All types of retail stores, from supermarkets to clothing, home furnishings, white goods, DIY stores and everything in between, are effectively using conversational AI to execute successful customer experience strategies. Deploying chatbots and voicebots across their multiple customer communication, retail brands are providing customers with round the clock access. They are executing on their customer-centric, customer-first strategies, making themselves available at the customer’s convenience. This means all the time, on every device, and across whichever platform the customer chooses.
Today’s retail chatbots and voicebots are highly sophisticated and extremely savvy. With in-depth knowledge of customers, gleaned from multiple data points and using advanced analytics, customer interactions can be highly personalised with pinpoint relevancy, resulting in successful brand to customer interactions.
Chatbot deliver personal shopping experiences
Retail chatbots and voicebots have evolved from executing simple help tasks to fully fledged personal shoppers who recommend, guide, advise and suggest products based on each individual customer. They complete the purchase and delivery process, making it very easy for the customer. This has transformed the online shopping experience, resulting in more satisfied and loyal customers, and increased sales.
Advanced analytics have made it possible for retail brands to make recommendations of cross-sell or up-sell purchases, not based on ‘what other people are looking at’, but what a particular customer’s preferences, likes, and dislikes are. This is true personalised customer experience. Such one-on-one attention, understanding and level of personal customisation takes customer relationships to the next level.
Sommelier bot : pairing wine with food … and suggesting recipes
Creative Virtual has recently created a Sommelier Bot for a major liquor retailer, which is providing personalised wine, spirit and beer recommendations for customers. They have integrated with a major supermarket that is part of the same brand family and are providing customers with drink pairing recommendations based on their grocery shopping cart, combined with knowledge of the preferred tastes of the customer. They are only providing drink pairing to customers who have purchased alcohol previously or who opt-in to do so. And customers can opt out at any time. The supermarket retailer is also offering recipe suggestions based on the grocery items bought. Here is a personal shopping assistant that is providing expert drink recommendations that will meet the personal tastes of the customer, pair well with the grocery items purchased, as well as the recommended recipes for the groceries. Not only that, the recipe suggestions for the grocery items match the cooking ability of the customer.
Making it easy and personal to buy
The chatbot or voicebot is providing a highly personalised and relevant brand engagement, that meets the needs of the customer and is driving sales. The entire interaction takes place in one place, one screen and with one click.
Whilst the traditional capabilities of chatbots that provide order status updates, answer questions, check stock availability, find deals, do price comparisons, deal with post-purchase matters such as delivery, self-service returns and exchanges, enable virtual try on of clothes and beauty products continue to enable brands to provide the high levels of customer service that are now expected and demanded, the next generation chatbots and voicebots offer and deliver so much more.
When created, built, deployed and managed by experts – chatbots and voicebots are excellent digital tools with proven efficacy in driving revenue, building customer loyalty and creating brand ambassadors.
The retail industry, like most other industries, is in a constant race to win the customer dollar and those not planning to look at conversational AI solutions, such as chatbots or voicebots to deliver a great customer experience, harness invaluable data all the while effectively managing costs, is missing a trick.
Contact us to see how Creative Virtual is helping the retail industry increase revenue with innovative conversational AI solutions
