As more consumers discover and purchase on social, conversational commerce has become an essential marketing tactic for eCommerce brands to reach audiences. In fact, a recent survey showed that 75% of customers prefer to receive SMS messages from brands, highlighting the need for conversations rather than promotional messages.
While SMS has emerged as the fastest growing channel to communicate with customers, another effective way to engage in conversations is through chatbots. Bots allow brands to connect with customers at any time, on any device, and at any point in the customer journey.
Chatbots also cater to consumers’ need for instant gratification and answers, whether stores use them to provide 24/7 customer support or advertise flash sales. This constant availability builds customer trust and increases eCommerce conversion rates.
Related post: Humanizing the Shopping Experience With Chatbots
Wondering how to get started with shopping bots? Check out the benefits to using a chatbot, and our list of the top 15 shopping bots and bot builders to check out.
Benefits of shopping bots for eCommerce brands
Online shopping bots have become an indispensable tool for eCommerce businesses looking to enhance their customer experience and drive sales. A shopping bots, also known as a chatbot, is a computer program powered by artificial intelligence that can interact with customers in real-time through a chat interface. The benefits of using a chatbot for your eCommerce store are numerous and can lead to increased customer satisfaction.
One of the biggest advantages of shopping bots is that they provide a self-service option for customers. This means that customers can quickly and easily find answers to their questions and resolve any issues they may have without having to wait for a human customer service representative. Chatbots are available 24/7, making it convenient for customers to get the information they need at any time.
Shopping bots also offer a personalized experience for customers. By using artificial intelligence, chatbots can gather information about customers’ past purchases and preferences, and make product recommendations based on that data. This personalization can lead to higher customer satisfaction and increase the likelihood of repeat business.
Moreover, shopping bots can improve the efficiency of customer service operations by handling simple, routine tasks such as answering frequently asked questions. This frees up human customer service representatives to handle more complex issues and provides a better overall customer experience.
Best Shopping Bots for eCommerce Stores
These shopping bots make it easy to handle everything from communication to product discovery.
1. Yotpo SMS & Email
Take the shopping bot functionality onto your customers phones with Yotpo SMS & Email.
With the biggest automation library on the market, this SMS marketing platform makes it easy to choose the right automated message for your audience. There’s even smart segmentation and help desk integrations that let customer service step in when the conversation needs a more human followup.
2. WeChat
WeChat makes it easy for merchants to communicate with customers and browse their products.
The bot helps build customer relationships by allowing businesses to friend their customers within WeChat and market directly to them, and also makes transactions easier for the merchant with payment features.
WeChat’s open API and SKD makes for an easy onboarding procedure.
3. Shopify Messenger
Shopify Messenger helps merchants by helping shoppers.
This bot creates a full shopping experience on Facebook Messenger. Consumers can browse the catalogue, get product recommendations, pay for their items, receive order and shipping confirmation, and make customer service requests.
As a sales channel, Shopify Messenger integrates with merchants’ existing backend to pull in product descriptions, images, and sizes.
channel for conversational commerce
4. Letsclap
Letsclap is a platform that personalizes the bot experience for shoppers by allowing merchants to implement chat, images, videos, audio, and location information.
This lets eCommerce brands give their bot personality and adds authenticity to conversational commerce.
The platform also tracks stats on your customer conversations, alleviating data entry and playing a minor role as virtual assistant.
If you don’t want to take the time to create your own all-knowing shopping bot, Letsclap is a versatile tool that will make a unique bot to fit you and your customer.
It operates on Facebook Messenger, WeChat, and Telegram.
5. Kik Bot Shop
Kik Bot Shop focuses on the conversational part of conversational commerce.
It has 300 million registered users including H&M, Sephora, and Kim Kardashian.
Merchants create their own chatbot through the mobile app and — with marginal coding knowledge — configure it through an API Key using Python, JavaScript, or cURL.
Kik’s guides walk less technically inclined users through the set-up process. In lieu of going alone, Kik also lists recommended agencies to take your projects from ideation to implementation.
Perhaps the easiest option to get started is Kik’s app GiftGuru, which lets you upload products directly to the platform for users to discover and purchase:
6. Yellow Messenger
Inspired by Yellow Pages, this bot offers purchasing interactions for everything from movie and airplane tickets to eCommerce and mobile recharges.
