There are many forms of e-Commerce today, but one of the most popular is conversational commerce. Conversational commerce is basically e-business done through various mediums of interaction and which includes: video, voice, text, multimedia, and with technologies like: speaker recognition, speech translation, artificial intelligent and natural language processing. A lot of business players have started to understand the power and potential of this business model, especially when it comes to expanding the reach of their existing and potential customers. It has been found that traditional methods such as TV advertising, newspaper advertisements, and other offline marketing strategies are not effective enough in reaching out to the targeted audience. This is because many of them have a very wide range of target market, whereas those companies who are engaged in conversational commerce target specific markets that are more likely to convert into loyal consumers.
The basic concept of conversational commerce can be understood from the words of one of its pioneers - eBay. In these days of fast-paced lifestyles, people hardly have the time to drive around from one place to another and shop. Thus, they rely more on their smart phones to do their shopping, browsing and researching. Their online transaction happens within seconds and some even make purchases right from their laptops. Thus, the need for a platform like eBay arose whereby buyers and sellers could interact directly and easily.
Unlike e-commerce, conversational commerce takes place through various mediums and uses multimedia including: text, audio, video, images, video chat and natural language extraction. A lot of companies have already started to adopt chat applications for marketing purposes as they provide a cheaper, more convenient way to promote products and services. In fact, experts predict that by 2021, more than half of all conversations on mobile phones will contain multimedia content such as photos and videos.
Another benefit of chat software for conversational commerce is that it allows customers to interact with real people unlike ecommerce wherein they are often directed to a static website, wherein they are prompted to check out products and choose a payment method. For an ecommerce website, it is not possible for consumers to know or interact with actual people, making the buying process impersonal. But with a chatting application, consumers can instantly ask questions, give feedback and get answers. This allows customers feel that they are in a real store where they can consult their needs and have their questions answered promptly and professionally. In this way, customers feel important and even value the time given to them.
Through chat Bots, conversational commerce can also drive sales through the power of translation. Because of their ability to analyze, interpret and translate conversations, chat bots are expected to become more popular as technology continues to advance. Since most of these conversations take place between two individuals, most bot platforms are able to automatically translate natural language to the native language of the user. Thus, a user may be able to get the messages that he or she sent to his or her bot completely accurately.
Another advantage of conversational commerce is that it helps customer to feel that he or she is part of a group. In the absence of personalization, it may sometimes be difficult for customers to open up and express themselves. A business owner using conversational commerce tools can enable a customer to feel that he or she is an asset to the company simply by providing feedback on the conversations that are taking place between the bot and the customer. By providing responses, users can help to encourage feedback from others and increase the amount of engagement on the site. If a business owner makes it possible for customers to interact with one another by allowing them to post comments on conversations, the entire experience becomes more social and potentially more valuable to the customer.
A third advantage of conversational commerce lies in the fact that it can help drive sales by providing a bridge for potential customers to enter your site. Through messaging apps, consumers are given the chance to find out more information before actually buying something. If they find out enough about your product or service, they are more likely to be able to make an informed buying decision and send you an email or call to tell you what they want. Through this process, the customer gets to know more about your brand, and the opportunity to sell them on your offers becomes more likely.
With so many advantages of conversational commerce, it's easy to see why messaging bots are becoming so popular. Rather than relying on the old model of relying solely on print ads and television commercials, businesses are now realizing that this model does not work as well as it used to. Businesses are trying to use new technology to give their brands a face lift, and chat Bots are making it easier than ever before to add conversational business features to websites.
That’s an increase of $30.86 billion from a year prior.By 2023, online grocery sales will reach $129.72 billion and will account for nearly 10% of total grocery sales.Sales of grocery delivery and pickup in the United States in August 2019 and March to November 2020There are no signs of slowing down — credit goes to the pandemic and the customer’s willingness to experience comfort, safety, and convenience.
So, here’s what to expect in the future of the grocery market.Online Groceries is Trending — The trend of online grocery shopping is on the rise.
Customers are not even hesitating to rely on newbies in the grocery market; they just want quality services — comfy, secure, and convenient.
Hence, keeping the demand of healthy food in mind, it is evident that grocery stores will now have to store more organic, natural, and healthy food to upkeep the demand of the customers.Automation Enhances Shopping — The processes are being automated in the grocery businesses.
Social distancing, transparency in business, and even contactless deliveries are expected to be followed by grocery stores in 2021.How has COVID-19 changed the customer’s preferences?People are limiting their visit to the grocery stores, or many of them are not choosing to visit the stores themselves.
Technological advances have made their impact on the grocery sector as well.
The WhatsApp chatbot is gaining popularity around the world.
A WhatsApp Bot allows you to connect with consumers by allowing you to engage in conversational commerce and handle customer service issues.
Chatbots and WhatsApp Bots both continue to provide significant benefits to companies and customers.
The best part is that when you follow best practises, building a WhatsApp bot is easy.
Whatsapp bot is able to offer support to your customers on a forum they already use, and you'll be able to respond to their questions quickly.
WhatsApp bot is useful for corporate customer contact.
I used to turn on the Weather Channel when I got up in the morning, and watched as my coffee percolated.
Not only does it remember my zip code, but I can ask specific questions about locations where I plan to travel, events, places of interest.
Much better than any TV or even radio forecast.
And conversational design has been the hotness of 2016 with more and more businesses jumping onto developing chatbots or building their entire product concept around the conversational UI.
Conversational commerce is about delivering convenience, personalization, and decision support while people are on the go, with only partial attention to spare.
Here are just a few stats that speak for the value of designing a chatbot:
