Do Chatbots improve the customer experience?

by VitaminCommerce
June 22, 2022

Consumers want fast and seamless solutions to any of their problems. The traditional way of calling a centre has long been declared outdated with customers favouring reaching out to their brands via social media or emailing for any queries. As technology advances so have the methods available to provide solutions- enter chatbots.

Chatbots simulate human interaction using natural language processing (NLP) to gather the accurate context and provide relevant answers to their questions. Here are 4 reasons why chatbots are improving your customer’s experience:

Always there

Chatbots are able to offer 24/7 service. Trained by previous conversations and NLP they’re a cost-effective way to ensure your customers are always able to access you without the dreaded hold-music of a centre.

Insights

Using clever data collection businesses are able to gather insights into their user experience and review any resurfacing issues customers may be experiencing.

Time efficiency

Companies and smaller start-ups don’t have the time to answer every query and concern, using chatbot filters most of the easier issues and that time can be better spent elsewhere. Paired with the long waiting times that users might have to experience because agents can’t handle a huge volume of queries at once- it provides an overall improved customer experience.

IBM predicts that chatbots can help reduce 30% of customer service costs by answering 80% of routine questions and speeding up response times, thus freeing up agents to handle more difficult questions.

Personalised

The flexible nature of chatbots allows them to engage with consumers on various levels. Besides being able to help with query resolution, provide technical support or guide the sales process, bots have the capacity to convey the tone and personality of your brand.

They can be funny, witty, serious, helpful, and polite — the right personality to match your brand persona can help engage your audience on a more personal and authentic level.

70% of consumers said that they would be happy to use chatbots if they could resolve issues without having to call or email (TheChatbot)

Shopify’s available chatbot plug-ins enable eCommerce brands to utilise the data available to them to deliver personalised, fast resolutions to potential customers.