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AI chatbots in e-commerce: Advantages, examples, and tips for companies

Chatbots
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In this article:

  1. Why do I need an e-commerce chatbot?
  2. Advantages of chatbots in e-commerce
    1. 24/7 availability
    2. A more personalized customer experience
    3. Increase sales
    4. Reduce amount of abandoned shopping carts
    5. Reduce number of returns
    6. Improve return on ad money spend
    7. Re-engage customers
    8. Step it up with chatbots
  3. Use cases of AI chatbots in e-commerce
    1. Answer customer queries anytime
    2. Lead generation
    3. Guide customers through the shopping process
    4. Upselling
    5. Act as brand ambassador
    6. Help track delivery status
    7. Schedule consultations or service appointments
  4. These companies are using e-commerce chatbots to grow their business
    1. Domino’s: Being available on multiple channels
    2. Michael Kors: Making online shopping more engaging
    3. Bol.com: Improve the experience throughout the entire customer journey
  5. Tips for getting started with e-commerce chatbots
    1. Start with one use case
    2. Work out what your chatbot should (and shouldn't!) do
    3. Measure and improve
    4. Choose a high-quality solution that doesn’t require IT resources to be set up

What can AI chatbots in e-commerce do for your business? From driving sales to making customers happier… a lot! In this guide, we talk about the advantages of e-commerce bots and use cases, we show you examples, and give you the best tips on how to get started.

From groceries to EVs to swimming pools: there is virtually NOTHING you can't buy online these days. As a result, many customers switched from shopping in brick-and-mortar stores to shopping online.

In the US, one of the strongest global markets for e-commerce, the 2021 annual e-commerce revenue amounted to 767.7 billion U.S. dollars. And even in Europe, the e-commerce revenue went from 406.25 billion US dollars in 2017 to 731.73 in 2021, while the number of shoppers increased from 225.2 million to 354.7 in the same time period.

These numbers are not surprising. Even if they're not stuck in their houses during a pandemic, customers love the convenience of being able to get whatever they want from the comfort of their homes. At the same time, they expect the same personalized service they get in brick-and-mortar stores but paired with the speed and effortlessness of the internet.

For small and large online retailers alike, these expectations can be hard to meet. AI chatbots in e-commerce can be the key to improving your customer service, speeding up processes, and keeping your expenses low. In this guide, we explore the advantages of AI chatbots in e-commerce, show you examples of chatbots in action, and give you useful tips for implementing a bot in your e-commerce ecosystem.

Why do I need an e-commerce chatbot?

Customers expect online stores to answer their questions immediately, and at all times. Even with the best service team in the world, that’s very challenging (and costly!) to do.

Chatbots can help you bridge that gap.

  • They're available 24/7.
  • They can answer FAQs in seconds. Chatbots can actually answer up to 80% of the most common questions successfully.
  • Chatbots are always friendly and patient.
  • It’s easy for chatbots to handle peak hours or increased demand.

Chatbots will help you meet your customers’ demands, scale your business, all while keeping your costs low. That’s also the experience AlphaPet Ventures has had. The e-commerce company for premium pet food is known for their personalized customer service. They decided to add a chatbot to their customer service because they noticed that answering customer queries by e-mail was too slow and impersonal. The chatbot solved both problems, says Customer Care Lead at AlphaPet, Leonie Steiner.