Retail therapy is for real and your customers are out there trying to engage with your business as they try to overcome stressors –but sadly most businesses deliver the opposite.

Not sure what I'm talking about? Imagine a customer comes to your website or app in search of a particular product but isn’t able to find it, or to track their order, or has additional challenges like finding discount coupons. There's a high probability they'd leave that website or app. While a few do come back and check later, the rest are lost – or in the worst-case scenario, they’ve gone to do business with your competitor.

The most common business approach is following up on the abandoned cart or then remarketing, but that's possible only if your customer entered their details, added products to their cart, and left before buying. Or if they were looking for a particular product using some search keywords. But how do you help your customers find products they want even before they search for it?

Chatbots could be of assistance here. Imagine your visitors finding help right when they need it. And even before they ask for it. Interesting, right?

Here are 5 ways retailers can use chatbots to spark sales.

Instant responses

According to a 2021 report from Backlinko, 1.4 billion messaging app users have no issue talking to chatbots over their human counterparts for receiving instant information and detailed responses to problems. Chatbots can search through your entire product database, the customer’s shopping history, publicly available information on demographics, and much more to provide instant responses and shopping suggestions. All of which would take an agent several minutes alongside multiple questions. The ease of finding help 'round the clock is what motivates millennials to shop online and on websites that offer chat assistance.

Updates and notifications

As website visitors browse your website, you can be updating deals, descriptions, and adding products, and all the while your bots can be providing real-time updates to your visitors about those new deals and discounts.Your bot can showcase deals in a personalised fashion based on the user’s cookie preferences and ad-blockers to ensure visitors don't miss out on exclusive incentives offered to them. This is a great way to retain customers on your website or have them coming back for more as they come to know there'd be fresh deals every time they visit (because they'd be updated about them through your engaging bot!).

Source feedback

After your customer has used a product or service, it's important for you as a business to gather information. One of the most efficient ways to do this is by employing your bot to gather feedback. Serviceform enables you to program your bot in such a way that it sends out, for example, an automated survey or post-purchase communication. The data gathered from these feedback forms can be instantly embedded into the system, analysed, and used for improvement to future customer service. Customers are constantly looking for engaging content on websites, so services that simplify their shopping experiences and use chatbots can help you understand what your customers need and then deliver it to them.  

Shopping assistance

Reports from Insider Intelligence estimate that by 2024, a whopping $142 billion will have been spent by online retail consumers through chatbots. One major reason for this is chatbot customer service efficiency. If you're a business owner who's wondering how you could make the most out of your chatbot investment, remember to keep it simple! An AI-powered customer care solution that works to address your customers' problems is always a priority over a fancy bot with some personality. Chatdesk actually reports that remaining chatbot cons in 2022 are (still) more misunderstandings than with a human and moreover lack of emotive or personalised conversation. The reason for this could be the fact that most businesses are focusing on building a bot that has wit or personality (that complements their brand) more than a bot that understands their brand and likewise customers. Serviceform, a chatbot provider itself, can help you customise your chatbots' conversational ability with real-time data, unique customer behaviour, and more.

Omnichannel assistance

Your website visitor or app user might not always want to shop online. Sometimes there's business that needs to be done by visiting a physical store or then even on social media! So how do you handle this influx of information and ensure your agents provide the same service to each and every customer? Impossible, right? A chatbot can pick up where your customer left the chat, provide real-time assistance, and also guide them to your physical store by scheduling an appointment (inside the chatbot!) if needed. This all brings in a human element to your bot and ensures your customers are engaged from start to finish along their buyer journey.