If you’re not in the techie group, you’re most likely not going to be aware that when people talk about chatbots, they are, in most cases, actually talking about what the AI experts call conversational agents or dialog systems.

To get this straight, let’s take a quick side trip down to the history of 'talking' AI systems. The term chatbot, which is quite popular these days, was originally coined in the 1950s, in the context of AI research endeavor that aimed to simulate a human communicator by a computer program. By doing so, the resulting level of communication would be ultimately so authentic that it couldn’t be identified as an artificial system by humans anymore. In accordance with that original meaning of the term, the main purpose of chatbot systems was the computational modeling of human dialog itself. The famous ELIZA chatbot from the 1960s is still one of the most popular references in that regard.

Conversational agents, meanwhile, are a different story. Their aim is to serve as language-based user interfaces for a wide range of specific applications and, therefore, highly relevant for real-world industry applications. For example, virtual assistant systems like Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri are designed to fulfill a wide variety of tasks by processing voice or text-based user requests such as providing weather forecasts, playing music, or booking flight tickets online. These systems, in general, proceed by collecting the relevant information needed from the user to fulfill the task at hand with a dialog-based user interaction. This pattern of providing automated digital services proved itself to be a powerful tool for a vastly growing number of industry applications.

However, the term “chatbot” became, for some reason, more popular and what the audience chose to adapt to when referring to conversational agents. So, for the sake of it, we’ll also call them chatbots.

Main differences of the terms ‘chatbot’ and ‘conversational agent’ in the Artificial Intelligence field.

Conversational AI is maybe not going to play the main role in your website, but it is, however, certainly going to make a huge difference. Why? Because it’s a great way to interact with your customers and automatically fulfill their requests and demands even with that additional old human touch that you thought only brick-and-mortar shops could have. Businesses — especially those that focus on Guided Selling Solutions — already use conversational AI to offer professional services such as real-time user support, shopping assistance, and expert knowledge-driven solution advice.

When developing AI frameworks for creating conversational agents that show impressive performances — in terms of language sophistication —, as well as the complexity of the topics to deal with, software providers have to overcome hard problems. Controversially, when considering operating a chatbot solution, customers mostly focus on the first part and tend to underestimate the second one. It’s not a good idea to conflate the conceptual representation of the topic with the language processing part.

You should make sure to keep both of them apart. Why? Because it takes a lot of effort to represent topic knowledge on its own. Only in this way will you be able to reuse the topic knowledge independently from the chatbot. This is because chatbots are only one way to fulfill a general pattern that is behind almost every service that is covered by a particular chatbot.

The user specifies their requests and the system comes up with a solution. This applies to a lot of cases, like asking for the weather or describing the demand for a particular product in terms of user requirements and getting a proper recommendation from the service.

There are a lot of possibilities that exist out there to realize this user interaction pattern. Questionnaires done as ordinary forms in websites, illustrated/animated content, or more recent approaches making use of natural language interfaces via text or even voice-based interaction are some of them.

AI-powered conversational agents and virtual assistants dwindle bad customer experience (CX) and prove their users their market worth. Credit: iStockphoto.

To decide which one to use, there a few things to consider. As to briefly mention some of them here, depending on the environment of your shop and on your target group, one can be more suitable than the other. Besides, considering what you want to achieve, as well as how complex your domain is, is paramount when developing such a solution.

In this matter, there is a notable advantage of a chatbot tool driven by a technology that allows you to keep apart the topic representation from the communication interface, like the excentos Workbench does for Guided Selling Solutions by enabling you to use exactly the same concept knowledge and recommendation behavior with different interaction approaches.

The programmed structure of a dialog flow allows the system to assemble all necessary input from the user and deliver smart recommendations. Source: AI-powered chatbot developed by excentos for VAUDE Sport GmbH & Co. KG.

