Chris Messina – an Uber Developer, the brain behind the invention of a term ‘Conversational Commerce’, observed out a myriad of people – marketers, platform makers, VCs, and branding agencies. And the conclusions he found out were awakening. All those people asked for automated eCommerce business solutions for various user interactions. So Chris Messina could make out that conversational commerce is the ultimate option to customer care. As of now, it is mainly related to messaging applications (text/voice) where the user can chat with the application and transact, as well.
Now, an interesting question for you. Do you know why Facebook purchased WhatsApp? Because WhatsApp has an active monthly user base of more than one billion people almost same as Facebook Messenger. Do you know what that means? That means one out of 7 users in the world use WhatsApp messenger! So think! WhatsApp messenger along with Facebook messenger can double the possibilities to reach out these people, right?
Well, yes, of course! It is an epitome of online marketing space! A human approach to communicating with potential users, consumers and shoppers without human intervention!
Why conversational eCommerce business leverages the shopping experience?
Think about the customer who wants to purchase something but finicky about the product details or his/her own choices. What he/she would do? Try to chat or a call to customer care. But how many times would he do? Or how many people should be hired for this increasing user base? Buying is a sequence of the process and if we succeed in understanding that, half the work is done.
1. Creating an awareness of the product is the first job to be done.
Conversational commerce tries to sow a sense of the product need in customer mind so that it can reap the crop (I mean purchase here). Fetch first launched its texting assistant in 2014 and had a blasting success.
2. Customer will try to search the options of the need fulfillment.
Checking for the product, its price, quality, durability, size etc. is a time-consuming process. Bots come in the picture here and save ample amount of user time. The Bots utilizes emoji and slang so that a customer can feel like there is another person sitting another side of the screen. See how Uber bot is interacting with a user.
credit: intuz.com
3. The customer makes the decision and goes for purchase.
Here comes conversion. Instead, the user goes to the website to shop, Bot provides the personalized buying transactions directly in chat.
Conversational commerce is all about providing personalization, convenience, and help in the decision-making process when the user is on the go.
4. Conversion doesn’t complete without the Post-purchase system.
Conversational tools such as Bots take customer’s feedbacks, reviews and also if customer requests for return, make that possible.
Conversational apps have to be organized around the way user organize his life, rather than the way the enterprise dictates.
WhatsApp eliminated its $1 annual fee in 2016 and stated that there won’t be third party ads. So the people asked WhatsApp about its revenue model. There it revealed the secret of conversational commerce. WhatsApp answered saying that now onwards you can talk to your bank via WhatsApp or an air carrier and make transactions directly from chat conversation. Have a look,
Image Credit: Chip
The conversion experience is captured and used intelligently.
AI based Chatbots captures the data regarding user queries, requests every aspect of user conversation and then use this data to give more personalized experience to users. So here the Chatbot becomes intelligent and intelligent with each user experience.
Scalability of customer services gets a boost.
Customer care executives can check the chatbots personalize experience rather than talking to customer care. As the no of user increases, the productivity of Chatbot increases, too by delivering more conveniences and personalized experiences. And there won’t be a need for hiring more customer care executives or opening a new customer care in the different city.
Small business can achieve a higher competency.
The activities to boost business like big data analytics, video conferencing can be handled by Chatbots as virtual employees. So Chatbots will perform diverse strategic functions which would determine company’s growth possibilities. Ethan created a personalized Chatbot especially to be available to his friends.
Credit: Ethan.fm
Personalized marketing and sales strategies can be given a shape.
With the help of data provided by Chatbots, ecommerce marketers can decide personalized advertisement for each user which would build a trust and worthiness feeling in a customer.
Image Credit: Chatbotslife
Google Translate is yet another example of conversation. Conversational ecommerce is shaping the industries with its ample personalized experience. Healthcare, Hospitality and Travel, News, Fashion, Marketplace, Finance, Fitness – you name any ecommerce business and see the conversational ecommerce presence emerging as a big marketer.
Wrapping Thoughts
For an end to end purchase process, a customer must be delivered a personalized experience so that product visit turns out into a purchase joy. An intelligent conversational e-commerce business model guides user, suggests user, be with user every moment and at the same time collect the user data, analyze user data and become more intelligent to remain king in the competition.
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