Over the last decade, I have built numerous conversational AI assistants and chatbots to streamline customer interactions for global enterprises. In light of the explosive growth in e-commerce, it is no surprise that conversational commerce has emerged as one of the most important applications of this technology.
In 2023, identifying the right conversational commerce platform will be a competitive advantage for online businesses looking to boost revenue and deliver next-generation shopping experiences.
This comprehensive benchmark study will empower executives to select the best vendor for their strategy and objectives by exploring:
- The trajectory of conversational commerce growth
- Essential capabilities to evaluate
- Leading platform providers
- Implementation best practices
Let‘s dive in.
The Meteoric Rise of Conversational Commerce
Conversational commerce involves using chatbots, messaging platforms and voice-based assistants to provide interactive and personalized shopping experiences. It represents the convergence of conversational AI and e-commerce.
This category has seen tremendous growth, fueled by several key factors:
- Pandemic-driven digital acceleration: COVID lockdowns led to e-commerce sales growing over 50% in just two years. Conversational commerce solutions enabled brands to digitally engage these new users.
- Advances in natural language processing: With today‘s NLP models, chatbots demonstrate impressive linguistic capabilities for free-flowing retail dialogues.
- Shift to multichannel engagement: 55% of consumers now use 5 or more channels when interacting with brands, creating demand for omnichannel conversational commerce.
- Customer preference for conversational UIs: Per a Salesforce study, 71% of consumers are now comfortable using chatbots for shopping needs.
These trends have sparked surging market growth. The conversational commerce market will reach $102 billion globally by 2030, expanding at a 24% CAGR. Leading online retailers are investing heavily in this space.
Below is a chart illustrating the rising adoption of conversational commerce:
Image: Conversational commerce adoption is surging
With such explosive growth, choosing the right platform provider has become critical. Next, let‘s explore the key capabilities to evaluate.
8 Must-Have Capabilities for Conversational Commerce
Based on my experience architecting chatbots for commerce use cases, I‘ve found these to be the most essential features when assessing conversational commerce platforms:
E-Commerce Marketing Capabilities
Omnichannel Messaging
Look for platforms allowing conversational interactions across the channels where your users are most active – like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, SMS, email, mobile apps, and websites.
According to eMarketer, the more touchpoints a brand engages a shopper on, the higher the chances of conversion.
Personalization
Seek platforms that empower you to tailor conversations using individual user data like purchase history, behaviors and preferences.
76% of consumers expect personalized interactions, and personalized promotions see 5-10X higher conversion rates.
E-Commerce Analytics
Robust analytics around chat sessions, user segments, campaigns and conversions are crucial for optimizing your strategy. Prioritize platforms offering visual dashboards.
Conversational AI Capabilities
Two-Way Conversations
Your chatbot needs to handle multi-turn conversations spanning different topics, not just respond to single commands. This requires contextual NLP.
Multilingual Support
Look for extensive language support like 100+ languages to engage your global customer base in their native tongue.
According to Common Sense Advisory, lack of multilingual commerce experiences causes retailers to lose $75 billion in sales annually.
Live Agent Handoff
Even advanced NLP models cannot resolve 100% of customer queries. Allowing smooth handover from a bot to a human agent provides a failsafe.
Chatbot Analytics
Granular analytics on metrics like conversation clicks, escalations to agents, and user sentiment are invaluable for improving your chatbot‘s performance.
Conversational Commerce Capabilities
Product Discovery with AI
Look for platforms that aid product discovery using NLP to understand customer needs and recommend suitable items from your catalog.
Below is a comparison chart of key conversational commerce platform capabilities:
Image: Key capabilities compared across top conversational commerce platforms
Now let‘s explore leading vendors in this space.
Evaluating the Top Conversational Commerce Platforms
Dozens of vendors offer conversational AI and marketing tools. Based on market presence, featured partners and capability maturity, these platforms lead the pack for enterprise conversational commerce needs:
Haptik
Haptik is the only vendor meeting all criteria for an end-to-end conversational commerce platform. Their capabilities include:
- Omnichannel deployment across 20+ platforms including WhatsApp, website chat widgets, IVRs and more
- Multilingual support for over 30 global languages
- AI-powered chatbots handling two-way natural conversations
- Visitor engagement and sales tools for lead generation
- E-commerce analytics dashboard with visualization
- Live agent handoff for complex queries
- Inventory integration to aid product discovery through chat
With 500+ employees and marquee clients like Swiggy, Oyo Rooms and Tata Cliq, Haptik has established itself as a conversational commerce leader. Their vertical solutions for industries like banking, insurance and retail make them an ideal one-stop vendor.
