Chatbots are one of the most promising technologies to improve customer satisfaction and increase sales.

If a customer can’t find what they’re looking for on your eCommerce store or aren’t sure whether they want to buy something online, then chatbots can act as your own sales assistant to sway their decision into buying something from your site.

Chatbots are programmed with artificial intelligence to answer questions about your products, make recommendations based on the users’ preferences, provide information about other items in the store, and even handle payments in some cases.

In today’s blog post, we’re going to explore how chatbots can be used to increase sales in your business and improve customer satisfaction.

What are the benefits of chatbots for eCommerce stores?

In the world of eCommerce, chatbots can help to reduce customer service costs by 30%. .

Not only can chatbots help to reduce costs, but they can also be used to increase your sales.

Picture this, you’re walking into your favourite clothing store for the new season, and all you can see in front of you are a collection of the latest styles. You’re just looking for a nice new pair of trousers though, but you’re not quite sure where to find them.

There are rows upon rows of clothes, and it’s a bit intimidating.

Just before you decide to duck out of the store and go somewhere else, you hear the lovely voice of a shop assistant say, “Can I help you with anything?”

Well, they’ve engaged with you, and you are looking for a new pair of trousers, so you tell them what you’re looking for, and they bring you right down to the section you need.

You get your pants, and the store gets a sale.

Well, Chatbots work in the same way.

When your customer doesn’t know where to find what they’re looking for, your chatbot can pop up and ask them if they need any help. From here, all your client has to do is talk to the conversational AI to find what they want to purchase.

With the help of chatbots, you can increase your sales and get a happy customer. In 2020, 41.3% of consumers said they used chatbots for purchases, and chatbots can even increase sales by 67%.

Some of the other basic benefits of chatbots include:

• Improving customer experience, which can lead to repeat sales and more revenue down the line
• Increasing leads by getting potential customers to opt-in for email marketing campaigns
• Organising your marketing for you by building email lists
• Selling, and upselling, for you by offering your customers add-on items or even pre-approved discounts to encourage them to buy
• Answering frequently asked questions from your customers
• Providing 24/7 support

What are the main types of chatbots for eCommerce?

There are two main types of chatbots that you can use for eCommerce.

Conversational AI chatbots

Conversational AI chatbots or intelligent chatbots use AI software. This software allows people to communicate with it in everyday language. These chatbots use natural language processing that allows them to consider what the user is messaging. It analyses the words and sentences from what the user has typed. From here, the AI chatbot can generate a response best suited to the situation based on the data available. For example, a consumer could ask an AI chatbot where the women’s shoe section was on the website. The chatbot would analyse this and respond with a link to the relevant section.

Scripted chatbots

Scripted chatbots aren’t as advanced as conversation AI chatbots. They still have their uses, but what they can do in customer service is limited by what you put into them. You can use scripted chatbots to answer FAQs and essential questions. You input all the popular questions and answers so that when a customer asks the chatbot a question, it knows what response to send. These chatbots are usually used before sending a customer to ‘real life’ customer support.

What’s better: conversational chatbots or scripted chatbots? For eCommerce, conversational AI chatbots are the better choice. This type of chatbot is much better at increasing sales and conversions than scripted chatbots are.

AI chatbots are great for:

1.  Improving your customer experience.
   They can address any client queries and make sure requests are dealt with quickly. Whether your customers are looking for shipping updates or need to process a refund, an AI chatbot can help them in a conversational and human-like way.
2. Enhancing your customers’ shopping experience.
   You’ll be able to boost your conversions by letting your chatbot assist all your customers along their journey. Chatbots can offer personalised shopping advice and even upsell when the time comes.
3. Personalised communication. 
   Your chatbot will be talking to hundreds of people every day, and you can take and make a record of these conversations. By analysing the information generated, you can better understand the needs of your customers. If you’re looking for a way to build and launch a conversational chatbot for your eCommerce store then we’d recommend ChatBot. ChatBot is an AI chatbot software that will allow you to build the perfect chatbot for your website without the need for any coding.

What are the best chatbots for Shopify stores?

The Shopify app store has so many chatbots to choose from that it can be incredibly overwhelming.

With so many choices, it’s hard to choose the right chatbot for your eCommerce store, which is why we’ve put together a list of our top 5 Shopify chatbots.

1. Gobot

Gobot is the perfect chatbot to use for your eCommerce store if you’re looking to resolve repetitive customer support tasks and reduce the amount of time you have to put into solving customer problems. 

This Shopify chatbot can help you to improve customer satisfaction and your response time thanks to its AI. 

It can help your customers find the products they want, and it can answer any question at any time of day. 

You can also use Gobot to build buyer personas to help you truly personalise your customer experience. 

