The retail industry has undergone rapid digital transformation over the past years to meet customer demands. This trend has been further accelerated by the onset of the pandemic, which led millions of people worldwide to turn to online platforms on a regular basis.
The practice of seeking information and making purchases online has resulted in a new set of customer behaviors and expectations, most notably the expectation of speed and round-the-clock service and assistance. These industry-wide trends are forcing retailers to reconsider their customer engagement strategy and respond to the public’s needs more quickly.
In today’s “on-demand” culture, businesses must rely on good communication and full availability to ensure customer satisfaction.
Responding to the need for transparency, immediacy, and consistency is difficult solely by using traditional support methods, requiring huge teams, and presenting impressive logistical problems to companies.
The need to keep up with changing customer behavior drove the retail chain to consider automating the customer support function to integrate more speed and flexibility for users. The retailer partnered with UiPath and DRUID to implement a conversational AI solution.
Called CHATTERBOT, this intelligent virtual assistant encompasses FAQ functionality covering all retailer’s global locations. Moreover, it integrates the ability to identify and track orders, offering detailed information on status, selected courier, and delivery tracking. Thanks to DRUID’s native support integrations, CHATTERBOT is available for customers in 13 languages. In the back end, the intelligent virtual assistant integrates with Oracle and allows the retailer agents to use the live chat functionality, increasing their productivity.
The retailer plans to take full advantage of the self-learning capabilities of conversational AI to continue to develop the solution to cover and deliver more varied information for clients, including real-time information about products and stocks
Modern consumers crave immediacy and a personalized experience across the board, regardless of the medium of interaction or industry. This increases the pressure on businesses to respond to customer requests as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Without an openness toward adopting new technologies, traditional retailers stand no chance to compete in a future that will increasingly be dominated by digital first businesses. Conversational AI can boost communication, improve customer service response times, and personalize the customer experience without mentioning the potential for internal operational efficiencies and employee productivity. The moment is thus ripe for the use of conversational virtual assistants. Worldwide, 67% of consumers report using one for customer support.
As an Accenture report notes, the trend is also likely to accelerate as 57% of businesses agree that virtual assistants deliver maximum ROI with minimal effort. The time is right for retailers to make bold moves towards implementing conversational AI and making that customer experience right.