Kore.ai
Kore.ai offers an enterprise-grade conversational AI platform optimized for commerce use cases. With deep NLP capabilities and an innovative intent analysis framework, their chatbots demonstrate human-like interactions.
Key features include omnichannel support, live agent transfer, and a user-friendly bot builder interface. Kore.ai has partnered with reputed brands like Coca Cola, Experian and Max Life Insurance. However, lack of e-commerce analytics prevents fully-rounded conversational commerce capabilities.
Yellow.ai
Yellow.ai provides AI-powered chatbots on web, app, social media, contact center and IoT channels. Their bots can handle complex queries, offer CRM integrations and ensure quick resolution times.
With clients like Domino‘s, Sephora and Hyundai, Yellow.ai is a conversational AI leader. However, product discovery and e-commerce analytics capabilities seem limited.
Ada
Ada is a robust customer service chatbot tailored for commerce businesses. Their platform focuses on automating repetitive customer support tasks rather than facilitating transactions.
Intercom
Intercom provides a specialized messenger platform for Shopify merchants to communicate with customers. While they offer smooth Shopify integrations, capabilities around analytics and reporting are lacking.
Drift
Drift provides an omnichannel conversational marketing and sales platform. They are lighter on core commerce features and more focused on lead qualification.
Takeaway
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Haptik emerges as the most well-rounded conversational commerce platform based on capabilities, vertical solutions and marquee brand partnerships.
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Kore.ai and Yellow.ai lead in core conversational AI but lack end-to-end e-commerce tooling.
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Players like Ada and Drift have strengths in engagement automation but are not full-service solutions.
Let‘s now move on to implementation best practices.
Keys to Successful Conversational Commerce Implementation
Choosing the right platform is the first step. Here are critical guidelines to ensure your rollout is a success:
Start with Well-Defined Use Cases
Outline specific ways conversational interfaces will create value vs your call center or web experience today – like personalized promos or product guides. Set measurable goals.
Choose the Right Integration Channels
Select the channels where you already have high traffic and engagement when launching your first bot – like your website or mobile app.
Expect an Iterative Process
Keep iterating on the conversation flow, responses and backend integrations based on user testing and feedback. The bot will become smarter over time.
Complement AI with Human Touch
Even as the bot handles routine questions, have agents tackle complex queries and drive conversions. Find the right bot-human balance.
Closely Monitor Performance
Watch key metrics like resolution rate, escalations to agents, and cart additions to catch issues early. Continuously optimize bot responses.
Expand Across Channels
Once success is seen on initial channels, roll out your conversational commerce solution across more websites, apps and messaging platforms.
Prioritize Mobile Shoppers
With smartphone shopping exploding, optimize both design and dialogue flow for mobile users and leverage messaging apps.
Personalize, Personalize, Personalize
Make conversations feel tailored for every shopper by incorporating their profile and purchase data to drive engagement.
Conversational Commerce is the Future
Consumer openness to conversational interfaces has reached an all-time high. Advances in natural language processing have unlocked new possibilities for intuitive retail experiences.
For online businesses, partnering with the right conversational commerce platform will be the key recipe for success as this revolution accelerates.
Through this comprehensive benchmark guide, I have aimed to provide actionable insights into:
- The explosive growth trajectory of conversational commerce
- Capabilities that set leading solutions apart
- A data-driven comparison of top vendors
- Implementations practices to ensure maximum value
The opportunity for brands to differentiate themselves and connect with customers in revolutionary new ways makes this one of the most exciting spaces in e-commerce today. I hope these learnings provide a launchpad to develop winning conversational strategies tailored to your business objectives and customers.
To further discuss your conversational commerce plans or get platform recommendations, please get in touch or schedule a consultation.