How Artificial Intelligence Chatbots Can Help Retail Call Centers
Retailers are using the call center to not only sell to and serve their customers, but also to deepen connections between customers and the brand, and to harness and build customer loyalty through.
As a result, growing numbers of contact centers are taking their CX game up a notch through the innovative use of artificial intelligence, chatbots, intelligent virtual agents, workflow automation, and omnichannel experiences.
The pandemic changed the way a lot of shoppers think about retail, and today they want more than just transactional experiences. Customers want retailers that are easy to do business with, that “get them,” and connect with them when and how they prefer. People are gravitating toward brands that prioritize service as much as selling products.
According to the Global Chatbots Market Research Report: Forecast 2021-2026, the market for chatbots that provide a more human experience using artificial intelligence is expected to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 24.1%.
Key Capabilities
Customers can look up their order status, check stock availability, or get answers to frequently asked questions such as return policies or shipping time. Capabilities include:
- Voice
- Speech recognition
- Natural language processing
- Text-to-speech
- Voice biometrics
- Sentiment analysis
- SMS/messaging
- Chat
- Multilingual
- Omnichannel
- Third party chatbot solutions
Machine Learning + Artificial Intelligence + Natural Language Processing
Chatbots are continuing to make astonishing headway in the contact center, and if you haven’t seen a Five9 IVA demo, it is highly recommended. It shows the extent and the efficiency of the customer experience it provides.
The retail industry is continuing to take note of how well A.I. can serve as the front line for customer communications by delivering a fully automated, yet highly personalized, customer experience.
With self-service text and voice being the preferred form of communication for many customers especially among millennial and Gen Z shoppers, this is another channel that allows retailers to add a more human element through use of AI chatbots to what otherwise might have been an impersonal, one-sided, transactional moment. The customer still doesn't have to talk to anyone, yet it’s a more natural, conversational process.
These types of chatbots also effectively reduce call volume coming into the contact center, saving agents for customer inquiries that require a live agent. When shoppers wish to be connected to a live agent, it can be escalated through a simple request. Customers are routed based on the campaign or the nature of their question to ensure they reach the right person.
Cloud-Based Agility
Moving to the cloud will allow for faster, easier deployments, seamless upgrades, flexible scalability, and reduced capital expenditures associated with on-premises systems.
Connected Journeys
The contact center should support customer journeys across web chat and social messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and others.
Omnichannel Unification
Shoppers will be coming in from many different channels, so it will streamline the customer experience to route interactions using the same logic.
Customer Context
Agents must begin the conversation right where the customer left off online. When the customer’s needs are transferred to an agent in real time, your brand is creating a seamless transition from web to contact center. Remove customer stress, unneeded customer repetition, wasted time, and deliver a world-class customer experience
CRM Integration
Customer relationship management (CRM) system integration can improve the shopper experience by using CRM data to find the last person spoken to, use shopper purchase history to find the best expert, etc. In addition, once the connection occurs, your staff can access past interaction history and CRM information to understand the customer’s journey and deliver a more personalized experience.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI can deliver next- best-action recommendations and assist in responses that will improve conversion rates, increase shopping cart value, and speed up responses.
Real-Time Management
Supervisors should monitor messaging interactions in real time and assist if needed, even if they are not in the same location.
AI & PCI Compliance
Intelligent virtual agents (IVAs) can automate payment processing across digital channels and reduce your compliance risk by collecting sensitive customer data without revealing it to a human agent. Make sure that the IVAs can easily integrate with your payment gateways.
