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and it's integration in chatbots mean that C-Commerce can utilize these advanced services to understand customer needs and provide a personalized experience.

That said, numbers don't lie. Here are a few stats that show how important conversational commerce is.

Conversational Commerce Impacts the Customer Purchase Journey

Additionally, conversational commerce can help drive impact across all areas of the consumer purchase journey. Retailers can significantly shorten the customer journey and minimize cart abandonment by; offering a personalized user experience to impact purchase decisions, addressing pre-purchase questions and frictions, and guiding customers from indecisive browsing directly to the final stage of the customer journey, developing and nurturing customer relationships.

In today's world, customers have access to almost anything from their smartphones. They can compare products on their own before making purchase decisions. In fact, it's fair to say they're in full control of the path to purchase.

Conversational commerce allows retailers the luxury of personalizing every path to purchase, creating an opportunity for building customer relationships and retention.  

Gain Customer Insight

Conversational commerce offers brands a direct line to their audience. By engaging in dialogue with a customer, brands can gain insight into real-time customer needs and direct product feedback. Getting real-time insight is useful because you don't have to structure your message for a long period of time without any prompts. You can take inputs, process with your current understanding and communicate your new understanding to suit your customer's needs.

Conversational Commerce strategies 

Now that you know what conversational commerce is all about and how beneficial implementing this approach can be. Are you ready to implement this approach?

Here are some strategies you can use to improve your customer experience and build trust. 

Replace Contact Forms with Live Chat

Contact forms mean that prospects do not get the information they're looking for at the time of asking. This creates a kind of disconnect between the prospect and the brand. Also, the time interval between filling a contact form and receiving a response is enough to find other solutions to their problems.

Replacing contact forms with a chatbot will provide prospects with real-time information. And by providing value, you can move the lead further in the sales funnel faster.

For example, you can proactively pop up chats to your website visitors to initiate the first response. Essentially, you're replicating the in-store experience where a customer walks into a store and is met by a salesperson who says, "Hi, how can I help you".

Here's an example;

Incorporate Conversations with Email

Although email is not particularly a chat-based platform, it is still a very popular communication platform.

Traditionally, emails are associated with customer support. So, customers use this channel to ask customer support questions. In eCommerce, we can get questions like, "where is my order?" Or "what is the status of my order?"

One thing you can do for a more real-time exchange is to add a link to emails that readers click for real-time messaging. This way, you can engage your prospects in a conversation while they're thinking of your brand.

Also, with the right data and integrations with your eCommerce platform, you can automate your email responses. You can pull data automatically into your templated response to provide value instantly.

For example, if you receive an email saying "where is my order," you can have a templated response like the one below;

Reply to Comments on your Social Ads.

It is no news that comments are important when you're running organic and paid ads. However, I still see hundreds of unanswered comments in Facebook ads when I scroll through my feed.

According to Billy McClennan of Gorgias, brands that reply to positive comments see a 5% increase in sales equivalent to their ad spend. Therefore if you can reply to these comments, you're automatically increasing your returns from your ads.

Of course, it can be challenging to reply to comments on your social ads, especially if you're spending thousands of dollars a day and getting thousands of comments over, say, 200 creatives.

One way to scale this process is by using machine learning to scan through the comments and filter out relevant comments to prioritize accordingly.

Text your Customers

SMS is another conversational channel that has been gaining a  lot of traction over the years. This is evident in the number of SMS platforms popping up all over the place.

It's no surprise, seeing as SMS' open rates are extremely higher than other channels, and it comes with fast replies because receivers see it right away.

In fact, research shows that SMS open rates are as high as 98%, compared to just 20% of all emails. And, on average, it takes 90 seconds for someone to respond to a text and 90 minutes to respond to an email.

While SMS can be expensive, it's ROI is worth it, with brands recording 15 to 22X. 

Having Effective Conversations 

To win customers with C-Commerce, you must engage them in an effective conversation. One that guides them directly to the final stage of your sales funnel.

Here are a few ways to do that:

Address Exact Customers Questions and Concerns

As shopping online becomes more dominant, customers are missing the human touch and personal attention an in-store staff offers. Real-time conversations via your website, emails, landing page, etc., can provide customers with the in-store feel if done correctly.

Chatbots and live chat agents can offer this experience by providing satisfying answers to customers' questions and helping them find exactly the right products to meet their needs.

Here's an example: Kokua, a Facebook chatbot, gave this response when asked about shipping.

Notice how engaging and fun this response is.

Fast Response Times

Be responsive and set expectations as to response times.

According to Billy McClennan of Gorgias, brands with less than 10 mins response time for pre-sale chats or SMS see over 28% conversion rate across the board. Therefore, one way to have effective conversations is by responding fast, as this can hugely impact your sales. You can do this by setting expectations as to response times for your team. 

Be Authentic

There's a popular expression, "you can't go far by deceiving people". The same applies to your conversations. To increase customer retention, you need to build trust, you don't want your customers doubting the authenticity of your responses. So, be upfront, don't deceive your audience into thinking they're talking to a human when they're talking to a bot.

Establish a Relationship

Start by asking for your customers' name. This makes them feel important and that they're talking to a real person. Be personable. You can repeat back, for example, repeating important details in a customer's complaint starting with a phrase like "Okay, just to recap". This reassures them that you're paying attention.

Tools 

There are different approaches to conversational commerce. Some techniques involve you or your support team providing responses, while other approaches involve AI tools.

Here are some of the most relevant conversational commerce tools on Shopify, ranked from good to best. 

GOOD

Shopify Chat

This app can help your conversational strategy in so many ways;

However, it has a few notable shortcomings;

BETTER

Tideo

Tideo holds the record for the most installed chat app on Shopify. This is no surprise as they help you provide your customers with real-life purchase experience. Here are a few features that make them stand out;

BEST

Giorgias

Giorgias boasts a high rating of 4.8 in the Shopify app store, with a large percentage of its users lauding this app for its ease of use and onboarding process. With this app, you scale your conversational commerce strategy as it provides you with a complete help desk to help you automate responses to your customers' frequently asked questions.

Here are some of its features that makes it a great option;

Conclusion

Conversational commerce is gaining traction in the eCommerce industry because it is beneficial to both customers and businesses.

One the one hand, customers can easily find the product they want without having to scroll through product pages. And on the other hand, it provides businesses with a great opportunity to build customer relationships.

Using conversational commerce tools allows you to engage in a dialogue with your website visitors. This way, you can identify their needs, qualify leads, and guide them through your sales funnel.

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