Conversational commerce refers to the intersection of messaging apps and shopping. It’s a way for businesses to give customers convenient and personalized service. The term was coined by Uber’s Chris Messina in 2015. Since then, it’s played a major role in shaping the business models of many brands.
What is conversational commerce?
There are different types of conversational commerce, but they all aim to simplify the way people shop and buy.
Conversational commerce has several implications for online retailers; Reducing cart abandonment is just one of the positive benefits.
In this article, we’ll discuss how conversational commerce will effectively:
- Prevent shopping cart abandonment by reducing friction in online shopping
- Increase Average Ticket Value (ATV) through personalized suggestions
- Encourage shoppers to return to abandoned carts with effective follow-up
Sales chatbots make conversational commerce possible
For many businesses, sales chatbots are the tool that makes conversational commerce possible. They add much-needed data and scale to the equation. Sales chatbots integrate with apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and WeChat.
Chatbots help complete sales so that the customer doesn’t have to leave the messaging app. The result is increased conversions and better customer experiences.
Conversational commerce prevents shopping cart abandonment
The best way to deal with an issue is to prevent it. Shopping cart abandonment is often attributed to a poor user interface or experience. Some common reasons for cart abandonment are:
- The website is hard to navigate
- Forms are too difficult to fill out on a mobile device
- Uncertainty of delivery and return policies
- Long or complex checkout process
These are all areas where a sales chatbot helps. Sales chatbots reduce friction by creating a smooth and intuitive shopping experience. Your customers won’t have to go searching for shipping and return information or payment options. They can simply ask the chatbot and receive an answer within minutes.
When there’s a ticket that a chatbot can’t solve, they know when to ask for help. Chatbots seamlessly hand over complex conversations to a human agent. This plays an important role in reducing the likelihood of customer frustration, and cart abandonment.
Sales chatbots increase Average Ticket Value (ATV)
It’s important to note that chatbots don’t only help avoid lost sales. They also help increase your Average Ticket Value. A well-built bot knows your customer information by talking to your CRM. They use this customer data to serve up hyper-personal suggestions.
Sales chatbots know your customers’ purchase history and the products they might like. This personalization makes it easy for customers to find the products they love, thus increasing your average basket size.
Sales chatbots also let customers know which items are selling fast or about to go out of stock. This creates a sense of urgency that leads to more impulsive buying.
Chatting with a well-built bot is like shopping with a best friend who knows your taste and style.
While the short-term win for businesses is increased sales, the long-term gain is customer loyalty and choice. Sales chatbots creating meaningful relationships that drive repeat customers.
Conversational commerce brings customers back to carts
When a customer fails to checkout, bots send cart reminders and messages to lure them back to shopping. The advantage of a chatbot is that they can actually ask customers why they abandoned their cart. This is where other tactics fall short.
Many businesses try to recover abandoned shopping carts with promotional emails. These are not always timely, don’t have particularly high open rates, and may not address the reason for cart abandonment.
A sales chatbot asks customers if items were too expensive, shipping times too long, or if they have doubts about the product. They then have the insight they need to send personalized incentives.
