How to Use eCommerce Chatbots to Drive Revenue and Customer Loyalty

Driving revenue is the number one goal of every e-commerce business.

But staying on the ball 24/7 is difficult, especially if you have a limited budget and a finite amount of resources. Since the pandemic, consumers have come to expect instant responses from the brands they want to buy from. With so much competition, it’s easy to default to a competitor if they don’t get the information they want when they want. This can hamper revenue and lead to a fragmented customer base.

There’s a solution: e-commerce chatbots.

These automated customer services reps can answer questions, hand-hold shoppers through the sales cycle, and provide much-needed information as and when it’s needed. In fact, chatbots are the fastest-growing form of communication because they’re so instant.

How brands are successfully using e-commerce chatbots

1. Answer in-the-moment questions

A study by Forrester shows that 52% of online shoppers will abandon their cart if they don’t receive instant answers to their questions. When someone is in buy mode, they want to buy and, if they can’t get hold of the information they need, there are plenty of other places where they can.

The AI technology chatbots use means you can answer important questions to ensure a seamless sales cycle and maintain momentum for shoppers in buy mode.

2. Personalize the shopping experience

91% of consumers are more likely to shop with brands that provide relevant offers and recommendations. They don’t want generic suggestions and instead want an experience that’s geared towards their unique interests and product preferences.

But doing this at scale is tricky. How can you speak “directly” to hundreds (or thousands!) of customers at once?

With an e-commerce chatbot you can. Input specific content that’s triggered when shoppers ask a certain question or state their interest in something. Some chatbots can also remember the product pages a customer looked at previously and their past buying behavior to recommend highly-relevant products while they’re browsing your site.

3. Provide speedy customer support

Loyalty is earned, and a big part of that is being there for your customers when they need you the most. That might be at three o’clock in the morning, or late at night when their product hasn’t arrived.

Chatbots can provide this support by providing up-to-date order information and checking the status of deliveries to keep customers in the loop at all hours of the day–a must-do, when more than 50% of consumers expect online businesses to be open around the clock.  

4. Act as a powerful knowledge base

40% of shoppers today want a self-service experience, and this includes self-service education. Chatbots can send shoppers to relevant resources based on their questions and interests to ramp up engagement levels and keep them coming back.

You can create an FAQ section to direct customers to or share blog posts, videos, and guides that align with their individual needs–all within a matter of seconds.

5. Drive leads and email signups

Not everyone is ready to buy right away, but having access to a shopper’s email address means you have the ability to consistently show up in their inbox to stay front-of-mind. On-site chatbots can prompt shoppers to hand over their email address in exchange for a discount or a freebie (or a fun piece of content–whatever works best for your audience).

6. Collect customer feedback

One of the easiest ways to create loyal customers is to give them a flawless experience they love. It’s difficult to not come back when everything works like clockwork. Chatbots can secure customer feedback in the form of reviews or a simple set of survey questions so you can see what’s working and what’s not.

As well as quantitative data, you can also ask shoppers for their individual thoughts and opinions to add context to the numbers. Then, once you’ve collated this information, you can use it to drive website changes that consistently improve your store and the shopping experience.

5 effective e-commerce chatbot examples

Here are some companies that use chatbots to increase sales, create enjoyable shopping experiences, and encourage customer loyalty.

1. Pavoi remembers its customers

When a shopper who has visited the site before returns, jewelry brand Pavoi welcomes them back. This secures the relationship and makes customers feel connected to the brand.

2. Fresh Roasted Coffee helps customers find what they’re looking for

There’s nothing worse than going around in circles trying to find what you want. Fresh Roasted Coffee tackles this with its e-commerce chatbot that uses AI to refine the customer search. It asks them a couple of questions before serving relevant product suggestions.

3. Ritual Zero Proof shares educational content

Drinks brand Ritual Zero Proof cuts right to the chase and shares recipes and nutritional facts with shoppers via its chatbot.

The content is instant but also imbued with the brand’s personality, forging deeper customer connections and securing loyalty.

4. Underoutfit highlights logistical information

Clothing brand Underoutfit acts as an on-tap customer support vessel, answering questions about returns policies, shipping, and orders.

5. Zavi personalizes the shopping experience

Sustainable clothing brand Zavi recommends relevant products to customers based on the occasion they’re shopping for, their size, and their style.

Replicate the in-person experience with e-commerce chatbots

There’s one thing all of these strategies have in common: they replicate much of the in-person shopping experience. When you walk into a physical store, you’re greeted (or welcomed back), asked if you have any questions, and served personalized product recommendations based on what you’re looking for.

Ecommerce bots go a long way in recreating this part of the shopping experience–much of which has been lost in digital transformation.

Today, top chatbot platforms let brands answer customer questions, capture their email address, send discounts, and provide support all from one singular place. As a result, customers feel heard and can create an experience that’s personalized to their unique wants, needs, and preferences. This ultimately boosts sales and generates customer loyalty so that shoppers come back time and time again.

If you’d like to learn more, please book a time for a demo with us here.

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