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How Conversational Commerce Will Transform the Sales Experience

As conversational commerce takes modern customer experience into a new era, businesses are eagerly keeping up with the hot new trend and redefining the sales experience. Consumers are using their mobile devices more than ever, most notably their messaging apps. Furthermore, mobile users continue to use their devices when researching products and making purchases. According to Google, 81% of smartphone purchases are driven by spontaneity, while a Latitude study found that 63% of people expect to shop more on their mobile devices in the next couple of years. Conversational commerce therefore delivers the perfect answer to modern demand for seamless and optimized customer experiences on the go, offering personalized service through messaging and chat interfaces through both bots and human agents. Here are six ways conversational commerce will transform the sales experience for greater customer satisfaction.

Product research is easier and more in-depth.

One of the great benefits of conversational commerce is the streamlined and advanced manner in which customers may search for products. Numerous brands are using chat bots to drive product searches, enabling customers to ask these bots for advice or specific products. The chat bots, in turn, may search a brand catalogue, look for sales items, and show product reviews based on the customer’s input. Customers get quicker and more in-depth answers, and those who shop spontaneously will be more likely to make a purchase when the process is simplified and tailored to their needs.

Chat bots represent targeted marketing at its best.

Just as chat bots are able to research specific customer requests, they are similarly capable of making personalized recommendations. This function takes targeted marketing to a whole new level, as customers who are already interested in purchasing may be driven to purchase more easily once tailor-made recommendations are offered to them.

Virtual assistants further personalize the sales experience.

In addition to chat bots, virtual assistants may assist consumers with their purchasing decisions. AI assistants such as Cortana, Google Now, and Facebook M, for example, help customers through natural language user interfaces, with M also receiving assistance from human agents for more complex tasks. Other apps such as Magic offer concierge services for completing practically any task via SMS, from managing a calendar to making a purchase.

Payments are easier to make.

With conversational commerce, customers are empowered to not only research products, but to also complete their purchases within a single app. The transportation service Uber, for example, permits customers to order a ride and make the payment through Facebook Messenger. In a similar fashion, Operator, an app that connects online customers with numerous brands, provides shoppers with a kind of concierge service for purchasing a variety of different products, from furniture to concert tickets. As more and more brands enable purchasing through messaging apps and chat interfaces, customers will be more compelled to purchase due to the ease of the experience.

A seamless experience can drive sales.

Many statistics have shown that when customers begin to lose time, they abandon purchases and lose confidence in brands. A Baymard Institute study found that nearly 68% of online shopping carts are abandoned. The reasons customers frequently cite for abandonment include needing to register a new account, payment security concerns, and a lack of support during product research, to name a few. Brands that embrace conversational commerce can overcome these obstacles and drive sales by providing a seamless experience within a single app. Customers may accomplish a transaction in one place, receive detailed information about their purchase, and receive support from chat bots and human agents alike.

Messaging apps make shopping easier and more appealing.

Conversational commerce builds upon modern-day messaging habits, most notably enabling customer engagement on already popular chat interfaces. The fact that it is simply easier to communicate with brands and make purchases is enough to entice people to purchase, whether they had intended to or not. With the presence of chat bots, the research process becomes less complicated, more appealing, and more likely to lead to purchase.Conversational commerce is rapidly changing the way customers shop by offering simplified yet richer buying experiences. As a global leader in cloud-based contact center software solutions for customer service and sales, Vocalcom chose to integrate Facebook Messenger, Telegram, WeChat, Viber, Kik, and conversational SMS into its cloud contact center platform, evolving into a conversational commerce platform for truly modern and seamless customer experiences. Conversational interactions through text messaging, in-app messaging, and platforms such as Facebook Messenger, Telegram, WeChat, Viber, and more allow customers to engage with brands in real-time or asynchronously through a single thread, offering a data-rich context that enables customers to switch easily between channels in a single interaction for true customer satisfaction. Currently, 40% of companies have seen a call deflection rate when shifting customers to SMS, and 23% have plans to add it this year, resulting in more than 60% of all contact centers offering SMS support by the end of 2016. Learn more about the Vocalcom conversational commerce platform for great customer service and sales acceleration.

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