Conversational AI in retail

Shaping the future of retail with generative AI

As we move towards a world that does everything predominantly online, it’s important retailers stay ahead of those curves. In the US, it’s estimated that 218.8 million people shop digitally and many still require some form of support when making buying decisions or resolving issues. 

On average, these consumers are spending $5,381 per person whether that be on groceries, clothing or items for the home and conversational AI can keep them returning to a business if they feel they’re supported throughout their purchase journey. 

Having conversational AI in retail in place provides resolutions without the clinical one liners provided by a traditional chatbot. This form of AI mimics human speech using NLP (natural language processing). This means it understands and processes human language and responds in a similar way. and can adapt as needed. It can also reduce repetitive work and find information faster. Overall, it should streamline processes for support agents while making sure the customer has their needs met. It’s estimated that soon conversational AI chatbot interactions will reach 22 billion in the retail sector and only continue to grow.

Conversational AI in retail can do the legwork required to resolve most basic support issues – checking where an order is, amending an address, issuing a return – leaving the enquiries that require more of a human touch to the key support teams. It can make the whole process faster and more efficient. 

Conversational AI can also offer support in the twilight hours when support staff are typically not working. This means customer issues can typically be resolved 24/7 with minimal delays.

How do retail companies leverage conversational AI?

There are several ways of leveraging conversational AI in retail, from automating processes to improving basic customer interactions. 

Data collection to improve processes 

Conversational AI can keep track of common issues and responses, the quickest fixes and solutions and flag where automation and new processes can be introduced to make things more efficient. 

Free up time so agents can focus on complex issues 

Basic requests and queries can be quickly resolved with no need for agents to jump on a chat. Conversational AI can respond to customers and sort most issues but the ones that need a little more problem solving can then be escalated to the support team. Overall, this will save a great deal of time which means agents can resolve bigger issues, improve customer satisfaction and clear tickets faster. 

Automation of repetitive tasks 

It’s safe to say that AI makes light of those mundane tasks that eat into our time at work. Conversational AI in retail can easily automate those basic tasks so support teams can get to the root of the issue and implement a solution quickly. 

Support customers in a range of languages 

Conversational AI in retail can easily break down language barriers, adapting and conversing in a customer’s native language to resolve issues with ease. This multilingual approach means your business can ensure satisfaction no matter where your buyers are based.

Use cases of AI in retail

AI has a seemingly endless list of potential uses but for conversational AI in retail there’s lots of opportunity to better streamline services and improve customer satisfaction. Here are just a few things it can support with:

• Order tracking: AI can instantly look up order numbers and update customers on what stage their order is at. 

• Answering FAQs: AI can whittle down tickets by answering common customer queries via FAQs. If it cannot answer their question, it will escalate their query to a support team member. 

• Providing an ‘in store’ experience: AI can offer services online that customers would typically expect to find in store. A clothing brand may be able to offer a stylist service or suggest available products based on a simple search. 

• Provide around the clock support: With AI you never need to turn off your support service. Most queries can be resolved via conversational AI and if a customer needs help, they can contact the support team when they open again. This means customers get answers when needed, improving overall satisfaction and encouraging them to move further down that all important sales funnel.

• Confirm product availability: AI can have access to inventory management systems and so can provide real time confirmation of stock levels to customers. This can encourage in store visits, which is ideal for those selling items like furniture or white goods where it’s a good idea to check out the product in person.