AI chatbots are helping shop owners make better profits across the globe that it definitely is one of the best AI tools for your ecommerce business.
While a great number of stores have already switched to AI chatbot for customer service, a few are still on the fence about it.
If you are one of them, or if you are looking for that final nudge to make the best decision for your business, then this article is for you.
Read along to learn the benefits of using an AI chatbot and the limitations, to make the right choice for your business.
Benefits of AI Chatbot for Customers and Business
Using an AI chatbot for ecommerce is beneficial both for the customers as well as the store owners.
Happy customers indeed make a successful business. And to achieve that, you need to be on top of your sales game.
AI chatbots are the best tool for the job and here is how it can benefit both your customers and your business.
1. 24/7 Instant Customer Service
Being present and available for your customers at all times is important if you want them to complete the purchase and come back for more.
Almost 60% of customers think the long hold and wait time is the most frustrating part of customer service.
Using an AI chatbot you can eliminate the wait time altogether and provide 24/7 customer service.
As a business owner, you need not worry about missing out on a customer or making them wait too long for basic information and help.
AI chatbots such as AskTimmy.ai will be at your customer’s service at all times, answering their queries and helping them complete the purchase.
2. Offer Personalized Service
In addition to quick and instant responses, you can offer personalized services to your customers using an AI chatbot.
Unlike offline stores, there is no shop assistant nudging your customers to the finish line, the checkout! But an AI chatbot will act as a virtual assistant and guide your customers throughout.
Based on the interaction, it can even offer personalized product recommendations and help customers find the right product from your inventory, no matter how big or small it is.
3. Enhanced Customer Engagement
AI chatbots will never get tired of answering your clients.
It is even capable of engaging in a human-like conversation and offering a personalized shopping experience for your customers.
Moreover, AI chatbots can engage with multiple customers at the same time and even initiate a conversation.
Customer engagement is crucial not just to keep your customers happy but also to come up with better business strategies.
4. Reduce Customer Service Cost
Another benefit of using AI chatbot in customer service is that it helps reduce the overall customer service cost.
Even though AI chatbots do not completely replace human agents, it helps reduce the need for one.
You can employ human agents to perform complex tasks while the chatbots take care of the rest.
AI chatbots save you time and money all at once by automating routine tasks.
In turn, you can invest the money saved to improve your business.
5. Multilingual Support
AI chatbots with multilingual support are all you need to take your business global.
You can set up an inclusive store with AI chatbots that offer multilingual support since your customers will be more comfortable when they are given the option to chat in their preferred language.
6. Get Better Insights
Chatbots are a great way to collect customer data and feedback.
You can get a quick review or star rating from your customers through the AI chatbot.
This is a great way to know your customers and their preferences better. You can get an idea of what they expect, what is working, and what needs to be improved.
Based on these insights, you can adjust your business strategies, create better campaigns, and improve your overall marketing plan.
7. Increase Customer Satisfaction
No matter what business you are in, keeping your customers happy and satisfied with your work is important to keep them coming back for more.
AI chatbots with its 24/7 instant replies, easy access, and personalized product recommendations help increase customer satisfaction.
In a study, almost 93% of the customers said they would make another purchase with companies that offer excellent customer service.
8. Boosts Sales and Conversion Rate
AI chatbots are nothing less than a sales machine.
Through product recommendation, the chatbot will upsell and cross sell at every possible juncture.
The AI chatbot helps reduce cart abandonment and automatically increase sales and conversion rates, through round the clock support and assistance.
9. Omnichannel Support
Times have changed and customers are no longer just sending messages or raising tickets through emails.
Give them options to reach you through different channels and platforms including your social media accounts and Whatsapp.
AI chatbots with omnichannel support will help you create a smooth channel for communication across all platforms without any lag.
It picks up the conversation from exactly where the customer left it, no matter which channel the customer uses and switches to.
10. Streamline Services and Tickets
AI chatbots can instantly categorize and tag tickets based on their priority.
The AI will automatically answer and resolve minor queries related to the product, orders, and story policy from the data fed into its system.
Based on the nature of the query raised, the AI chatbot will automatically transfer it to a human agent if it is complicated and needs human supervision.
It is even capable of directly forwarding the ticket raised to the concerned department to avoid long wait time and confusion.
11. Quality Service and Consistency
No matter how many times the customer comes back with the same query, the AI chatbot will answer in an even tone.
It never gets tired of answering your customers, unlike its human counterpart who might find it a bit monotonous.
The answers are directly taken from its database, so it's always up to date with all information about the inventory and orders.
Things to Consider While Employing an AI Chatbot
There is no doubt that AI chatbots are good for your brand but never dive blind into anything when it comes to business!
Choose the Best AI Chatbot
There are a ton of options available and it is essential that you choose the best AI chatbot for your store.
Each chatbot is unique in its own way, for each will offer different features and support.
Understand every aspect of the chatbot and ensure it meets all your requirements.
Better make a checklist of all that you want your chatbot to do and choose the one that works best for you and your brand.
Take Time to Maintain
Getting an AI chatbot is not the end of it, it's just the beginning.
In most cases, setting up an AI chatbot hardly takes a few minutes, but training and maintaining the AI might take a few extra days.
You have to provide all kinds of data for the AI chatbot to feed on and fine tune it to suit your brand tone and voice.
To get your desired output, you have to invest time and resources to train your AI properly from time to time.
Once your AI chatbot is up and running, keep a tab on its analytics and monitor its performance.
A Support for Human Agents
AI chatbots are not a replacement for human agents., but just a supporting tool.
It could be a complex situation or the customer might have requested a human agent, no matter what it is, when human intervention is needed, the AI should hand over control and step back.
Moreover, unlike your manual customer support team, the chatbot will not go the extra mile for your customers or think out of the box. It does exactly what it is trained and programmed to do.
AI chatbots cannot and will not replicate the same emotions a human support team offers.
Wrapping Up
Not to sugarcoat, but the benefits of AI chatbots are promising and have everything a business needs to streamline its workflow.
That doesn’t mean there is no downside to it. It has both advantages and limitations but if you know how to maintain a balance, then there is absolutely nothing to worry about.
With an AI chatbot, you get to offer excellent customer service for your clients, make them buy more with personalized recommendations, get them instant answers for all their queries regarding the products, orders, and even store policy.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What’s the right way to train an AI Chatbot?
Training an AI chatbot varies from one chatbot to another, but it all starts with you feeding all necessary information and data into its system.
You have to fine tune the AI chatbot until it adapts to your brand tone and produces your desired output.
Constantly monitoring and updating your AI chatbot is the only right way to train it.
2. Will AI chatbots replace human agents?
AI chatbots cannot replace human agents completely.
It can reduce the service cost, help create a nuclear support team, and manage and automate workflow but needs human supervision no matter what.
The AI chatbot will help your support team focus on priority tasks while it takes care of handling simple customer queries.
3. Do AI chatbots improve response time?
Yes, with an AI chatbot you can improve your response time since there is no such thing as a wait time at all.
It offers instant answers to all customer queries 24/7, and is capable of handling multiple customers at the same time.
4. What are the limitations of an AI chatbot?
Some of the limitations of using an AI chatbot include its dependence on human agents for data and training, limited understanding of complex queries, and lack of emotional intelligence.
5. What are the AI Chatbot benefits in customer service?
Some of the AI chatbot benefits in customer service include increase in customer satisfaction, better customer engagement, instant response and virtual assistance.