Setting up Yellow Messenger requires more advanced technical knowledge than other bots mentioned here, but that means that it is one of the few options where you can build your own bot while relying on a hosted deployment.
You can create bots for Facebook Messenger, Telegram, and Skype, or build stand-alone apps through Microsoft’s open sourced Azure services and Bot Framework.
Best shopping bots for customers
The rest of the bots here are customer-oriented, built to help shoppers find products.
They give valuable insight into how shoppers already use conversational commerce to impact their own customer experience.
[Tweet “Connect with your customers at any time, on any device, and at any point in the customer journey.”]
7. Magic
Magic promises to get anything done for the user with a mix of software and human assistants–from scheduling appointments to setting travel plans to placing online orders.
The bot’s breadth makes it a good starting point for anyone getting acquainted with the concept of conversational commerce, and a good testing ground for merchants looking to enter the space.
An attempt to confuse Magic ended up costing more than $500 and didn’t get the job done.
eCommerce Takeaway: Scalable shopping bots are intuitive, comprehensive, and able to address difficult customer queries.
8. Operator
Operator is the first bot built expressly for global consumers looking to buy from U.S. companies.
It enables users to browse curated products, make purchases, and initiate chats with experts in navigating customs and importing processes. For merchants, Operator highlights the difficulties of global online shopping.
eCommerce Takeaway: The more complicated your shipping and distribution needs, the more important those challenges are to tackle.
Shopping bots for recommendations
9. 5Gifts4Her
Hosted on Facebook Messenger, 5Gifts4Her is designed for anyone with a case of gift-block.
Users search for keywords or strike up a conversation with shopping guide Sparkle to get recommendations based on Amazon profiles.
The bot also offers Quick Picks for anyone in a hurry and it makes the most of social by allowing users to share, comment on, and even aggregate wish lists.
eCommerce Takeaway: One of the primary reasons shoppers turn to a bot is for help. Automating product assistance improves customer experience.
10. CelebStyle
CelebStyle allows users to find products based on the celebrities they admire.
The bot opens by asking, “Which celeb’s style do you wanna see?” and then provides a host of visually driven results.
eCommerce Takeaway: Aspirational photos inspire consumers to buy. Leverage this by including influencer recommendations and customer content within your bot.
Big box shopping bots
11. RooBot
RooBot by Blue Kangaroo lets users search millions of items, but they can also compare, price hunt, set alerts for price drops, and save for later viewing or purchasing.
The bot guides users through its catalog — drawn from across the internet — with conversational prompts, suggestions, and clickable menus.
eCommerce Takeaway: Build on the benefits of eCommerce by giving customers more options online than they would have in a store, while keeping the personality and flexibility of the brick-and-mortar experience.
12. H&M
H&M’s bot functions much like a personal shopping assistant. After asking a few questions regarding the user’s style preferences, sizes, and shopping tendencies, recommendations come in multiple-choice fashion.
The bot continues to learn each customer’s preferences by combining data from subsequent chats, onsite shopping habits, and H&M’s app.
eCommerce Takeaway: Personalize the consumer experience on your bot with smart technology to make the value well worth a few clicks in the beginning of the process.
13. Madi
This bot by Madison Reed helps users choose a hair color that reflects their personality.
The experience begins with questions about a user’s desired hair style and shade.
Once parameters are set, users upload a photo of themselves and receive personal recommendations based on the image.
eCommerce Takeaway: Use your shopping bot to remove the guesswork and boost shopper confidence in the buying experince.
14. BlingChat
BlingChat helps anyone planning a wedding find and manage the various aspects of their event.
The bot content is aligned with the consumer experience, appropriately asking, “Do you?” after every suggested item.
eCommerce Takeaway: Create a bot with a consistent voice and personality to create a helpful and human experience with conversational commerce.
Comparison & discount shopping bot
15. Needed
Needed seeks to simplify the product search process. First, users create a shopping list of what they want to buy. The bot then searches local advertisements from big retailers and delivers the best deals for each item closest to the user.
eCommerce Takeaway: Meet the needs of on-the-go shoppers with an omnichannel experience and real-time results.
What the best shopping bots all have in common
Shopping bots and builders are the foundation of conversational commerce and are making online shopping more human.
They strengthen your brand voice and ease communication between your company and your customers.
