Any company that has an eCommerce operation is missing out if they are not using chatbots. Further if your business uses a chatbot, you still may be missing out as chatbot technology is changing fast with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI). This article provides you with 11 eCommerce chatbot examples that include the full range of chatbot use cases available today. Even better, these use cases showcase companies like Starbucks, HelloFresh, and Nike to name a few that have successfully deployed chatbots in eCommerce operations.
In the past, many companies implemented chatbots primarily to cut costs, often at the expense of delivering subpar customer service. This approach is no longer acceptable—if it ever was. The core question regarding chatbots today is, “Can Chatbots Do It Better?” Particularly with AI-powered chatbots, the answer increasingly suggests that chatbots can indeed enhance the overall customer experience.
“The stuff that matters in life is no longer stuff. It’s other people. It’s relationships. It’s experience.”
Brian Chesky, CEO, Airbnb, Inc.
The Current State of Chatbot Technology and Its Benefits
Chatbot technology is now more and more powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Further, businesses are starting to widely deployed eCommerce chatbots and customers are using it. Indeed, according to Jeff Bullas, a renowned marketing expert, internet and millennials users use and like chatbots.
- 40% of millennials claim that they use chatbots daily
- 64% of internet users say round-the-clock service is the best chatbot attribute
- 67% of millennials say that they are more likely to shop from websites using a chatbot
In the past, businesses have used chatbots for years with mixed results. This is because the technology was completely rules-based and did not have the power of AI behind it. So rules-based chatbots save money, but they can also frustrate customers by endless prompts and little customer service. Now, with AI chatbot there is a lot more chatbots can do for customers and businesses. See SC Tech Insights’ AI Chatbot Technology – Its Staggering Benefits And How To Best Use for more information.
AI Chatbot Technology – Its Staggering Benefits And How To Best Use. If you’ve ever contacted customer service, you surely know the excruciatingly dull experience of conversing with a chatbot. But that’s all in the past! Now, AI chatbots are emerging, brimming with the capacity to make speaking with one a much more pleasurable experience.
For you to better understand AI chatbot technology, click here for details about the origins of chatbots and why AI chatbots are light years ahead of traditional rules-based chatbots. Also, explore several useful lists on the many ways an AI chatbot can help both businesses and even your personal life.
11 Successful Ecommerce Chatbot Examples And Their Use Cases
There are numerous use cases for eCommerce chatbots. For example, chatbots for pre-sales can help cultivate sales leads, build brand loyalty, educate customers on product features, and help customers to select the best product for them. Additionally, for order fulfillment chatbots help with seamless order processing, minimizing shopping cart abandonment, and keeping your customer up-to-date on shipping status. Further for post-sales, chatbots can help with returns processing, solitating positive customer reviews, and gather customer information to assist with repeat business.
There are many types of chatbots, more and more AI-powered. Additionally, these chatbots can communicate on many different channels such as on your web site, Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp to name a few. To detail, below are 11 descriptions of common use cases for chatbots to include companies that have successfully deployed chatbots for their business.
“We start with the perfect experience and then work backward. That’s how we’re going to continue to be successful.”
Brian Chesky
1, Send Personalized Product Recommendations – Starbuck’s ChatBot.
Using Starbuck’s chatbot, customers can quickly find the items they are looking for and can easily order them.
2. Use Sales Campaigns By Offering Discounts – HelloFresh’s ChatBot.
HelloFresh’s ChatBot provides customers with discounts and offers for the different products and services. This is an example where chatbots allow businesses to utilize the power of AI to boost customer engagement and loyalty. It also helps customers to find the best deals and offers quickly and conveniently.
3. Build Brand Awareness By Sharing Content and Product Recommendations – Lidl’s Winebot.
Lidl’s Winebot Margot is an AI chatbot that helps the company to build brand awareness through its chatbot. In particular, it shares informative content and helpful recommendations about wine with customers. As a result, the chatbot provides customers with an immersive and knowledgeable experience. Also, it makes use of AI-powered algorithms to provide customers with the most relevant recommendations and content. Moreover, Margot has a friendly tone and educates users on various types of wines, what they go well with, the price, and quite a few other details.
