TOPICS: Chatbot for Ecommerce   Chatbot for Website    Building a chatbot   

Ecommerce Chatbot – The Beginner's Guide to Ecommerce Chatbots

For business owners, marketers, and anyone operating within the ecommerce industry, staying on top of trends is a must – hence their mounting interest in ecommerce chatbots to keep up with growing consumer demands. Online shoppers want product search, purchase and customer support to be seamless. And to raise the stakes even higher, they want the same degree of convenience across multiple channels.

The good news is that online stores can leverage ecommerce chatbot development to achieve these objectives. Both prospective and existing customers tend to seek chatbot options on every ecommerce website they visit. AI-powered online chatbots are part of a growing need for brands to integrate speed and convenience with all aspects of customer interaction.



Today, I will be talking about ecommerce chatbots and how to use them to help your ecommerce brand.

1. The chatbot platform you choose matters.

A chatbot is essentially a piece of software that can be programmed to converse with people via instant messaging. But a lot of specialized skill and expertise goes into building one, especially if you’re looking to create an AI chatbot that learns and improves over time. Without knowledge of programming and artificial intelligence, building an ecommerce chatbots from scratch is practically impossible. The money and resources you could end up spending in the process would be detrimental to your overall operations.

So instead of attempting to create a chatbot on your own, you should choose a chatbot platform that can do the legwork for you. You’ll find a vast array of options online. To make your job easier and avoid potential trouble down the road, choose a chatbot development platform that makes it easy for you to set up and manage your ecommerce chatbot yourself. The platform should offer a simple, intuitive interface that even someone without programming or coding knowledge can understand and navigate.

2. Make your chatbot visible.

No matter how much effort you put into your chatbot’s script, you won’t get the results you want if your chatbot fails to trigger any form of engagement. The best chatbots for ecommerce websites are of course easy to talk to, but here’s the thing – they’re also really easy to spot!

Your customers should be able to discover your website’s chatbot the minute they arrive at the homepage. You can ensure this by incorporating an attractive design, keeping messages relevant from the get-go, and then tapping into the consumer’s pain points with emotional triggers and enticing responses.

The more people you have engaging with your chatbot, the more chances you have of learning more about them, and of converting them into paying customers.

3. Create a chatbot with relevant, conversion-oriented content.

As mentioned above, message content is a key performance indicator of your ecommerce chatbot. While browsing your online store, customers may hesitate to proceed with a sale when they have questions regarding pricing, discounts, or product information. When they can’t immediately locate the information they need, they’ll turn to your chatbot for assistance.

To increase conversion rates, your chatbot should create an entire experience that is repeatable and reliable.

For example, meet Dean, who is searching for vegan products on an online grocery store.

Chatbot: “Please choose how you would like to start: Fruits, Vegetables, Dairy, Meats, Staples, Breakfast store, or All Categories.”

Dean: “All categories.”

Chatbot: “Click here to access our complete collection. If you’d like me to help you narrow your selection, type what you’re looking for in the message box below.”

Dean: “Vegan products.”

Chatbot: “Here are some of our popular vegan products. Click on any product to view details and similar items.”

As illustrated in the example, the online chatbot presents filters and options to help Dean zero in on the products he’s looking to buy. It replicates a human-to-human interaction by quickly directing Dean to what he’s looking for. At the same time, Dean also gets ample room to broaden or modify his search however he likes.

4. Chatbots and Live Chat go well together.

There’s no doubt that artificial intelligence has changed the way people do business with one another. Even the best ecommerce chatbots today, will improve over the coming years and play an even bigger role in customer service.

The primary idea behind building chatbots is to enhance human interaction, not to replace it. Human-supported live chats remain are still an effective customer care. By incorporating a chatbot platform that allows you to switch from AI bot to live chat, you can resolve complex issues faster, build customer loyalty, and gradually gain an advantage over your competitors.

From where it stands, chatbot development is an evolving technology that can help ecommerce businesses amp their digital marketing strategy. By incorporating the practices listed above, you can make the most of online chatbots to improve your brand’s customer service, attract more prospects, and convert more leads.