AI-powered Conversational Commerce to Take Over Mobile Retail in 2019

In 2019, conversational commerce is poised to take over the mobile retail industry, as AI-driven interfaces are slated to exponentially improve the customer experience, writes, Andy Shirey, Senior Product Marketing Manager, OpenMarket.

Advancements in mobile technology continue to drastically change the retail industry as the years go by. But 2019 is going to see a particularly profound transformation as richer, AI-driven interfaces turbocharge a trend already sweeping through retail.

Conversational commerce refers to the way retail brands and consumers are connecting with each other through mobile messaging and chat apps – from SMS, to WeChat, to Amazon Alexa. Consumers can chat with store representatives, get customer support, receive recommendations, offer feedback, and make purchases – all from within one interface.

AI has always been a part of this conversational commerce story – but the ever-improving capabilities of AI are now coming to one of the most important interfaces in consumers’ lives: the text inbox.

This offers brands an intimate way of leveraging AI to interact with consumers in precise moments and exact places. An incredible 98% of texts are read – most of the time almost instantly. So AI-driven conversational commerce via the messaging inbox is a huge opportunity.

Also Read: 8 Mobile Commerce Tactics for Local Businesses

The benefits of NLP

Natural language process (NLP), which is driven by AI, can streamline and improve automated conversations between businesses and customers. It gives companies the power to hone in on the customer experience and provide intelligent responses to questions and comments – bypassing the typical ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ exchanges commonly seen in automated messages.

Automated responses that aren’t powered by AI can be incredibly effective – and will be for years to come. But NLP offers a new freedom to communicate with customers and to help them get things done more quickly and efficiently. What’s more, it will help build conversational experiences and develop more personalized relationships at a significantly reduced cost compared with traditional methods of customer communication like call centers.

Businesses that want to use AI-driven automated messaging need to find a mobile messaging provider (often known as an aggregator) that provides this service. Then they can work with that provider to predict the type of interactions they would have with customers – whether product questions, returns, shipping inquiries, repairs or latest offers.

By having an understanding of customer intentions, businesses can better build out NLP for their platform and train the AI technology to learn and handle specific interactions.

In an age in which call centers are becoming too expensive to deliver the levels of customer service now demanded, NLP could transform business interactions.

But now take into account another transformative trend in business-to-consumer mobile messaging – and the story suddenly becomes even more exciting.

The age of RCS

Rich Communication Services (RCS) enables mobile messaging with the richness and interactivity of web or mobile applications – all through the familiar messaging inbox. Compared with SMS, it’s extremely data rich, so companies can personalize and optimize experiences, and understand business outcomes.

Brands can take advantage of high-resolution images, videos and interactive buttons to create more meaningful interactions with consumers without forcing them to download an app to get the information they need.

Virgin Trains recently partnered with Vodafone and OpenMarket to use RCS-based messaging for passenger communications, making them the first company in the world to adopt this service on a commercial basis. Through this RCS offering, Virgin Trains can improve the customer experience by providing real-time journey information to passengers through a text message.

Factor in the combination of NLP, and 2019 is going to become a transformational year for customer experience.  Messaging apps like WhatsApp and WeChat will also emerge as important channels for business-to-consumer communications, adding to the richness of the A2P text messaging ecosystem.

Also Read: How AI is Blurring the Lines Between Martech and Adtech

Conversational Commerce in 2019

Nowadays, customers’ mobile devices are integral parts of their retail experience – whether they’re shopping online or offline. Every retailer – from brick and mortar shops to those with just an online presence – will need to keep improving the customer experience in order to stay relevant.

The future of automated business-to-consumer messaging, and more specifically, the retail market, will be shaped by AI-powered interactions between brands and consumers. If implemented the right way, NLP can exponentially improve the customer experience by reducing the number of steps and the time it takes to help a customer. More specifically, it will eliminate friction, create flow – and ultimately allow businesses to interact with customers on a more empathetic level.