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Do you miss the joys of uninhibited shopping in the pandemic? Perhaps most of us would answer affirmatively.
Shopping is not only about what we buy, but it is a kind of a treasure hunt to search for that perfect something.
It is a time to revel in the therapeutic atmosphere of the shop while contemplating your next purchase.
As the pandemic brought the entire world to a standstill, more people made a move towards online shopping. And many realized that shopping online is fantastic!
You can purchase anything you wish at the click of a button from the comfort of your home, and then, it is delivered to your doorstep.
But where is all the fun of shopping when you are sitting alone in front of the computer scrolling through hundreds of choices unsure whether you are making the right choice?
When you have a question, whom do you ask?
Enter conversational commerce! Conversational commerce, known more informally as eCommerce chatbots, has completely changed the game and provided consumers a whole new experience, which has made online shopping less tiresome, more interactive and fun again!
Store owners have been using conversation since olden times to make sure consumers make a purchase from them.
Be it recommending the best tie to buy or showing the latest designs in dresses or advising on the best toaster for the kitchen, the conversation has always been a central part of commerce. But with Covid-19 disrupting the physical store format due to lockdowns, how do retailers connect and converse with their consumers?
The pandemic was an extraordinary opportunity for the eCommerce industry, and global eCommerce giants such as Amazon or Walmart experienced a never-before-seen rise in their sales. But for those consumers who were new to the concept of shopping online, the experience can be overwhelming.
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They are unsure whether they will get what they see, or whether the seller is authentic, whether my financial transactions are safe and many such questions. So the whole idea was about creating marketspaces that had a human touch to them.
And at the forefront of these changes was conversational commerce that enabled the eCommerce industry to connect with their customers and provide that same, personalized kind of store experience.
A term coined by Uber’s Chris Messina, it basically refers to the adoption of messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or WeChat within the online shopping experience.
An eCommerce chatbot takes the website’s impersonal experience and turns it into a very personalized, for-your-eyes-only bespoke experience.
Customers can chat and connect with live representatives or AI assistants to explore the different products on the website, ask for recommendations, get more information on different offers or make transactions. Consumers do not have to worry about finding product reviews on multiple websites before making their purchases, because the chatbot is as good as having a sales representative help you make the right purchase.
You are not left wondering whether you made the right choice, will the color look good on me, is the quantity enough for my family or is there anything better available?
Conversational commerce is possible on any platform that supports chat or voice bots including Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home and can add value to every part of the customer journey.
This includes ordering products, answering product-related queries instantly, delivery times, making returns or any queries related to the financial transactions involved.
Such experiences enable consumers to make their purchase decisions faster.
Also, it gives retailers an opportunity to make their customers satisfied and feel connected.
Nonetheless, online shopping is here to stay and conversational commerce is set to become an integral and indispensable part of all future shopping experiences.
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References:
https://chatbotsmagazine.com/the-complete-guide-to-conversational-commerce-e47059293efa