“Brand is really the connection between you and your customers. If you have a very strong culture, then the brand will come through.”
Brian Chesky
4. Tailor Product To User Specifications – Nike’s Stylebot.
Nike’s Pre-Sales Stylebot is an AI-powered chatbot that helps customers design their own pair of sneakers. In particular, this chatbot allows customers to tailor their shoes to their exact specifications, providing them with a personalized experience. The chatbot can also suggest designs based on customer preferences and offers exclusive discounts and offers.
5. Help Customers Find Products – eBay’s Shoptbot.
eBay’s pre-sales Shoptbot is an AI-powered chatbot that helps customers find products to bid on. Specifically, this chatbot helps customers save time by providing personalized product recommendations and information about bidding strategies. It also assists customers in finding the best deals available on the website and helps them to save money. Lastly, it asks all the right questions to help customers find the products that are perfectly suited for them.
6. Take Orders Using Text Or Voice – Domino’s Pizza Pizzabot.
Domino’s Pizza Pizzabot is an innovative chatbot that enables customers to place their orders through text or voice chat. As a result, it eliminates the need for customers to be placed on hold. Further it provides a more efficient way for the customer to make their order.
7. Minimize Hold Times For Customers – Best Buy’s Chatbot.
Best Buy offers a chatbot that helps to streamline customer service and provide faster response times. In particular, this chatbot is very effective at minimizing customer hold times. Obviously, this is a people pleaser. Indeed, one study shows that the average person spends 43 days of their life waiting on the phone to talk to a service agent. As a result, many customers hang up, feel unappreciated, and perceive business as providing a lower quality of service. Hence, chatbots are great to enable automatic callbacks, answer questions, and supplement live agents.
See GetMindful’s Customer Hate Waiting On Hold for more details on how to use chatbots to minimize customer hold times. Also, see SC Tech Insights’ A Spectacular Call Center Experience – Technology Applied The Right Way for more information on using multi channel call center technology.
8. Provide Ship Status And Order Exception Information – Nordstrom’s Chatbot.
Nordstrom’s chatbot is a great tool for customer service. Specifically, this chatbot enables customers to quickly get shipment status and exception information as well as get answers to frequently asked questions.
9. Gather Customer Feedback – Adidas’ Chatbot.
Adidas’ chatbot is designed to make it easier for customers to provide feedback and get updates on their orders. Indeed, this customer service chatbot allows customers to easily access product reviews and customer ratings. Further, it provides helpful feedback to the Adidas customer service team.
10. Gather Data About Customer’s Preferences – Sephora’s Chatbot.
Sephora has created an innovative chatbot to help customers find the perfect beauty product for their needs. Specifically, the chatbot gathers customer data about their beauty preferences and then provides product recommendations based on their individual needs. Additionally, Sephora Virtual Artist is a shade matching bot that allows customers to try on different shades of lipstick by uploading a picture. Virtual Artist can also be used to find different shades of lipstick.
11. Turn Satisfied Customers Into Brand Advocates – Airbnb’s Chatbot.
Airbnb has developed a chatbot to help turn satisfied customers into brand advocates. In particular, this innovative chatbot lets customers search through the Airbnb listings and get personalized recommendations that fit their needs. It also allows customers to easily communicate with Airbnb’s customer service team and get more information on their listings.
“If you want to create a great product, just focus on one person. Make that one person have the most amazing experience ever.”
Brian Chesky
For more information on chatbot use cases and examples of where companies have successfully deployed chatbots, see Engati’s 5 powerful use cases for chatbots in eCommerce, MasterOfCode’s Ecommerce Chatbot: Top 8 Examples from Successful Brands. Also, see VirtualSpirits’ Examples: Chatbots and Conversational Solutions for dozens of visual examples of chatbots in action.
For more from SC Tech Insights, see our articles on Customer Experience.
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