INFORMATION
How a chatbot included ecommerce in their product
Chatter.ai uses sophisticated, adaptable, and easy-to-integrate AI software to improve sales for eCommerce sites. Their three main services are a virtual shopping assistant, conversion optimization, and cart abandonment emails: all implementing cutting-edge machine learning to enhance customer experiences, and nudge them towards a purchase.
The Chatter shopping assistant is successfully embedded in many retail sites around Europe - in fashion, outdoor equipment, edTech, real estate, and more. Customers can use the chatbot to help find products, find more information about the company, and get referred to a live chatter (if necessary).
A well-placed chatbot can achieve an exceptional ROI. The chatbot can function in many languages and further international expansion looks like it will be part of Chatter’s future.
Chatter’s core service already provides an excellent way of automating customer services. But the company is still relatively young. As they grow, Chatter wants to keep improving functionality. In the immediate future, they want to improve product search and recommendation.
The limits of a virtual personal assistant
Product search and recommendation are already an important part of the Chatter chatbot.
Customers can ask about color, style, function, or other relevant criteria, and the bot will give them sensible suggestions. With a link to the relevant product, customers are able to quickly move through the site to the products they want.
The chatbot is pretty smart - but it’s not perfect. It’s particularly weak when it comes to stock and inventory. There’s no reliable way for the chatbot to get information about what’s happening in the warehouse.
A customer might find themselves looking at a pair of socks that’s already sold out - or a rain coat that’s only available in XXS.
And there’s certainly no way for the bot to retrieve information about order status.
If Chatter could get around this problem, they’d add some very valuable functionality for their clients and end-users.
Finding a way to learn about inventory
Chatter’s clients can have a go at getting stock information to the chatbot - but it involves up a lot of manual tasks for the sellers.
If they really wanted to keep their stock information current, they’d need to connect the chatbot to a google sheet. The seller would have to constantly keep the sheet updated - a long way from the seamless solutions that online retailers need.
A more technical solution could make everything run more smoothly. Chatter is already proud to integrate with many other eCommerce software. But they don’t have the capacity to integrate directly with eCommerce development platforms.
As a tech-based company, Chatter could plan and develop the right integrations. However, that would be time-consuming, demanding a lot of people hours. And once they’d found a way to connect to one platform, they’d need to repeat the process for each one in turn.
Chatter can’t launch these functions unless they work on every platform.
Reachu improves the chatbot’s answers
Fortunately, the Reachu ecommerce data API and ecommerce integrations helps data flow between eCommerce platforms such as WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento and third-party applications. When Chatter added Reachu to their virtual assistant, they can introduce new search capabilities, without spending time and money developing their own integrations.
With Reachu in place, Chatter’s virtual assistant can easily search for current stock information. It can use that information to provide better answers - giving the customers a better experience.
An improved product search and recommendation function makes sure that customers are directed to the best answers, with far fewer mistakes on their journey to a purchase.
Quick results with an eCommerce API
Chatter’s problem could take months to solve. Reachu’s solution was instant.
Chatter are now launching their improved product search with selected retailers. And they know that their ecommerce data integrations will stay up-to-date, with Reachu bringing out updates whenever it’s necessary.
Chatter’s customers can use a far deeper search function. They don’t need to invest time in keeping their records up-to-date - their virtual personal assistant can access all the information it needs.
More than search and recommendation
Chatter’s journey with Reachu has only just begun.
Now that it has good access to inventory listings, Chatter’s bot can build a suite of functions around specific requests.
The chatbot can offer an embedded commerce opportunity - inviting the customer to hit ‘buy’ when they find the right item. The bot will also be able to directly retrieve dispatch information, without passing the customer on to another page.
In the short term, Chatter benefits from reduced development costs. Looking ahead, Reachu will continue to provide value through expert updates. The Chatter team get to focus on the AI and ML projects that make their bots work - without the inconvenience of developing eCommerce integrations from scratch.
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Do you need to help adding ecommerce capabilities into an app, marketplace, or website? Click here to find out how Reachu can help.