Do you remember the simpler times when we imagined: “one day, robots will roam the streets and act like people”? It sounded unrealistic, that something other than humans will be able to perform our functions. However, now when technology advances at an unbelievable rate, this is becoming more tangible than ever. It’s no longer a fruit of our imagination, not with chatbots acting like humans and machines doing tons of our work.
BusinessInsider estimates that the chatbot market size will grow to $9.4 billion by 2024 compared to $2.6 billion in 2019. This equals a compound annual growth rate of a whopping 29.7%. What does this tell us?
It tells us that businesses are investing heavily in this new technology. AI-powered chatbots have tremendous benefits for businesses. They offer instant assistance to customers and leads, helping retailers get more sales. If you’ve been looking for ways to boost your live broadcast strategies, this is definitely a great way to do it!
But, before we get into it, let’s see what a chatbot is.
What Is a Chatbot?
A chatbot is a program on a computer designed specifically to simulate conversations with users over the Internet. Think of them as virtual assistants, but the customer is not speaking to an actual human on the other side. In this case, they talk to automated tools capable of generating instant or text messages to respond to the most common questions.
Naturally, since AI-powered chatbots aren’t humans, they have their limitations. Still, if you compare the current chatbots with those from just a few years back, you’ll notice that they’ve gotten much ‘smarter’ by now. Sometimes, it is even hard to distinguish whether you’re talking to a human or a computer.
To perform its function, a chatbot will use advanced machine learning and natural language processing algorithms. The latter is also known as NLP, which refers to the ability of the computer to process, understand, and respond in a human language. The two processes involved to make this happen are Natural Language Understanding (when the bot comprehends the human text) and Natural Language Generation (when the bot transforms data into text and responds to the human.
Generally speaking, there are three different types of chatbots people can find on sites these days:
- Rule-based – the user needs to click on buttons and use predefined options to get his answers
- Intellectually independent – the chatbot uses ML to learn from the users’ requests and inputs (they learn phrases and keywords that trigger a reply)
- AI-powered – these are the most advanced, smartest bots of them all. They use AI, ML, and NLP to combine the qualities of both rule-based and intellectually independent bots.
The perks of using chatbots for retailers
From a business perspective, chatbots are a great way to keep interested parties in the loop, provide them with immediate answers, and generate more leads. Such innovations may come with downsides of their own, but for you as a retailer, this is a great tool.
If your business is customer-centered, which it should definitely be, anything that boosts the user experience is a good thing. Just think of this scenario.
You constantly create live broadcasts, but these aren’t as effective as you want them to be. When you’re done, you get only a few questions from leads, or your leads are long gone before you can answer them all. With an AI-powered chatbot, this will no longer be an issue.
That’s the most amazing use of chatbots to this day – being able to get answers to people when you cannot do it on your own. Let’s see how this works.
Chatbots facilitate better live communication
You’ve figured out how to share your message and, now that live broadcasts are so popular, what better way to do it than via a live video? There are plenty of ways to make this happen, as well as amazing tools and tricks that make it possible. Whisby not only explains what is live broadcasting, but they provide you with brilliant solutions that attract your target audience.
When you have your live broadcasting prepared and are ready to start, consider this – how will you respond to interested parties if you have to lead the broadcast? Will you be able to answer all questions before the interested party leaves?
Ideally, you should have many people reaching out to ask more about your products and services. People hardly have any patience these days. Their attention span is akin to a goldfish, and they don’t have the time to wait around and get your response.
Since live broadcasting is all about sharing things in real-time, you need to be prompt at answering people’s questions or communicating with them. A simple ‘thank-you’ for a compliment, a ‘hi’ for a new member, or an answer to a person’s question right away can make a huge difference for your brand.
This is where chatbots can do wonders for you. If you integrate them into your support system, people can engage with it without waiting around or any difficulties. Chatbots will analyze their questions and find the right response in real-time, assisting you greatly in the process.
Many great chatbots work seamlessly across social media platforms where most of the live streaming is done.
Chatbots boost the trust between you and your customer
When you’re selling things online or attempting to reach an audience on the Internet, you have one huge disadvantage – actual face-to-face, personal contact. When people visit an actual retail store, they are greeted by employees as soon as they walk in, asked if they need assistance, and provided help as long as they need it.
Whether they are using your retail website or seeing your live broadcast, people can’t expect the same type of service online. This diminishes the personal touch and your chances of building trust with customers.
Many online shoppers don’t enjoy such assistance because the retailers cannot cater to everyone’s needs all at once. The online world opens up opportunities for retailers to reach many people across the world. When their online stores are ‘crowded’, it’s hard to dedicate time to everyone.
But, chatbots can do a lot to amend this. When you use them, it opens up a chance to assist your customers along with a purchase, no matter how many of them need assistance at the same time. Quality chatbots have definitely changed the game. This buzz-worthy technology does a lot to boost sales.
This isn’t a theory at this point. Let’s consider some examples. When Amtrak decided to use a chatbot, this drove a 25% rise in bookings. Their AI-powered chatbot answered over 5 million questions in a year! People had a lot to ask and before that, there wasn’t anyone to give them answers as fast as they needed them!
Kia’s chatbot, on the other hand, has achieved even better results. They reported a conversion at a rate three times higher than before.
What does this tell you?
It shows that the 24/7 availability of chatbots, including their availability while you’re broadcasting live, covers many of the past issues in terms of responsiveness.
Chatbots can handle much higher traffic than humans, maintain conversations simultaneously, all while minimizing delays and human error. They don’t even have to take some time off and rest!
Chatbots can direct the sales for you
When you’re communicating with people live, do you stop to tell them ‘This is where you can buy it’? You can’t do this for every individual customer, and many of them won’t wait around for your broadcast to end to ask you.
Luckily, chatbots are there to assist you. AI-powered chatbots will not only greet people and answer their questions, but they’ll also walk them through a sale. In a simple, smooth interaction, they can complete the entire order process without waiting for your broadcast to end.
The process is pretty simple with the right chatbot. Let’s say that you are an interested customer who wants to make a purchase. If you decide to do this based on your view of a broadcast, you’d have to go to the website, look for that product, find it, and then continue to make a purchase.
But what if there’s something that can get everything done for you without much effort? You can just tell the chatbot what you need, and it will redirect you to a filled order form or the product’s page where you’ll find the information you need.
The first option might convince you to look elsewhere or keep scouring social media. The latter is far more likely to entice you to make a purchase.
Final thoughts
Retailers who sell their products online enjoy amazing perks and an opportunity for a much, much wider reach. But they cannot offer the same kind of experience and service to buyers, at least not when they have many interested parties. Sales chatbots can make online shopping seem like traditional in-store shopping. They offer a smoother, quicker, and more personalized experience for the buyer. As a result, they create a more converting system for the retailer
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