We're used to perceiving the economy as a place where businesses compete with each other on who will offer better service at a cheaper price. However, things are much different today, when the price isn't the driving force behind the sales anymore. Convenience and customer satisfaction is. What's more, more than 80 percent of the consumers are ready to pay higher for a better customer experience!
Today it's much harder for smaller brands to make a breakthrough in the market. If we know that giants like Amazon hold nearly half of the US e-commerce market share we know how true this claim is. However, there's a way even the smallest players in the market can get their share. The secret lies in conversational commerce.
That said, we wanted to explore how conversational commerce can help your business achieve success and win customers over.
But first, let us explain what conversational commerce is.
Conversational commerce (or conversational marketing) is a marketing method that allows brands to strike a conversation with their consumers via different chat apps. It allows them to be where their consumers are, engage them and increase their conversion.
Consumers now want a more personalized experience, and conversational commerce is here to aid this process. It allows brands to personalize their messages, provide insightful feedback to their customers and move them faster through the sales funnel.
5 Ways Conversational Commerce Can Help Your Business
Let’s see how conversational commerce can help your business skyrocket its sales goals.
1. It provides decision support
One of the biggest benefits of conversational commerce lies in its power to provide customers support during the decision-making process. It allows e-commerce stores to guide their customers toward making a decision by offering them products based on their specific needs and preferences.
For instance, a customer who’s searching for an outfit for a specific event could message a local boutique. The store could provide assistance using automated questions to narrow down the choice and offer suggestions. Through those suggestions, potential customers can find the product they need much faster. What's more, they will be more likely to make a purchase with a store that provides them with such assistance.
2. It eases the check-out process
The biggest struggle of online retailers is shopping cart abandonment. What’s more, around 70 percent of all shopping carts are abandoned. Luckily conversational commerce proves to be a great solution for decreasing cart abandonment rates, as it helps customers during the checkout process.
Usually, shoppers tend to abandon carts due to the high price of goods. However, sometimes this happens due to uncertainties about shipping fees or delivery dates. By automating the check-out process, where consumers can have all their questions answered in a few simple steps, businesses can decrease their cart abandonment rates.
3. Makes businesses more approachable
We’re living in a hectic world, and aligning chores is much more challenging now than it was just a decade ago. Luckily, conversational commerce can ease up this process, providing customers with a more convenient experience.
For instance, a business can implement an appointment-booking feature (which is, for instance, available on Facebook Messenger). This feature allows a bot to automatically manage customers to find which schedule works best for them. This can work for a wide range of businesses - from beauty salons to car repair shops. Ultimately, it can help in closing the deal since customers will never have to wait to check your availability over the phone. They can do it online, in a few easy steps.
4. It can help increase sales by sending custom-tailored offers and promotions
The future of marketing is personal. Research says that Millennials want personalized offers and this is where a huge potential is for the online brands. By deploying the methods of conversational commerce, brands can follow up with targeted deals that make the most sense for the customer.
This way, customers can feel more valued and cared for. They will rather opt for the store offering them such deals than with a business that sends them irrelevant promotions that look spammy.
5. Allows brands to be where their customers are
The easiest way to reach new customers is to be where their customers are - on social media. Studies show that around 40 percent of customers expect a response from brands within 24 hours. If they don’t meet their expectations, they’ll go elsewhere.
Since responding to every customer inquiry might be demanding for some businesses, conversational commerce can help in managing this aspect of their business by providing customers with automated answers that are both personal, convenient and quick.