How are businesses using chatbots today?
by Vagelis H. 06/16/2020
AI and chatbots have become very popular recently, and all companies want to jump on the AI boat, so they don’t risk being left behind.
But how are businesses using chatbots?
From researching many chatbot providers and many business Web sites, we are able to identify the following common applications:
Most businesses use chatbots to collect emails or phone numbers or leads. This is typically achieved by adding a chatbot on the home page of a Web site, which may provide some information on the business and then asks visitors to input their email, so someone from the sales team can contact them later. The same can also be found on Facebook pages of companies, although much less frequently than Web pages.
Another category of chatbots is what we refer as “transactional chatbots.” Domino’s or Kayak are great examples of this — they have created chatbots to let people order pizza or book a ticket respectively. These chatbots essentially provide an alternative way to make a transaction over using the more traditional Web-based navigation (for example, login to dominos.com, and select a pizza to order).
A much smaller number of businesses deploy FAQ bots to replace older and less usable FAQ pages.
An also small number of businesses uses chatbots to stay in touch with users. For example, a wellness company may remind users to exercise. Note that such chatbots cannot be Web-based, as there is no good way to initiate a conversation once the user closes their browser. Instead, media like Facebook Messenger and less frequently SMS are employed.