ChatBots

Artificial intelligence-powered chatbots may be extremely common in customer service, but do they make sense for sales? Consumers seem mixed on the idea, but overall, they seem to prefer bots for uncomplicated tasks. Salesforce, for example, found that 69 percent of consumers prefer to use chatbots for getting answers to simple questions. But when people…

The pandemic accelerated e-commerce growth and there’s no going back. Gartner reported that 86 percent of marketing leaders believe digital commerce will be the most important sales channel within the next two years. E-commerce leaders need a clear maturity road map to stay ahead of the competition, add differentiating value for customers, and improve commerce…

The world of online shopping is here to stay. With retail and e-commerce so intricately connected, 2021 saw global e-commerce sales reach $4.2 trillion, and 2022 predictions are to surpass $5.5 trillion. This already growing trend to switch to online shopping was propelled forward when COVID-19 hit. This has brought about new challenges for the…

Off the heels of the busy holiday season, digital consumers are continuing to rewrite the rules of retail in 2022. To keep up with evolving demands, the industry will see the rise of a “digital workforce.” A digital workforce is powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and can work alongside retailers’ sales and service reps to…

Gartner recently published its annual list of strategic technology trends that will shape the year ahead for businesses around the world. It’s no surprise that included among the 2022 list are cloud-native platforms, artificial intelligence (AI) engineering, and total experiences. At the intersection of these we can find conversational AI solutions. Conversational AI is the…

In 2022, the retail industry will have to significantly improve its customer service and customer experience (CX), which were severely impacted by the pandemic. Customer service is often the frontline for a company’s brand and reputation, and a third of consumers say that it’s worse now than prior to the pandemic. We’ve all been impacted…

A recent Clickatell survey showed that the typical customer spends 13 hours a year on hold — hours they would rather be relaxing (58 percent), doing chores (46 percent) or spending with family (36 percent). Additionally, one-third of those respondents said spending even five minutes to nine minutes on hold can lead to negative feelings towards a brand. Even with…

As a brand, it’s becoming increasingly crucial to be present on chat apps, as almost all consumers are consistently linked to their mobile device where they’re active on at least one of them. This includes SMS, WhatsApp, and (most popularly) Facebook Messenger. As such, businesses need to be ahead of this evolution. Before we know…

For some of the most customer-centric retailers, artificial intelligence will be hard at work this holiday season. While there are many applications of AI for the e-commerce industry year-round, there are a few that are uniquely suited for the holiday rush this year. The global pandemic squeezed budgets for more established retailers, while influencer and…

The holiday season guarantees a seasonal spike in customer support tickets, resulting in a 42 percent increase. This is because 20 percent to 40 percent of annual sales take place during the holiday season, followed by an inevitable spike in product returns. To ensure that the customer experience (CX) isn’t negatively impacted by this surge,…