Chatbots have been part of modern e-commerce for many years, and with the growth of artificial intelligence, they are playing an ever-increasing role. It is because modern chatbots can do much more than just answer common questions. Want to know what their capabilities are? Let’s move on, then!
Table of contents
Overview of e-commerce chatbots
Getting someone to visit an online shop is no longer enough today. On top of that, you can’t expect them to buy something straight away.
IMPORTANT:
- Grab the customer’s attention with great deals.
- Help them decide what to buy.
- Suggest more items or different things to increase the sale.
Chatbots are really helpful in different steps of the buying process. The tools can push customers to purchase, offering deals, discounts, and extra services.
💡 Smartsupp’s Shopping Assistant AI can provide deals, suggest related products, do many tasks automatically, check if customers are happy, and more.
Now, in the online shopping sector, AI chatbots do more than just assist customers. They are a major factor in making more sales and getting bigger orders.
In this article, we will figure out how AI chatbots can increase your sales, work better, get bigger orders, and make people buy again. They can do this at every step of the purchase. we’ll explain it to SEE - THINK - DO - CARE: A Digital Marketing Framework.
Let’s take a closer look at this framework and how useful chatbots are at each stage.
Chatbots in the SEE stage: reaching out and learning about customers’ needs
In the first step, you need to grab the customer’s attention. The longer you keep it, the less likely they’ll leave the website. For example, customers who talked to the Smartsupp chatbot in a store were 248% more likely to buy than those who didn’t.
AI chatbot reaches the customer in a personalized way at this stage. The chatbot “sees” which products and pages the customer has viewed on the site.
The tool uses what it knows about the shopper’s preferences to suggest relevant products. The more it knows, the better its suggestions are.
Here’s how a chatbot can start a conversation. Imagine a customer looking at running shoes. ⬇️
Chatbot:
“Hi there!
Did you know that modern running shoes were developed in the late 1960s? They were designed to give runners better grip and comfort. Interested in checking out our latest collection of running shoes?”
Even simple chatbots can connect with customers early on. They can use FAQs to understand what a prospect needs and guide them to what they want.
Customers might find this kind of care valuable. A chatbot really ups the chances of the customer going to the next step in buying, as people willingly use them to find the products they like.
Chatbots in the THINK stage: giving shopping advice and getting leads
In the THINK phase, customers consider different items and try to pick the best one. Here, chatbots act as advisors.
The chatbot analyzes what the customer liked before and figures out what they’re into. And that is how it comes up with a suitable product suggestion. A better understanding of the customer makes the offer more appealing.
The thing is to make the customer feel like the offer is just for them – as customized as possible. A personalized approach like this helps convert prospects into customers. Offering them deals and special offers also encourages them to purchase.
The chatbot handles many chats without needing a real person. For our chatbot, it’s about 20% to 40% of chats, sometimes, it goes up to 90%. It depends on the online store and its products.
Look at these examples:
- InSPORTline: The chatbot sorted out 20% of all questions.
- ASKO - NÁBYTEK: 50% of queries resolved by a chatbot.
- Ketodiet: The chatbot deals with 30% to 35% of customer questions.
- AAA Auto: 30% more conversations with agents thanks to the AI chatbot.
- Vico Food Box: The chatbot managed up to 90% of questions without needing a person.
Also, it’s much easier to acquire new potential customers with a lead generation chatbot from Smartsupp. A chatbot can proactively reach out to visitors and recommend signing up without commitment or getting newsletters. It can offer a small gift like a 5% discount for signing up.
Using a chatbot can be a great way to find new customers – even if someone leaves the site without buying, you don’t lose them. You gain their contact info, which you can use later to reach out to them, maybe through email or other ways.
As chatbots collect data and find new potential customers, they become an invaluable source of info. Besides that, you understand your customers’ buying behavior. Then, based on the obtained info, improve offers and messages on social media, in emails, or other campaigns.
💡Our AI chatbot performs smartly. It can look at what customers do and make offers just for them accordingly. It’s more likely that the customer will buy something, so the website gets more sales overall.
Chatbots in the DO stage: helping finish the purchase and boosting AOV
In the third DO stage, the customer decides to buy something. But they might not have added it to their cart yet.
This part is a super important one for making sales.
The Smartsupp chatbot guides customers to finish their orders and makes the purchase path a breeze for them.
See examples of how chatbots can be used:
- If the customer is taking a long time looking at a product, the chatbot gives more info to help them decide.
- The chatbot tries to make the order bigger, suggesting extra items or better product versions.
- It answers the customer’s questions if they have any.
The list is much longer.
Cross-selling: chatbot suggesting extra items
The chatbot tries to make the customer add other items to their cart. It tells them about extra things that go well with what they want to buy – complementary products, an item at a price that makes shipping free, or a product they might like – you name it.