Not only do customers want to see efficient solutions to overcome the problems they encountered and their inquiries being quickly and effectively resolved, but they also crave human-like interaction. In this sense, customer experience is a key factor and also expected to have as much a great value as the final product itself. Fail to do so and you’ll pay a high price for making a bad impression (and delivering a poor service) on your customers. They will remember for a long time what you didn’t do, and the inconvenience is going to endure for even longer as, thanks to the unlimited number of choices the market offers, your competitors will promptly swoop in and take care of things (that you didn’t manage to).

An average shopping experience was never enough and the great business goals of today are to increase customer satisfaction levels. So why are AI-powered chatbots a remarkably good way to enhance omnichannel experiences? They are there 24/7, therefore available to assist customers during out of hours; they can speak multiple languages; and, as importantly: they provide the opportunity to learn more about your customers, their product preferences and needs. You can additionally use these learnings together with Guided Selling Solutions to improve your domain knowledge and develop your service even further.

AI is changing customer experience — for the better — and there’s no arguing that. One consequence is, in the long run, inevitable: the reduction of staff.

Customers need that personal, human touch and the best experience possible when shopping, returning a product or reporting a problem. Now, is it right to assume that the goal is to replace human agents for chatbots? Not necessarily. As the LogMeln 2018 AI Customer Experience Report pointed out, “65% of organizations say that if chatbots could reduce the number of inquiries to their call center, agents would then be trained to handle different or additional tasks”, i.e. not giving the space for chatbots to replace them. This likely means, according to the report, it would provide agents with the opportunity to deal with more complex and strategic tasks and even develop new skill sets.

Frankly speaking, there might have never been a more appropriate time to engage in discourse than nowadays. It would come as no surprise if chatbots were to be ranked as one of the best Ecommerce tools to strengthen customer experience during COVID-19.

Apart from medical essentials, the industries of toys, wellness and work from home were some of the ones which reported a sales increase of up to almost 90%. Credit: royalty-free stock.

With the ongoing global pandemic that 2020 brought all of us, together with the social distancing restrictions and most in-stores being closed, customers might feel more than ever the need to engage with you and have human-like representatives to help them in their quests.

According to the data presented by the Common Thread Collective, only in April, Ecommerce consumer sales increased their revenue by more than 50%, especially in the entertainment and wellness industries. In this sense, regardless of what may come next, we can all agree that AI-powered chatbot solutions for your customers couldn’t ask for a better time to come in.

After a period of adjustment, the ‘new normal’ has ushered in new consumer behaviors. A report from Mckinsey suggests five consistent trends observed amongst 45 countries –
1) Consumers have become more mindful of their spending habits.
2) More consumers are using online shopping.
3) Consumers have tried new products due to supply chain disruptions.
4) They prefer to shop in stores that create a safe environment.
5) Largely, consumers do not feel entirely confident about returning to out-of-home activities, however, shopping certainly remains a priority.

Mckinsey Consumer Behavior

In the United States, the bureau of economic analysis estimated that consumption expenditure in May 2020 increased from -12.6% to 8.2%. Although this is a considerable increase in spending, Greg Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics stated in this barrons article that, ”…with uncertainty still elevated and virus fears resurfacing, frugal consumer behaviors should persist in the coming months and weigh on the recovery.”

Online shopping has significantly increased.

The average consumer will weigh all his options before deciding to make a purchase, and will be more cautious as there is also risk and exposure at the forefront of decision-making. Retailers and brands hence need to consider products that provide value for money for such a consumer. This may also lead to a decrease in brand preference and loyalty.

Although stores have opened, consumers are yet hesitant towards store visits. The presence of a store and the nature of sales interactions have changed, making way for a more hybrid sales strategy involving both online and physical stores. However, convenience is an aspect that will remain crucial for customers even in the recovery period, especially considering current phenomena such as contactless deliveries, pick-ups, social media selling, etc.

Consumers who were once unsure of online buying now welcome it, ushering in more acceptance and adoption. At the same time, brands and retailers are also trying to stay relevant to consumers who are constantly changing their preferences.

