When you combine intelligent chatbots with eCommerce, you can create an interactive online experience for customers. These bots can be used to recommend products, help customers find what they are looking for, assist customers during the checkout process, gather shipping and billing data, even follow up after the product has been delivered.
Done well, implementing a chatbot solution can improve customer relations, and increase understanding of your products and services. Retailers can also use bots to boost online sales. Here are some ways that can be done.
Make New Customers Feel Welcome
Most customers prefer personalization. They want offers, messages, and online experiences that reflect their needs. There are many ways to do this. One is to use a chatbot to welcome them, and send a message of thanks after they’ve made their first purchase. This simple action serves to tell customers that their business is valued, even after they’ve spent their money. That’s a great way to ensure return business. This can also kick off a conversation for customers to ask follow-up questions, even consider additional purchases.
Collect Data And Create a Fun Experience With a Quiz
People love quizzes. If you doubt that, take a look at home many of your friends post on social media about the celebrities they looked like in a past life, or which sushi roll is their perfect match. Quizzes are interactive and engaging. They give audience members the opportunity to talk about themselves.
Quizzes are also an ideal tool for gaining subscribers, and information. Ask the right questions on your quizzes, and you can learn quite a bit about a customer’s values, demographics, and preferences. Best of all, you no longer have to send customers to another link to take a quiz. You can have these quizzes delivered, conversational style, via an online chatbot. Later on, the same chatbot can curate ideas, recommendations, and other content based on the answers received.
Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment
Did you know that more customers leave their shopping carts online than complete their intended purchase? That’s a shame, because every abandoned cart represents a lost sale. Even recovering a small portion of these could be significant.
There are many techniques for shopping cart recovery. You can use an email campaign, or a simple pop-up ad. A third option is to automate the process with a chatbot. A simple, friendly message sent via messenger can remind customers of the items in their carts. This can lead to them completing the purchase, or help to identify what’s causing the hesitation in the first place.
Finally, remember that message open rates far exceed emails. You won’t have to worry about your bot’s message being filtered into the spam folder.
Use Chatbots to Sell Products Directly
Messenger now allows brands to sell products directly and accept orders right through the platform. Customers no longer have to exit to a sales platform. They can review their options, ask the bot any questions, and place the order all from the same place.
Share Digital Coupons
Digital coupons and codes give customers one more reason to return to your ecommerce store to make a purchase. Even better, if you have a bot, you can use the conversational data you collect to determine what offers are going to be the most meaningful to each customer. Later, you can use the bot to present those coupons in a perfectly timed moment.
Use Social Media Comments to Start a Conversation
Customers and potential customers often leave comments on a brand’s social media posts. Why not use that as a stepping stone to create a more intimate conversation. Comment sections can be mined for data, and those comments can be used to contact customers directly about their interests or concerns. Then, depending on the context of the original comment, the bot can engage the customer in order to push them closer to conversion.
Suggest Upgrades And Complementary Products
Cross selling and upselling can account for a significant boost in revenue for online retailers. Also, these suggestions are often better received because they are based on customer preferences and purchase decisions. Even when a customer doesn’t opt to purchase an item right away, they may file these suggestions away for later shopping.
Recommend Relevant Content
Intelligent chatbots can gather information about customers’ questions, needs, and concerns. Then, they can use this information to send links to relevant help text, articles, demonstration videos, and other content. While this may not directly result in a sale, this kind of personalized attention is likely to ensure that a customer remembers your brand later.
Final Thoughts: We Can Help Boost Sales With Chatbot Technology
If you’re seeking to increase your sales revenue, a chatbot solution might be perfect for you. We’re happy to work with you to assess your business needs, and design the ideal solution.