When the mobile phone evolved around two decades ago, it brought groundbreaking changes in the world of communication.
However, the old traditional methods such as SMS and MMS are diminishing rapidly and are gradually getting substituted by chatbots and other instant messaging tools that have powered a new wave of customer engagement.
As an interactive tool, chatbots can communicate with humans and easily understand their language to reply similar to what we do.
In fact, with the time progressing, this software programs are capable of even tackling the complex conversations.
According to a reports of the Business Insider, there has been a tremendous growth of the messaging platforms since the year 2015 and it has even overtaken the social media networks.
And once can certainly say that messaging apps like Whatsapp, Snapchat, Hike or WeChat have played an essential role in bringing this acceleration.
So before we can move on further to illustrate on the key industries or areas, which will reap benefits by implementing the chatbots, let’s gather some knowledge on their various advantages.
Wider Platform For Personalization
The chatbots have provided a wider scope for the online business owners to interact one-to-one with their customers and giving a more personalized experience.
So, this new instant messaging tool is also proving to be a great marketing asset where you can know what the customers desires and provide the service accordingly. It also allows you to collect the data of your esteemed users.
Chatbots Are More Cost Effective
Developing chatbots are much easier and also cost effective in comparison to developing the mobile apps. It is because of the fact that chatbots are mostly based on the server and all depends on your abilities to create a useful programming software.
Chatbots Are Mostly Test-Based
The conversations of the chatbots are mostly test-based which means the users can easily chat using their personal tone. The customer service representatives don’t have to attend calls every time and the messages remain safe and confidential.
Automatic Recording Of Analytics
The facility of chatbots also gives you the advantage to capture or record the analytics while the customer is replying to your query. They can maintain the record of the interaction and features of the product.
Chatbots Have Flexible Infrastructure
Another benefit that chatbots offer is flexible infrastructure. It means you can implement it with other channels with ease so as to engage more customers.
For instance, if you are booking a hotel through chatbot, you can check into another channel. Let’s take a look at the key areas of business that chatbots will help in flourishing and take the user experience to the next level.
1. E-Commerce
The e-commerce industry has emerged out to become one of the most successful online business platform for both the buyers and the sellers.
According to the survey, more than 80% of the business organizations will be wanting to incorporate the chatbot.
And other report suggests that the global revenue generated from Artificial Intelligence is expected to increase to $36.8 billion in 2025 from $643.7 million in 2016.
A number of e-commerce brands have been successful in establishing their unique identity including eBay, SnapTravel etc. So, the next turn could be yours.
How can the e-commerce industry benefit from the chatbot? Firstly, it assists in establishing a brand image amongst the end users, Secondly, the customers simply love getting the personal attention and you can suggest more of the products based on their tastes and preferences.
Thirdly, once the customers start visiting your platform, the sales will upsurge. The users also get 24×7 customer care service with real-time response.
2. Hospitality & Travel
Ever since the arrival of the smartphones and the mobile apps, the facet of the hospitality and travel industry has undergone a significant change.
You know it exceedingly well that the thriving of this industry depends primarily on offering the optimal customer service. Thus, this is where the chatbots will come into play.
You can communicate and interact with your customers in the best possible manner. Furthermore, the chatbots have also helped a great deal in making appropriate travel arrangements and online booking of hotels and tickets.
What else you can do is offer suggestions regarding the holiday destinations to the tourists depending upon their budget estimate.
Moreover, that chatbots also facilitates the users to search for the famous restaurants, shopping malls and other places of sightseeing.
3. Heath
Chatbots are proving to be a handy customer not only for the e-commerce and travel business, but also a blessing for the health industry.
In severe cases, where the patient’s life is under threat, he requires an immediate medical attention and proper diagnosis.
So, the doctor if not physically present can guide the medical staff to take the necessary actions and also prescribe medicines with the help of AI.
Moreover, the patients can personally get in touch and communicate with the doctor by instant messaging.
The chatbots can also analyze the body symptoms and make the patient aware about it to interact with the doctor if necessary.
4. On-Demand Apps
You must be pondering how chatbots are related to the on-demand apps. To tell you the truth, chatbots are linked with on-demand apps such as Uber, Airbnb and Domino’s Pizza etc. through the Facebook Messenger bot.
Users who want to avail any of the services such as booking a cab, buying a ticket for event, ordering online pizza or lunch can easily do so via Facebook Messenger that facilitates business to start automatic conversation with the customers.
On the other hand, the business owners can also share their latest updates on the product launches and they can become more proactive and personal.
5. Banking
The banking industry has gone over a sea change since all the most of the financial transactions are conducted online.
So, the banks also need a perfect chatbot interface, which will make their hefty activates simpler. Each day several transactions are completed and it must be done carefully.
The users can check their balance, money transfers and receipts and history of transactions, locating the nearest bank branch or ATM all through the bots.
In fact, some of the reputed banks like Bank of America or Western Union Money Transfer have already implemented the bots such as Erica or Messenger for that specific purpose.
6. Customer Service Centre
The IVR technique most of the times frustrated people because it was a long process requiring the individuals to press several buttons till they could finally reach the service executive.
But with chatbots coming into the scene, much of this problem has been sorted out and the customer care representatives can answer the questions of users within minimum time.
And the representatives also do not irritated by sorting the same problem again and again. They provide superior experience to the customers and the service executives. One can cite the example of Watson launched by IBM and ToBi by telecom service provider Vodafone.
7. Day-To-Day Office Activities
Most organizations require to coordinate with various departments where the employees can interact with one other.
So, the chatbots will assist in establishing faster communication so that work is managed and carried out efficiently.
The manager for the team leader can ask his assistant regarding the status of the work and get the reply. Similarly, if assistant has a doubt, he can get it clarified.
Conclusion
So, we can say that the chatbots are the new plants that have generated from the next generation technological seeds and getting better and much improved with time.
The chatbots have taken the evolution with the intention of making the communication easier, faster and appropriate. It helps in providing information without the need of any other individual.
Chatbots are proving to be worthy assets for a number of industries and surely this figure will hike in the near future.
So, if you want to enhance the customer engagement and take your business to the next level, it is high time to think about implementing the chatbot in the right way.