Nielson-online-shopping-report

Brick-and-mortar stores still remain important in terms of overall shopping experience. A consumer can visit a physical store to browse through and get more information about products in a real-world sense. Similarly, there is also the option of providing a digital advisor or an in-store solution for shop customers. A BBC article also suggests that customers tend to spend more money in-store then they do online as they see more and are caught up in a kind of ‘shopping euphoria.’

But one can argue that this is more valid in the context of having the physicality and mobility available in the store experience. E.g. when one decides to spend a leisurely afternoon in a mall. This was a common browsing pattern and consumers will in all probability adapt to a new behavior.

Consumers could find better offers online.

At the moment, there is also an abundance of sales and discounts, but a consumer could potentially find a better deal online or combine both these channels e.g. by purchasing online and picking up the product in the store. Hence, a functional shopper would have no barriers in online shopping while a leisurely one would perhaps no longer have the intrinsic motivation to step into a store.

Online shopping is on the rise and will continue to be a source of convenience for customers. Retailers and brands naturally need to provide an online experience that is helpful, interactive and easy.

According to this Harvard business report, “Customers will no longer tolerate sub-par digital shopping experiences like they may have before the crisis. Retailers have to make sure their sites are mobile-responsive, offer integrated services such as ‘buy online pick up in store’ (BOPIS), and deliver a consistent, reliable digital experience across devices and channels.”

Consumers are not expecting a virtual replication of the in-store environment, but they do expect the same amount of expertise and care. Our Guided Selling tools like Product Guides have this exact ability where existing in-store knowledge can be utilized to give the best advice to your online customers. Guided Selling provides customers with the necessary reasoning and recommends the best-suited products. Hence, this increases their willingness to make a purchase. Guided Selling-enabled Product Guides are informative, convenient and can deliver a seamless website experience for your customers.

Example taken from Amazon

excentos camera guide

excentos AI Data Trainer

excentos AI Data Trainer

excentos AI Data Trainer

Jungheinrich forklift advisor

Height and weight mapping

• During the consulting process, customers only answer questions that they can answer with confidence. At the same time, they are informed about the product and the various advantages it provides. In this way, the Product Advisor is able to dramatically reduce the complexity of application and guides each customer to a well-founded purchase decision.
• Tedious calculations such as the dependence of the lifting height and the weight of the load, are calculated by the system and conveyed to the customer in a user-friendly way using a slider.

Environment configuration

• Customers always have the option to get personal advice at every stage.

Jungheinrich forklift recommendations

• It also lets customers select between purchasing a new forklift or a used one, as well as simply renting one.
• This Product Guide is used in different markets and has been translated into several languages such as Deutsch, English, Danish and Dutch.

Brother printer setup cost analysis

Print volume estimation

• The Product Guide uses estimations to get an idea of printing volume and subsequently provide the most sustainable option. It considers the size of the office environment in relation to employee productivity.

Explanation content

• As it uses Guided Selling it is able to give relevant explanations during various points of the Product Guide.

Recommended printer strategy for environment

• Brother addresses real purchase consideration factors of their customer: How much do we need? And how economical can we get?
• This is a good example of a design that successfully integrates the brand and concept presence.
• The Product Guide asks all necessary questions within 5 stages.

Heroal aluminum systems

Type of window and door system

• The Product Finder is to-the-point and addresses a vast section of applications within one stage itself.
• As the answer options are specific, the Heroal Product Finder is able to provide precise or optimum recommendations to their customers.

Performing features

• A customer can find an optimum product quickly and in a couple of minutes.
• This particular Product Finder is aimed towards a customer who has existing knowledge about such systems and hence targets a specific type of audience.
• The design reduces the complexity of the concept while simplifying the information.
• The Product Finder asks all the necessary questions within 4 stages.

Heroal product recommendations

• All recommendations are displayed with the reasoning behind them, giving the customer complete transparency.