Now that we’ve proved we can live and work from anywhere, we’ve learned that we also miss the casual relationships we had with our local shop owners. What’s missing is the human connection, great customer service, a sense of community and belonging.
But We Can Still Have Those Relationships
E-commerce brands are using conversational commerce to elevate customer service and build relationships. Conversational commerce can be a chat app, chatbot, voice assistant, or messaging platform. E-commerce stores are proving that our virtual relationships can be fun, whimsical and clever. Smart retailers use conversational commerce to promote new products, send customized messaging, upsell products, and build relationships.
The growth of conversational commerce is driven by:
- Increased adoption of messaging apps.
- Advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI).
- Rising demand for personalized shopping experiences. We’re spending less time in stores and more time shopping online, but we still want relationships.
How Businesses Are Using Conversational Commerce
The great thing about conversational commerce is that you don’t need a reason to start a conversation. Talk when you want to because it’s a nice thing to do. There’s always a good time to send a simple, thoughtful message. Conversational commerce isn’t about pushing sale items or promoting your latest product.
The Emergence of Chat Commerce
Messaging applications, such as WhatsApp, WeChat or Messenger, are used to send messages instantly. According to WhatsApp statistics, WhatsApp alone has an estimated 2 billion active users as of the beginning of 2022. A big benefit of these messaging apps is that you can include emojis, memes, and gif files to make the conversation more informal, personal, natural and immediate.
Using Chatbots for a Seamless Experience
Source: Engati
A chatbot is a computer program designed to automatically interact with users. It’s typically categorized as either artificial intelligence (AI) or rule-based. Chatbots provide benefits to both brands and customers. Brands use chatbots to help multiple users simultaneously 24/7. It’s seamless for customers–no training, no installing any apps and no learning curve. Think immediate, accessible and personalized shopping experience.
Conversational Commerce in Sales and Marketing Industries
Conversational commerce solutions can help businesses guide customers through the purchasing process, recommend products or services based on their preferences, and even offer personalized discounts or promotions. This level of personalization can significantly enhance the customer experience and increase conversion rates.
Conversational commerce can be leveraged for lead generation, order tracking, and post-purchase support. By automating these processes with chat commerce, businesses can streamline their operations, reduce costs, and improve overall efficiency.
Conversational Commerce Examples
REN Clean Skincare and Cart Abandonment Issues
Source: Shopify
Cart abandonment is a big deal for all e-commerce brands. You’ve closed the deal, your customer has started the checkout process, and they suddenly vanish—possibly forever. The average documented online cart abandonment rate is almost 70%. abandoned cart emails that have a whopping 40% open rate. But cart abandonment also presents an opportunity to reengage your would-be customer via conversational commerce.
In this abandoned cart campaign, REN Clean Skincare used text messaging to reach shoppers who’d ditched their shopping carts before purchasing. Note the way REN is starting a dialogue with the customer. Nonthreatening and nonaggressive, it’s just a casual chat. I would definitely respond to this kind of communication. It provides a link to the product and a simple emoji. This is brilliant.
Source: Drip.com
MediAssist: Reengineering Customer Support for Healthcare Organization
MediAssist provides corporate healthcare services. The company is employed by more than 7000 different firms. MediAssist automated customer support and service for these companies using chat commerce. What once required a 200+ member team manning emails and phones has been reduced to a live chat team–less than 10% of its original strength.
Source: Verloop.io
Dog Food Brand, Maev
Source: Shutterstock
Raw dog food brand, Maev, clearly understands conversational commerce and its power as a relationship-building tool. In this example, the goal is simply to strike up a conversation with its audience. Start small and non-confrontational. The company is asking us to think about our own experiences of being at the dog park on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. If you’ve never been, it can get pretty wild!
Source: Drip.com
By opening up with a question, Maev is genuinely interested in everything dog-related. I live in an area where everyone seems to have a very pampered dog, so this communication would be a big hit in my community.
When recipients are ready to make their next dog food purchases, Maev wants to be top of mind. As for those pampered dogs, Maev’s dog food looks like real food—not those little dried-up nuggets.
Amazon: Using Voice Chat
Source: Omnisend.com
Keep in mind that this isn’t just about text. Amazon is using voice assistants to chat with their customers. It’s using AI tools like Google Assistant, Siri and Alexa in its voice commands. As per the customer service matter below, Carter was reaching out about his order. Alexa responded that both are in transit with the same delivery date.
According to ResearchAndMarkets.com:
- The conversational commerce industry is expected to grow steadily from 2022-2028, recording a CAGR of 23.1%.
- The global conversational commerce transaction value will increase from US $1,740.8 billion in 2023 to reach US $4,915.1 billion by 2028.
- Businesses across industries like e-commerce, retail, and travel are embracing conversational commerce solutions to stay ahead of the curve.
- According to customer service platform Tidio, in 2017, online sales accounted for just one tenth of all worldwide sales. By 2025, it is expected to represent almost 25% of total retail sales.
How Conversational Commerce Can Transform Your Business
- Conversational commerce solutions mean that businesses can be available to their customers 24/7. With chat commerce and voice assistants handling customer inquiries around the clock, businesses can provide a seamless and responsive customer experience, regardless of the time or location.
- By analyzing customer interactions, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of customer preferences, pain points, and purchase behaviour to help personalize and inform marketing efforts.
- Conversational commerce solutions can drive sales and revenue growth. By offering personalized recommendations, cross-selling or upselling opportunities, and seamless checkout processes, businesses can significantly increase their conversion rates and average order values.
Choosing the Right Conversational Commerce Platform
There are apps for everything these days, and technology teams know that if they expect to succeed, they need to meet the following features:
- Integration. Ensure the platform integrates seamlessly with your existing systems and infrastructure.
- Natural language processing, sentiment analysis, and machine learning.
- Security. Ensure that the platform adheres to industry-leading security standards and protocols.
- Scalability and customization options.
Best Practices for Successful Conversational Commerce Implementation
To ensure a successful conversational commerce implementation, consider the following best practices:
- Understand your customers: Gain a deep understanding of your customers' preferences, pain points, and expectations. This will allow you to tailor your conversational commerce initiatives to meet their specific needs. If you don’t know your ideal customer, this is a good time to create a persona. It goes a long way to helping you understand your ideal customer.
- Provide a seamless experience: Ensure that the conversational experience is seamless and effortless for your customers. Design your chatbots or voice assistants to mimic human-like conversations and offer accurate and relevant responses.
- Test and iterate: Continuously test and iterate your conversational commerce solutions. Collect feedback from customers and leverage analytics to identify areas for optimization and enhancement.
Conclusion
As one can see, conversational commerce definitely plays a crucial role in the e-commerce landscape. Here is a quick rundown of the key points you should keep in mind:
- Conversational commerce solutions have emerged as a powerful tool for businesses to enhance customer experiences, drive sales and stay competitive.
- Conversational commerce solutions provide personalized, real-time assistance to their customers, automate repetitive tasks, and gather valuable customer insights.
- Start small; this is how every relationship is built. Include emojis, graphics and memes where appropriate.
If you need a hand with honing your digital marketing strategy, TechWyse is here to help! To book an appointment, call (416)-410-7090 or contact us here.
