How Will Chatbots Transform Traditional Retail?
Chatbots are already being used to facilitate online transactions for big brands, with TacoBot (Slack) and H&M (Kik) the most well known. Both inform users based on preferences and help close the gap between online shopping and “conversational commerce”
However the bigger role for chatbots may in fact be in traditional retail environments on the high street. In this article I’ll explore the benefits and uses for chatbots in reshaping the shopping experience.
How?
The most obvious benefit for a chatbot in retail is to play the role of a shop floor assistant.
Studies by Google show that consumers are using their phones more and more while in store, using them to help inform their purchase. According to this research, 97% of people are using their phones while shopping for appliances to research further information. This is not surprising with the complexity of many appliances and comparing features, reviews and pricing isn’t always possible with the information available in store. And with appliances often costing serious cash, it’s easy to see why so many people want to research.
So what role could chatbots play?
Inform the user, answer their questions quickly and efficiently.
Through carefully crafted journeys and conversation flows, chatbots are available at this point of research to guide decisions and answer common questions. Technical details in the form of a tech spec table in-store are of limited use, with lots of unnecessary information that users may not care to compare to take the time to work out. Tech sheets can be ugly and slow to parse, and features may not be directly comparable.
Chatbots can answer users questions directly and instantly, without requiring lengthy reading, cutting down frustration. When done well they can answer a customer’s question in just two or three interactions.
This can funnel them towards a specific recommendation or answer and address technical questions along the way, in an easier to understand format than being presented with a long list of technical information. Even better, customers are probably already in the messaging app you want to appear in while doing their research, answering friends and family while shopping.
It’s also reasonable to assume that soon we will see personalised coupons to customers within the chatbot to further sweeten the deal.
It’s important not to see this as a replacement of shop assistants.
Chatbots are only as good as their conversations, and it’s likely that early adoption will see some failure to answer all the questions and staff needing to step in. However they would act as a complementary tool, leaving staff freer to perform other tasks as simple questions are answered instantly without needing to disturb staff.
With people already being on their phones while in-store trying to inform these decisions, it is a huge opportunity for retailers to be there for their customers to reassure, inform and close the deal.
If not, a competitor with better presented information and better optimised mobile marketing could win the sale instead.
Chatbots Vs Websites
At this point you may be asking: “Why not just find the retailer’s mobile website to find other information?”
Users usually want a simple questions answered.
- Which has bigger capacity, this fridge or that fridge?
- What’s your delivery policy?
- What are the finance options?
Great design on eCommerce websites will make these easy to find — but you still have to look for them. This will usually take more interactions than a chatbot will. A chatbot can take this question and answer directly, instantly.
Livechat is also a fantastic tool for closing sales, and more reliable for difficult questions than chatbots are. Yet the cost in having staff available constantly can be high for companies. A chatbot reduces this load significantly.
Examples
H+M — Kik
Simple in it’s design, you tell the bot what you’re after and it will build an outfit for you based on personal preferences.
Ebay ShopBot — Facebook Messenger
Not a retail store, but takes the idea of being a personal assistant and applies it to their whole catalogue. You can search by text, image or through curated collections. The main benefit is that it remembers tailored information such as prefered sizes, increasing accuracy.
Anker — Facebook Messenger
The popular electronics brand, they have a fixed catalogue of products and it’s an excellent example of the role of Chatbots in guiding purchasing decisions.
You are guided through conversation funnels based on some simple questions to be recommended a product at the end.
Kia — Facebook Messenger
The launch of their new Niro hybrid model lead Kia to build a chatbot to demonstrate the features of their new car in a digestible format, not overwhelming the user with features but allowing a context driven exploration of the car.
Supermarkets and Restaurants
Another area will be guiding food choices and offers while doing that weekly shop.
Chatbots such as Dinner Ideas, The Wine Pairer or Corkscrew all offer recommendations for meals and wines instantly for you. Ideal for those unsure moments in the supermarket looking for a recipe or wine recommendation.
Challenges
The biggest challenge facing all chatbot builders currently is what to do when things don’t work. This will happen a lot in the early days — even the eBay ShopBot didn’t understand a few of my requests (such as for cars).
The importance here is in providing the customer with escape options that are useful — directing them to find a store assistant or somewhere they can talk to human such as livechat or perhaps telephone. Ensuring that users aren’t just being even more frustrated than they already may be is the biggest risk to retailers, especially as best practices are still being defined.
Conclusion
Sadly we’re still in the infancy of chatbot in retail, with few major stores offering this level of personalised experience. However in the next 12–18 months we shall see increasing levels of experimentation on how they can find a role in the retail space, and be there for customers when searching on mobile.
The focus should be on answering specific customer questions to reduce the workloads of staff, enabling large scale delivery of useful, personalised information.
A time and place will come where more complex questions can be answered by chatbots, but for now they offer an excellent opportunity for retail brands to answer users questions quickly, easily, and without needing to fight with a new app, platform or service.
Benefits:
- Reduces friction for complex decisions
- Perfect for mobile engagement
- Users are already chatting while in store
- Users are already researching — just answer their questions!
Threats:
- Bad interactions may damage brand loyalty / frustrate users
- Customers may be unsure how to interact and use the chatbots
