Over a year ago, shopping inside retail stores was a known norm. However, the current pandemic has forced consumers to change their buying behavior. Customers now want to spend less time inside the shop and prefer touch-less options such as self-service check-outs or curbside pickups.
Self-service has been around for quite some time, however, after the pandemic, the concept is popping up everywhere. Think about the last time you went to an airport. Did you prefer to use an airline’s kiosk to print your boarding pass or did you go to a service desk? If you are among the majority, you must have opted for the kiosk option.
Retails stores such as McDonald's, Burger King, Subway are actively using self-service kiosks to limit unnecessary human interaction and enable faster service.
As technology continues to advance, companies are adopting self-service checkouts to save time and money. There are different forms of self-service options in retail, one such form is the use of chatbots.
Chatbots are computer programs or AI applications that customers can interact with to receive customer support through the use of a chat feature. Chatbot support is usually available 24/7 and helps solve customer’s problems, answer their queries, and offer suggestions. Chatbots help answer customer’s primary questions, however, in cases where a chatbot cannot sufficiently answer a question, a human agent can step in.
A well-functioning chatbot not only helps deliver an outstanding experience for your customers but also helps improve sales effectiveness.
In the last 5 years, interest in chatbots has increased 5 folds. Approximately 50% of large companies are considering investing in chatbots. By 2025, the global chatbot market is expected to reach 1.3 billion.
Chatbots help streamline tasks and processes so customers can complete the transaction without any hassle. Here are a few reasons why chatbots are the future of the self-checkout process in retail.
1. Real-time information
Chatbots provide interactive and real-time information-sharing experience for customers. They are a great way to quickly and efficiently answer basic or preliminary questions that your potential customers have about your product or service.
2. Improve sales
In any business, increasing sales is one of the most important parts of your business objectives. If you have an exceptional chatbot service, customers will enjoy interacting with your brand and will likely return. Chatbots are also a great way to remind customers that they have items in their carts that they need to return to.
Cart abandonment is strongly correlated to customer conversion rates and revenue. It is also an important business metric for retailers to monitor.
3. Set you apart from your competition
More and more businesses are adopting self-service chatbots. Although this is a relatively new technology, many are quickly getting on board. Adopting chatbot tools will seriously set you apart from your competition. The sooner you do it, the better!
We are a B2B company, striving to provide an exceptional AI-driven next-generation customer engagement platform. Our chatbots are called Purple bots and they are used to process orders across various digital channels. Through our bots, customers can keep track of their purchases through a simple and seamless process.
Our Purple bots have replaced the traditional marketing methods with real-time and conversational methods of promoting your products. To learn more, visit: https://www.purplegrids.com/retail.html
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