Learning from the Best Ecommerce Chatbots

Chatbots for retail provide many benefits for both customers and businesses. For customers, the benefits of ecommerce chatbots are obvious. They can quickly get support when an issue arises, browse items or seek inspiration or get updates on purchases. Some shopping chatbots might even allow users to make payments and get personalized deals without leaving the messaging platform, making themselves even more useful to customers.

Shopping Chatbots Benefit Businesses and Consumers

So how do the best ecommerce chatbots help their businesses? First, chatbots for retail open a direct line of communication with the customer. Businesses can take advantage of easy customer access by enticing fans with personalized deals or by reminding them of leftover items in a shopping cart. Because B2C is shifting from email to messaging apps (with the latter receiving much higher CTR), chatbots for retail make a great way to A/B test brand messaging. Finally, the best ecommerce chatbots can up- or cross-sell throughout the shopper’s journey.

Ecommerce Chatbot Examples—And What They’re Doing Right

Shopping Chatbots Should Inspire the User

The best ecommerce chatbots for retail provide lasting value for users and exist for more than just making a sale. Sephora and H&M are two especially strong chatbots in this respect. When users talk to Sephora, the chatbot will provide content to help them make the most of their beauty products. Whether it be through video tutorials, photos or other tips, the bot proves the brand’s authority and informs the user, which in turn can inspire purchases and boost customer satisfaction. H&M’s bot is similar by working with the user to put together an outfit.

The important thing to note is that shopping chatbots can marry its primary function (shopping) with content creation to provide value for the user.

Helping Customers Anytime, Anywhere with Chatbots for Retail

While the chatbots like those mentioned above might inspire the users and capture their attention as they browse, other businesses might benefit best from one that helps users make a purchase as fast as possible. You’ll have to decide which style fits your business and customers best. The chatbot built for 1-800-Flowers, for example, became popular for helping users instantly purchase last-minute gifts with same-day delivery. SnapTravel likewise helps users instantly discover (and book) hotel deals in a single conversation.

The takeaway? Consider whether your bot—like the ecommerce chatbot examples above—would do well to instantly surface up solutions to consumers rather than have them browse over an extended period. Doing so could increase convenience for your users.

The Best Ecommerce Chatbots Help Customers Be Their Best Selves

Money can’t buy happiness, but chatbots for retail can have a real, positive aspect in users’ lives. We’re seeing many new fintech companies innovating on payments with messaging apps. Trim on Facebook Messenger, for example, helps users save money automatically by canceling unneeded subscriptions and providing the user with spending data. While Trim isn’t selling anything, it’s easy to see how chatbots for retail might follow suit by providing customers with data that helps them save and shop smarter. By quantifying or even gamifying a user’s savings, you’ll help them see the amount of value your business provides. And it’ll make them feel good, too.

Save Money by Allowing Subscribed Payments in Shopping Chatbots

One of Amazon Alexa’s biggest selling points was that users could quickly ask the assistant to make a quick purchase, or even subscribe to regular purchases like home goods. Google Assistant has followed suit with Google Express services, of which retail giant Target is a partner. If your ecommerce bot exists on a voice platform (and it should), consider optimizing quick, simple and repetitive tasks.

For example, let’s say you’re a coffee company. You might allow users to subscribe to a purchase, automatically making the payment on a set interval (like every week or every month). This saves the user time by not having to constantly reorder a favorite, often-used product. Meanwhile, the business can depend on repeat purchases from the customer.

Are you inspired by these ecommerce chatbot examples to build a bot for your own business? If so, you’ll need conversational analytics to better understand your customers’ needs. Sign up for Botanalytics today to receive sophisticated metrics on your bot’s usage, then iterate your bot to make it even better!