Research shows that the global Internet of Things market will grow 28.5% by 2020. It makes sense, therefore, that consumers expectations are higher than ever before. As such customers want their interactions with brands to be smarter, quicker and more efficient. In order to meet these demands, brands are increasingly turning to Chatbots to bridge the gap between online and offline experiences. Unlike humans, Chatbots are available 24 hours, 7 days a week – they don’t take dinner breaks, sleep or get sick which means they are always ready to have a natter.
Here at Digitl, we have a Drift Chatbot implemented on our website (we call him KevBot). He can provide immediate responses about all of our different services or, if you’d prefer, put you in contact with one of the team. We also recommend Drift for all of our customers too! In fact, if you follow us on Twitter you’ll probably already have seen that last Friday we installed a Drift Chatbot on one of our clients websites and by Monday they had secured an order worth £9,000!
Still not convinced that Chatbots are they way forward? Here’s 5 of our favourite examples from big name brands.
1. Spotify
The music streaming platform recently collaborated with Facebook Messenger to provide a bot that includes search tools, music recommendations and sharing functionality for sending 30-second song clips. It’s ideal for those days where you can’t decide what you want to listen to! What’s more these aren’t just random recommendations, they’re intelligently based on things like your mood, activity or genre.
2. Tommy Hilfiger
Next up we have Tommy Hilfiger which, like Spotify, is integrated with Facebook Messenger. Intended to promote the new Tommy x Gigi collection which is fronted by Gigi Hadid is aptly named TMY.GRL after the popular 1990s fragrance by the brand. Speaking of the Chatbot, Mr. Hilfiger himself said ‘digital innovation has been at the centre of our strategy to democratize the runway and the TMy.GRL bot on Messenger introduces a new level of accessibility, engagement and personalisation for our global audience’. Following the traditional Chatbot-style format the application asks multiple choice questions to generate tailored styling recommendations using pieces from the new collection.
3. Starbucks
If you’re a coffee-lover you probably already know that the Starbucks app allows you to fuel your caffeine addictions straight from the comfort of your mobile! The Barista Bot let’s you continue with your daily routine and sends out a text when your order is ready to collect. It offers the full shopping experience as you can add syrups or choose alternative milks just as you can in-store. If that doesn’t impress you, the app is also equipped with voice recognition software which means you can order verbally as if you were speaking to a barista in real life. But without a doubt the best part of the Barista Bot… your name will never get spelt wrong!
4. Harper Collins
Onto a Chatbot designed with book-lovers in mind. International publisher, Harper Collins, have created TWO powerful bots on Facebook Messenger. Whilst the EpicReads bot is aimed at teenagers and young adults, the Book Genie ChatBot caters for adult tastes. By asking questions about your favourite books, what you’ve previously read and genre preferences to put forward a book to match your literary tastes. Carrie Bloxson, Vice President of Marketing said ‘Harper Collins is relying on the on the power of artificial intelligence to deliver recommendations for readers searching for their next great book’.
5. Uber
Gone are the days where you have to spend time opening the Uber app to order yourself a taxi. In a new partnership with Facebook, users can now request a ride from within the Messenger platform. What’s more, the Messenger bot will deliver status updates and ride receipts, making it easier to track your Uber ride and payment history. Uber recognises that getting a group of people to move in concert is like herding cats. However by adopting Ride Requests in your group messaging app, you can me it easy to book rides for every member of the channel, which helps groups stay in sync as they move.
So… have we convinced you? If you want to know more about Chatbots why don’t you click KevBot over on the right of this page OR you can get in touch with a member of the team to find out more about how we can help!