For instance ⬇️
Chatbot:
“Great phone choice! Did you know we have 15 different covers and 5 screen protectors that fit perfectly?”
Up-selling: chatbots offering better options
The chatbot suggests better product versions that make more profit, making the average order bigger.
For instance ⬇️
Chatbot:
“Nice phone pick! We also have versions with 256 and 512 GB memory in your color, and they’re 15% off right now.”
To succeed online, a shop needs to get bigger orders, especially in online ads. Ad campaigns generate more revenue when the orders are bigger. And for platforms like Meta, Google Ads, etc., a higher AOV is quite vital.
It is because when your AOV is higher, you earn more money from each ad click, which makes your ads more cost-effective. You get more value for your money with each sale.
Chatbot offering extra services
With profits getting smaller in many areas, extra services are becoming more important. They might be extended warranties, gift wrapping, and setup. You can use a chatbot to recommend such an extra service, depending on what the customer is buying.
For instance ⬇️
Chatbot:
“Did you know regular warranties don’t cover a cracked screen or most battery problems? An extended warranty can give you extra security.”
But even the best online shop can’t always stop customers from leaving before buying. It might be because of an issue that stopped them from finishing their order. A chatbot helps the customer fix the issue or connects them to a real person.
Chatbot dealing with abandoned carts
Sometimes the customer doesn’t finish buying, not because of the shop or losing interest, but because they got distracted. When that happens, the chatbot’s collected contacts come in handy.
How to handle abandoned carts?
The chatbot can contact the leads via emails or other channels. The tool tries to get them to finish buying with personalized offers and news about limited-time deals and special discounts.
Chatbot in the CARE stage: monitoring customer satisfaction and getting customers returning
For many online shops, regular customers who keep coming back are the main source of revenue.
Chatbots have lots of ways to stay in touch with customers after they’ve bought your products or services. The tools make the customer-brand bond stronger.
The CARE phase starts right after a purchase. In an instant, a chatbot can handle a bunch of things automatically – for example, keeping customers updated about their order, like the delivery date and how satisfied they are.
The chatbot also checks in with customers to see what they liked or didn’t like about your offerings.
Answers questions any time, all the time
Another big plus is that the chatbot is there to help customers 24/7.
It answers questions even when the store is closed. On top of that, a chatbot also provides many options to support repeat purchases, for instance:
#1 Giving deals and perks for buying again
Chatbots encourage customers to make further purchases, informing them about loyalty programs, discounts on their next buy, or special treats for regular customers.
#2 Personalized deals and emails
Using what the chatbot knows, you can make deals and emails that really fit each customer. These usually work better than broadly targeted campaigns.
#3 Bringing back customers who haven’t shopped in a while
Every online store has customers who used to buy a lot but stopped. With info gathered by a chatbot, you can easily communicate with these customers and encourage them to visit again.
#4 Talking to visitors who aren’t signed in
Some customers don’t make an account in your shop or forget how to sign in. The chatbot can still show these customers personalized content based on what they’re looking at. It can also motivate them to log in or make an account.
Give Smartsupp’s AI chatbot a go
It’s the smarter version of a regular chatbot. It learns and gets better as it talks to customers. With this little helper, you understand what your customers are interested in and how satisfied they are with your product and service offerings.
Smartsupp’s AI chatbot can take care of the same questions repeatedly and free up your team. You have more time to focus on what matters most.
For example, at Breno, the number of routine queries dropped by 50% after they started using the chatbot. They also saved on customer service.
Try Smartsupp’s Leadgen for getting new customers
Leadgen starts chatting with people who visit your website and gets them interested in your products. At the same time, it collects info you can use later to talk to them again.
Our intelligent chatbot is a great option for both businesses selling to other businesses (B2B) and those selling to regular customers (B2C).
For online shops, it’s a proven way to get more repeat buys and bigger orders, like at DokonalaKava.cz:
- Even though only 0.5% of visitors chatted with the bot, they made up 5% of total sales.
- The order value of a customer interacting with the chatbot is 150% higher than the average order value.
👉 See the case study of Dokonala Kava.
For B2B, the chatbot works wonders for managing new leads. It can easily connect with your customer management, email, and sales systems – all make working with leads hassle-free.
Make chatbots your superpower
Personalizing offers, providing information, and motivating customers to buy make chatbots powerful partners for e-shops that want to communicate effectively with customers.
They even help make your ads more optimized. 💪🏻
Want to try it out?
If you’re thinking about trying a chatbot, don’t have to invest in complex solutions right away.
Start with a free trial at Smartsupp, and then pick a suitable plan. We scale as you grow!