Introduction to Chatbots

The increasing popularity of automation is encouraging companies to use chatbots on their websites and apps. As the Global Chatbot Market is expected to witness growth to $9.4 billion by 2024, it's safe to say that tech customer service is here to stay. In this article, we will have a closer outlook on important concepts of chatbots including their definition, the types, and the various benefits that they bring to the business.

What are Chatbots?

Chatbots are one of the most powerful tools used for business optimization. It is an AI-powered software that processes customer conversations efficiently and automates appropriate responses via messaging platforms.

Types of Chatbots

Chatbots can be categorized in a variety of ways that are solely focused on technology. The essential types of chatbots are:

1. Rule-Based Chatbots

As the name implies, such type of chatbots works based on a set of predefined rules. A rule-based chatbot provides users with a certain set of options to get a suitable answer to questions like,” What are the timings of the opening of your store"? However, the bot finds it incapable to operate beyond defined options. In that case, the bot prefers to pass the information to a human agent. 

2. AI-based Chatbots

Unlike rule-based chatbots, AI chatbots are not confined to a set of predefined options. They use natural learning processing (NLP) to analyze and interpret the meaning of a query and provides the answer to the user without the requirement of human intervention.

Such types of chatbots are provided through Machine Learning Algorithms that can gather essential learnings from their experiences and present the best solutions based on that. As a result, such chatbots become smarter with the passage of time leading to more Human-like conversations.

Therefore, rule-based chatbots are ideal for answering simple yet predictable questions whereas AI-based chatbots are necessary for user engagement.

Benefits of Chatbots

Let’s get a closer look at how chatbots can help in the effective optimization of businesses by presenting several benefits that are as follows:

Cost and Time efficiency

Cost and time efficiency is indeed one of the most significant reasons for businesses to consider chatbots on their websites and apps. As per the recent reports by Juniper Research, it is expected that chatbots in the banking and healthcare industries are likely to save corporations up to $8 billion by 2022. Furthermore, customer service has become more streamlined with chatbots which has relieved employees from answering repetitive, simple questions.

24/7 Availability

The increasing trend in digitalization constantly calls for the pressure of continuous availability of companies. The biggest advantage of using chatbots is that they can be available all day, unlike human employees, which serve as an incredible benefit to international businesses with customers across multiple time zones.

Better User engagement

User engagement is a kind of result that we have already mentioned previously. Due to the interactive approach of the chatbots, it becomes easy for users to find the answer to their questions in the most effortless way. An AI chatbot presents customers with personalized chats paired with better decision-making.

Customer insights

The uninterrupted presence of chatbots for users provides companies with all the required information based on their problems, their interest in a particular product or service, and so on. Therefore, the recently discovered information from the audience further helps in boosting the market strategy in the best ways possible.

Lead generation

A higher conversion rate is associated with more user engagement. Chatbots can be fully customized for lead generation and can be replaced on your website's contact forms. This strategy is quite efficient in e-commerce where chatbots can immediately offer customers relevant product information.

Summary

A higher conversion rate is associated with more user engagement. Chatbots can be fully customized for lead generation and can be replaced on your website's contact forms. This strategy is quite efficient in e-commerce where chatbots can immediately offer customers relevant product information.

Please feel free to contact us in case you want to build a smart chatbot for your company.