The future of the internet belongs to those who engage the most customers, follow up the best, and serve every visitor possible.” – Dane Maxwell, Founder, The Foundation
The internet is rapidly moving towards active visitor engagement over passive browsing, in the same way that retail sales associates tactfully approach customers as opposed to simply letting them aimlessly wander the store.
Instant, 24/7 support
One of the benefits of e-commerce is that you cater to a global marketplace via the internet. But what happens when your customer has a question or requires support outside of your business hours and timezone? Chatbots allow for instant, 24/7 support so that your customer feels engaged and taken care of, all without the expensive of an around the clock customer support team.
Reduce shopping cart abandonment
According to a calculation by Baymard Institute, the average shopping cart abadonment rate is 69.57%. Hopefully yours isn’t as high as that but the point is that cart abandonment is a big issue. Chatbots can gently remind customers of their unfinished purchase which increases the chance they will return to complete the transaction.
Personalization
Chatbots interact with your visitors and through conversation, collect data which can then be used to make better product suggestions and recommendations.
Product guidance
It is common for e-commerce visitors to become overwhelmed by the vast number of available products. Chatbots can help such customers locate the exact product they are searching for in the catalog and guide them directly to the checkout page. By providing answers or advice to specific customer inquiries, chatbots can guide customers and enable them to make purchases, similar to how a retail sales associate would in a store.