Last Updated on September 1, 2023 by David

Whether you’ve been in business for years or are a new business owner, future-proofing your business is something all business owners should be thinking about. With eCommerce demand constantly shifting and customers having ever-growing expectations on how companies should function, brands must learn to adapt or risk losing customers to their competition. The good news is that there are steps you can take and measures you can implement now that will future-proof your brand and help your business grow in the process.

Implementing the use of chatbots is one of the best ways to protect the future of your eCommerce brand. If your business solely relies on traditional communication methods with your customers, you may be losing potential customers and frustrating your current ones. Today, customers prefer timely responses and immediate interactions, and chatbots fill the need for both.

While chatbots weren’t the preferred method of communicating with a brand once upon a time, that time has passed. Due to the advancements of chatbots, customers no longer prefer being assisted by a live agent or a chatbot as long as they get the answers they need. With this in mind, let’s look at how you can future-proof your customer service brand using chatbots.

1. Offer a Better Customer Experience

This may be the most apparent reason to utilize chatbots on your website, but it’s for a good reason. The customer experience is dependent on the level of customer service your business provides, and the number one way to frustrate your customers is to be unavailable or force them to endure long wait times for a response.

Chatbots offer immediate responses 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Additionally, in most cases, chatting with a chatbot is the only communication the customer requires, which means their issue can be resolved quickly without involving your live agents.

2. Offer Around the Clock Customer Support

We touched on this one above, but it’s worth repeating. Customers don’t shop online inside a 9–5 window, which means your brand’s customer service offering can’t be limited to that small window either. Chatbots ensure that customers can receive support 365 days a year, day, or night, in any time zone.

Instant responses to their queries will leave your customers happy and wanting to return to shopping with your brand. Even in the instances where an issue must be elevated, that initial, immediate contact is often enough to assure customers that their problem will be resolved promptly.

3. Offer Personalized Interactions

When trying to stand out from the competition, every customer interaction matters. By offering personalized chatbot interactions, your customers will feel heard and valued, both of which help to boost customer retention.

Most chatbots can pull up customer data such as their name, most recent order, and order history information. For example, if a customer asks, “Where is my order” having a chatbot that can quickly pull up their order information without requiring a tracking number or order number elevates the customer experience. This also allows customer queries to be resolved faster, leaving your customers satisfied with the interaction.

4. Provide Seamless Handoffs to Live Agents

While chatbots can handle a large portion of your customer service inquiries, there will always be some that require a live agent to step in. In these instances, chatbots can quickly divert the chat over to one of your live agents, who will be able to take over seamlessly without disrupting the flow of the conversation. The chatbot also ensures the agent has all the necessary information, so the customer isn’t forced to repeat themselves, which is another common frustration customers deal with when dealing with a brand’s customer service offering.

5. They’re More Cost-Efficient

While chatbots can’t fully replace live agents, bots can reduce the need for the number of live agents your business has. Since chatbots can handle basic inquiries, order tracking, product information, and FAQs, your agents are free to deal with more pressing issues, which hopefully don’t come in as frequently.

This can save your brand on both operational costs and time, making your entire customer service department more efficient and productive.

6. Get Real-Time Feedback

As customers continue to get more comfortable using chatbots, they are also becoming more willing to share information with them, including feedback on your brand. This, in turn, makes chatbots one of the most efficient and reliable ways to survey your customers and learn what you’re doing right and what you can improve on!

Re:amaze offers a variety of chatbots that can assist your business and help future proof your brand. From our Hello Bot to our Order Bot to our FAQ Bot, you can rest assured that your customers will be happy with your customer service offering and become long-time supporters of your brand. To learn more about our various chatbots or to schedule a demo, contact us today.