With a survey of more than 1,000 US shoppers finding that more than half of them have negative experiences with retailer and merchant chatbots, the door is open (wider?) for ChatGPT integration.
Widespread adoption of conversational AI chatbots is expected as large companies partner with ChatGPT or roll out their own bots. As AI-driven customer service becomes the status quo, growing businesses will follow suit, turning to chatbot vendors for affordable options. AI-enhanced shopping experiences will greatly benefit businesses by tracking behaviour and guiding decisions throughout the buying journey with greater personalisation.
According to the study in Capterra’s 2023 Retail Chatbots Survey, traditional chatbots fail to meet customer expectations and lack sales prowess. Only 17% of retail chatbot users have used a bot to search for products, and just 7% have used it to receive product recommendations.
With greater capacity to handle customers nuanced and complex queries, ChatGPT-like integrations can improve the most common issues with retail chatbots. In fact, 67% of ChatGPT users feel understood by the bot often or always, versus 25% of traditional chatbot users.
ChatGPT wows consumers and business leaders alike, but so far is underutilised in ecommerce. Retailers and merchants are enthusiastic about what ChatGPT could do for their businesses—many have used it for email marketing and content, but without an available integration, they can’t yet leverage the AI for day-to-day customer service chatbot needs. Capterra’s research indicates untapped opportunity here: 56% of respondents who have used ChatGPT say they’re more likely to shop from a brand offering a similar tool.
“Most retail chatbots are rule-based bots and are best used for basic functions, like order shipping status or inventory checks,” says Molly Burke, senior retail analyst at Capterra. “With natural language processing, better handling of nuance, and a greater ability to personalize responses, conversational AI has the potential to improve chatbot experiences by simulating the personalization and creativity provided by human agents.”
When making software purchasing decisions, it’s important to select chatbots that have, or plan to, integrate AI functionality.
