By Mashum Mollah
The lack of human interaction in almost all daily errands makes us lack emotional stimulation and miss occasions for recharging our social batteries. Surrounded by digital clocks, mobile apps, and voice-powered shopping solutions, we tend to isolate ourselves from other people and rely solely on technology for finding solutions to our problems.
Given these facts, a lot of people tend to accumulate frustrations, quit online social networks, and return to traditional ways of communication and business as well.
For those in the latter category, who are not acquainted with the latest trends in eCommerce and digital communication, an AI chat makes it easier for you to open an online store and manage your conversations with customers in real-time and offline as well, without having to hire an entire call-center department.
Every time a business owner wants to minimize costs and boost profit, the idea of a chatbot online platform for managing customer relationships emerges. After careful consideration and analysis of multiple eCommerce businesses and real-life stores platforms as well, we came with a shortlist that can help you decide for yourself:
Pros Of Using An Online Assistant
Let’s start with the bright sides of the AI-powered chatbot for businesses:
1. Reliable Market Insights
Having quick access to your customer’s conversations can help you gain a better understanding and extract all the necessary information for marketing insights. Exchanges between customers and the AI chatbot are a great in-house resource for better knowing your audience and their style of communication, as well as their demands and expectations.
2. Lower Costs
A robot will always require less maintenance and resources than an actual human employee, which makes it a way more cost-effective solution for eCommerce and an easier to the perfect tool for handling your communication flow with clients and website visitors. A good virtual assistant can make the difference between a productive a non-productive small business.
Cons of Using An Online Assistant
1. Less Human Interaction
Everyone knows an AI-powered chatbot uses conversational phrases to gimmick the human language, but without having the spontaneity and vocabulary abundance a real human will usually detain.
According to the strokes theory that Erik Berne, founder of The Transactional Analysis movement came up with decades ago, we are all experiencing different “types of hunger” for social interaction, whether it is verbal or physical.
A virtual conversation with a chatbot rarely can replace the real exchange of words between two people. However, all the innovations brought to replace traditional tools for business management have pros and cons. This single disadvantage does not suffice for your to quit looking for the optimal communication channel with your audience.
2. Technology Reliant Service
There are certain industries that work with demanding customers and so they are not suited for having a chatbot that approaches new business or manages the complaints or angry customers. You always need to have a backup solution for the services highly dependant on your wifi connection or servers.
You never know when a power outage or a technical issue will threaten your operations and freeze your business. If you are worried that your virtual assistant is having limitations, or can be corrupted by viruses, having a human person handle your phone inquiries is a great alternate solution.
3. Customer Reluctance
According to a 2018 survey, the biggest reason why customers were not engaging with chatbots was that they were not confident digital assistants could understand and help with their requests. People tend to mistrust robots in handling their technical issues or personal preferences and it will take some time to reduce reluctance.
Bottom Line
As to any other technological innovation, there are both benefits and drawbacks that make a virtual assistant a valid choice. However, we are very used to building online versions of traditional communication channels.
These pros and cons are simple ways of sectioning the whole debate into easier-to-follow and understand arguments. If you find that your business could benefit from installing a chatbot solution, go for it!
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