Gobot also has excellent support services with a technical integration setup as well as management and ongoing optimisation. You’ll also have access to a dedicated success manager and priority email and phone support.

For more information check out Gobot on the Shopify app store.

2. Tidio

Over 300,000 websites are using Tidio to help streamline their customer service and improve their customer experience. 

With Tidio, you can grow your sales thanks to real-time customer support. You can also communicate quickly with your customers without having to put in too much time. 

Tidio bots use AI solutions that save abandoned carts, offer discounts, generate leads and solve customer queries. 

Tidio makes it possible for you to stay in contact with your customers no matter how they get in touch with you, thanks to their email and Messenger integration.

You can find out more about Tidio on the Shopify app store.

3. Chatra

With Chatra, you can boost your sales and save abandoned carts without having to put in the extra time and effort. 

Chatra is an AI chatbot that can answer customer concerns, upsell, cross-sell, and target customers who might need assistance. 

This AI chatbot is like your own sales assistant, except you don’t have to give them a break. It works 24/7 providing your customers with the help they need whenever they need it. 

Chatra also lets you see who’s been on your website and where they’re from. This will allow you to build up a detailed customer persona to improve your marketing and increase your sales. 

Find out more about Chatra on the Shopify app store.

4. Reamaze

Reamaze is a live chat and helpdesk bot that is perfect for dealing with customer queries, complaints and concerns. 

It can help free up more of your time by answering all order status questions and FAQ questions for you. It can also help guide and sell to customers, which will boost your online sales. 

Reamaze also lets you create holiday-specific marketing campaigns to help increase your revenue during holiday sales. 

Find out more about Reamaze by checking it out on the Shopify app store.

5. Relish

If you have a lot going on with your online store and not enough time to address all of your customer queries, then Relish is the ideal chatbot for your eCommerce store. 

You can use Relish to help your customers find exactly what they want, thanks to personalised recommendations. Provide your customers with 24/7 support they can rely on with the power of an AI conversational chatbot. 

Relish can help stop visitors from abandoning your shop with exit intent chatbot messages. These can offer personalised incentives like free shipping or discounts. It can also upsell and cross-sell so you can increase your average order value and start getting more revenue into your business.

Find out more about Relish on the Shopify app store.

How do you choose the right chatbot?

Chatbots aren’t all the same. Different chatbots offer different kinds of services, and depending on what industry you’re in will depend on what type of chatbot will work for you.

For example, as an eCommerce company, you’re going to want to look for a chatbot that can show products, handle shipping enquiries, and encourage your customer to make a sale.

So, with this in mind, the first thing you have to tick off when looking for the right chatbot is whether or not it’s a chatbot for an eCommerce store. The easiest way to get around this is to look on the Shopify app store as it’s full of eCommerce chatbots.

The next thing to remember is that chatbots aren’t there to handle everything. You might want to make everything digital, and it’d be a lot easier if you could, but you have to consider the human element when choosing a chatbot for your company.

If you want to add a more human element to your chat function then consider using a live chat instead of a regular chatbot. We recommend using LiveChat as it will help you provide real time support to your customers and will improve customer satisfaction. 

When you’re sorting out your marketing for the year, remember to set expectations with your customers if you include a chatbot as part of your customer service. Your customers might be okay with having a complete digital experience, but others, especially the older generation, prefer to have human contact to complete their purchase.

For example, if your customer can’t get the answer they’re looking for from your chatbot, you should have an option for them to contact your customer support instead. This could be the difference between winning and losing a sale.

When choosing a chatbot, make sure that they’re designed to meet all of your needs and the needs of your customers.

For example, if you want your chatbot to be able to:

• Answer product questions
• Provide shipping details
• Save abandoned carts
• Upsell and cross-sell

You should make sure your chatbot of choice has all these features ready to go.

The most important part about choosing the right chatbot is choosing one that can fulfil all your requirements – so know what your requirements are before paying for new software.

Chatbots are a great way to improve your customer service, make your customers happier and increase your online sales.

When looking for the right chatbot, it all comes down to finding the one that can provide you with the features you need to help your store keep your customers happy. Not only do you have to find the right chatbot, but you also have to implement it correctly, and monitor it to make sure your customers, and your business, are benefiting from it.

The best way to do this is to make sure all your staff and customers are prepped and educated on how best to use your chatbot software.

If you’re looking to find the perfect chatbot for your eCommerce store, but you still aren’t sure what you’re looking for, then the team at Ireland Website Design can help you out.

We’re a dedicated eCommerce team with plenty of expert knowledge about building and implementing chatbots into eCommerce websites. So whether you want help finding the perfect one or want to create something more custom, we’d love to help.

Get in contact with Ireland Website Design today to start increasing your sales by implementing a chatbot.