As many as 80% of people who have interacted with a chatbot say the experience was positive, according to a survey from Uberall. Even so, 30% of consumers have a tepid response to chatbots, saying they were “somewhat uninterested,” with 29% more indicating no interest at all.
“There’s definitely growing interest in branded chatbot experiences, but most consumers still need convincing,” said Florian Huebner, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Uberall in a statement. “Many are wary, either because chatbot technology in the past was not advanced enough to ensure a good experience, or because consumers worry chatbots could easily become another spam channel. Brands have to do a better job creating AI experiences that customers find personalized, helpful and worthwhile.”
When implementing chatbots, retailers must take consumers’ criticisms of the technology seriously in order to continue building interest. As many as 43% of shoppers say chatbots need to work on their accuracy in understanding what customers are asking or looking for. Other areas cited as needing improvement include:
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- Getting a human customer rep involved where needed (27%); and
- Holding a more human-sounding, natural conversation (19%).
Only 10% of consumers said they’d like to see more chatbots, since there aren’t many opportunities to use them.
Shoppers Prefer Chatbots That Offer Deals And Promotions Over Customer Service Support
When asked about what they’d like to see chatbots offer, surprisingly, shoppers didn’t list customer service as their top choice — despite it already being one of the most common uses of the technology. Up to 38% said offers of deals, coupons and promotions would be the feature they’d most like to see chatbots offer. Other desired uses include:
- Customer service support (31%);
- Providing store locations/hours near me (17%);
- Offering “personalized product recommendations” (7%); and
- Giving “the option of directly buying an item” (6%).
More than half (55%) said that they were likely to use chatbots if they offered location-based deals, coupons and promotions.
“Using chatbots to deliver savings and sell consumers on the technology is a no-brainer,” said Huebner. “Customer service interactions can often be seen as pushy or self-serving, but offering a coupon experience can help customers to feel like they are benefitting from the interaction, and can open the way to more positive engagement with that customer.”
