What Are Chatbots?

So what are chatbots?

Well, these are computer programs developed to aid in customer access to products and improve customer service experiences.

It is an automated program that answers queries, handles requests, prompts certain actions and stimulates conversations.

It anticipates human thinking and decision making.

It replies back to the user within Nanoseconds.

With a rise in technology, the day is not far off when technological support will replace human support.

The way we chat on the internet, no doubt, revolutionized by the use of bots.

Managing high volumes of traffic, changing demands of consumers who want responses at a lightning speed and a smooth purchasing process is

what has increased the demand for chatbots in today’s fast-paced world.

They can be used to carry out multiple functions such as providinginformation, interaction and collecting payment.

Chatbots also allow a business to provide 24*7 service to its clients.

Types of chat-bots

There are two types of chat bots-AI based and rule-based:

1) Rule-Based bots:  Work on the basis of instructions provided to them. The rules on which they are trained can be either simple or complex. The drawback is they are not efficient enough to answer everything, especially things whose pattern does not match with their rule specifications.

2) ?Artificial Intelligence bots:  Works on the basis of artificial intelligence and learns from its experience of interaction with end users. There are analytics and integration performed to feed the AI so that the bots can answer correctly every query and question.

People Are Increasingly Using Messenger Apps

According to a Business Insider report, consumers have been using the main four messaging apps — Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, WeChat, Viber — more frequently than the main four social networks — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn — since 2015.

Using chatbots for customer service has seen an upward trend during the years.

According to recent reports, 40% of consumers prefer to deal with chatbots to human interactions.

HubSpot, 2017 – “48% of the customers prefer live chat than any other means of communication.”

Market stands market, 2017 – “chatbot marketing is going to grow at a rate of 35.2% between 2016 and 2021.”

People aren’t just using messenger apps to chat with friends — they’re also excited about shopping with brands’ bots.

Here are a few stats to show buyers’ willingness to shop with messenger apps:

• 47% of users are open to purchasing items through a bot.
• 71% of users are willing to receive customer service through a messaging app.
• On average, users are willing to spend more than $55 on chatbot purchases.

These high figures show that a large chunk of buyers trusts chatbots as a way to interact with businesses.

These numbers are only expected to grow, so adopt a messaging app now to meet the increasing bot demand.

As long as companies are upfront about bots being technology and not actual people, this technology is a surprisingly intimate and useful way to communicate with buyers.

The more you gear your bot towards your buyers, the more surprised you’ll be at your bot’s human-like, personal customer service.