3 Game-changing Uses of Chatbots in Retail

Woman shopping in shopping mall and use mobile phone shopping and find promotion. Business shopping situation idea concept.

Along with times changing and technology advancing, customer expectations become more and more unconventional and challenging when it comes to the retail industry. Good thing there are chatbots that can keep up with the evolution of retail and address the multiplex needs of customers. Here’s how chatbots can provide a seamless shopping experience for your customers:

 

  1. Conversational transactions – Instead of electronic forms, catalogs, or menus, customers can make effortless purchases and order products by simply telling your chatbot what they want. From placing an order to payment and receiving updates, all transactions as well as customer profiles along with purchase histories are generated and recorded in-app for better activity tracking and data management. Transactions will start with your chatbot asking questions about the customer’s likes and preferences and eventually get to what they’re looking for, guiding them step-by-step into purchasing an item. Through progressive instructions and bits of information given one message at a time, you don’t overwhelm your customers with too much information and therefore simplify the whole process.

 

  1. Accelerated customer service – Chatbots can accommodate a high volume of requests and answer questions or inquiries at any time of day. Whether common FAQs or specific customer concerns, AI-powered chatbots can be programmed to detect keywords, recognize intent, then formulate accurate responses, provide relevant information, and finally transform them into solutions. Because chatbots are present and functional 24/7, you can provide immediate output to customer requests at the same time minimize your response and resolution time.

 

  1. Personalized products – Increase your sales with personalized products and promotions. With chatbots, you can customize a customer’s item feed based on their likes, preferences, and past purchases as well as target products to the right buyers. You can also utilize a customer’s location and profile or ride current trends and events and send push notifications of product availability, item giveaways, and shop news.

 

Experience the difference; get a retail chatbot for your business now! Book a bot demo with Alfafusion; the Philippines’ pioneer provider of chatbot solutions to major enterprises.

Alfafusion’s NRCE Chatbot Wins the Ang Susi Award for Technology Innovation

1st photo

The NRCE Chatbot developed by Alfafusion for the 24th National Retail Conference organized by the Philippine Retailers Association was awarded the Ang Susi Award for Technology Innovation during the 5th Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE) Associations Summit last November 22 at the Philippine International Convention Center.

 

The National Retail Conference or NRCE, which happened last August 10 to 11, 2017 at the SMX Convention Center, organized by the Philippine Retailers Association or PRA, is an annual 2-day conference and exhibit that assembles over 800 foreign and local retail owners, top-level executives, suppliers, and industry experts for productive networking and discussion of the latest local and international developments and issues in the retail industry.

 

 

A new member of the Philippine Retailers Association, Alfafusion collaborated with PRA to create a chatbot for the NRCE on Facebook Messenger in line with PRA’s advocacy to leverage cutting edge technology for empowering retailers in the midst of changing market needs. The bot provided information such as schedules and speaker bios, entertained FAQs, promoted exhibitors, and accepted entries for the photo contest. The PCAAE recognized the NRCE Chatbot for demonstrating how Artificial Intelligence and conversational bots can give the Philippine retailing industry a digital edge.

 

2nd photo

 

“Chatbots and artificial intelligence are not to be feared. They cannot replace human beings. Instead they enable us to be more efficient in the operation of our businesses by taking care of the tedious tasks so that we can focus on higher value activities,” states Alfafusion’s Chief Marketing Officer, Sheryl Coronel, thanking the PCAAE for the prestigious recognition.

Chatbots and Customer Service: Why You Need Them for Your Retail Business

virtual_concierge_web

 

Defined as any virtual program that replicates human conversation, chatbots are widely used in different industries such as food service, healthcare, finance, and, most especially, retail. Chatbots are a snowballing movement on social media and messaging apps because more and more businesses recognize their their potential for enabling better customer service. Here’s how chatbots give customer service a good name for businesses that use them:

 

  • Through chatbots is the closest you can get to your customers. Messaging apps are home for all chatbots, and since 2016 up to this date, messaging apps have beaten social networking apps in terms of having more people on deck. Having a chatbot where people constantly are gives you better contact with your customers.

 

  • Chatbots handle mass concerns. You can address similar customer inquiries and concerns by programming chatbots to understand human messages through keywords. Chatbots can also help you improve a product or service and formulate better marketing approaches though customer data generated on conversations.

 

  • Chatbots give instant output. Customers always want to get answers and results right away, and chatbots are specifically designed to process transactions, present information, and perform tasks for customers within seconds of their interaction. Chatbots’ perpetual availability drives more traffic to your business online.

 

  • Chatbots are friendly. Not just customer-friendly, but friendly as in you can design chatbots to approach and converse with customers as if they were close friends. Chatbots use natural language so they can have human-like conversations with customers.

 

  • Chatbots help and then sell. By providing on hand information to customers, chatbots help spark and attract the interest of people which then drives conversion. Chatbots can also push personalized ads based on what customers look for, therefore turning potential customers to purchasing customers.

 

Still not convinced why you should let a chatbot handle customer service for your business? Book a demo now with Alfafusion, a premier digitech company in the Philippines that specializes in designing chatbots that help businesses effectively manage their customer service support online.

Digitize your brand and offer instant, automated customer service. Call Alfafusion at +632 2736051 or email digital@alfafusion.com to book a chatbot demo.