Chatbots and their Impact on Business
Chatbots are artificial intelligence or computer programs that allow contemporary business organizations to connect with their target audiences through the use of applications such as Messenger, WeChat, Telegram, and even WhatsApp (Barker 2017). The chatbots play a crucial role in developing and guiding communication between an organization and its customers. The bot guided conversations differ from the conventional chats in that they are guided by software applications whereas the traditional chats have human at the center of the communication exchange (Barker 2017). The number and variety of chatbots designed and developed has risen significantly in the recent years as organizations have realized the significant potential that they wield in transforming their operations and managing their customer relations. There are numerous research studies that have been done on the impact chatbots have on businesses and they have all established they are disruptive, cost cutting and capable of generating high revenue. This paper seeks to discuss the impact chatbots have on business world as well as establish the business opportunities that the application has.
Impacts of Chatbot on Business World
The rapid rise of the internet and mobile devices over the last two decades has greatly transformed the way people interact and communicate with each other. The change has been also been reflected in business organization operations, with the management of contemporary companies across the globe realizing that they have to embrace digital technologies if they are to remain relevant in a dynamic operational environment (Dahiya, 2017). For instance, with the emergence of e-commerce businesses, firms have had to change their business model from the conventional brick and mortar to reflect the changes taking place in their operational environment and also conform to the customers' expectations. Chatbots have seen businesses further refine their operations to encompass social media and m-commerce strategy through which they can effectively address their target market needs.
Chatbots and Revenue Generation
Research studies on the impact of business have shown that the real value of any organization is proportional to the number of lives that it is able to touch (Zhou, Jia and Yao 2017). Chatbots unlike customer relations employee, who can handle a single marketing or communication operation at a given time, have the capacity to carry out multiple operations at a go. The realization by firms that bots have the capacity to reach millions of users and give a positive impression is the main reason why they have become widely adopted. According to Zhou et al., (2017) chatbots carry out a significant number of operations within an organization which range from responding to queries, giving updates, making and answering calls as well as refining offerings made to buyers.
The bots earn income directly by making sales and addressing the concerns that the customers might have towards a service or product of a given business. For instance, chatbots involved in the marketing process generate direct revenue every time they lock-in a new customer or complete a sale transaction (Carter 2018). Secondly, chatbots help provide solution to existing customer problems which makes them satisfied with the organizations and its operations, making them not only become loyal but also brand ambassadors that can give good references about the company (Carter 2018). The Chatbots generate indirect income when they are used to analyze the client's intent and formulate a new forecast of what their tastes and preferences are (Carter 2018). This helps makes sure that the organization is able to develop an effective prediction of changing customer tastes and preferences and move to stock items which are trending. Secondly, the chatbots by addressing the concerns given by customers whether new or existing, it is able to build good rapport between the organization and them, which prompts them to consider making future purchases from the business in the future.
Chatbot Impact on Customer Satisfaction
Customers require instantaneous satisfaction with their customer experience, a fete which organizations cannot accomplish if their operations are manual. The modern day clients are always eager and ready to voice their displeasure over social media, which makes it important for the administration of contemporary organizations to automate their customer relations (Barker 2017). The automation of the function can be realized through the integration of chatbots which have the ability to respond appropriately to the various concerns voiced by customers and make sure good working relationship is established.
A survey carried out by Digital pulse established that 85% of customers spread across the globe prefer interacting with bots since they do not have functional lapses that can overwhelm their capability to deliver outstanding services, an aspect which characterizes customer service employee operations (Barker 2017). The artificial intelligence chatbots have been found by an Oracle survey as capable of responding to customer requests and queries more efficiently and with higher precision in contrast to human employees. The use of Chatbots helps relieve employees within a given organization of their role in mundane tasks such as responding to client questions, freeing them up to focus on other core tasks such as client disputes and system analysis that cannot be resolved by a bot.
Business Opportunities of Chatbot Applications
The potential of chatbots is unrivalled taking into consideration that they have the capability to impact how companies compete, operate and thrive by transforming the customer experience that they offer (Heo and Lee 2018). The growing opportunities for the integration of conversational bots are evidenced by the growing number of businesses that are continuously integrating the technology into their operations each day. The chatbots are refining how organizations interact with their customers, how they design and develop products as well as how they are delivered and consumed. The growth opportunities for conversational bots are not limited to one specific industry since more customers globally want to use messaging to interact with the various businesses that they interact with (Barker 2017).
One of the industries that stand to benefit immensely from the adoption of Chatbots is the travel industry which has traditionally been riddled with high levels of competition and frequent entry of disruptive rivals. The widespread integration of chatbots into travel companies operations will help make sure that they are in a position to grow their businesses across a shifting and an increasingly demanding customer base (Heo and Lee 2018). Airlines rely heavily on outstanding customer services to attract and retain new clients and this requires that they provide excellent customer service. The provision of these outstanding services cannot be realized when the organization is continuously making mistakes because of human errors such as delays in making responses, or emotional breakdown in the middle of an exchange between client and organization representative (Heo and Lee 2018). The adoption of conversational bots by travel companies such as airlines, and tours will go a long way in making sure that they are in a position to rethink passenger experience and develop new channels through which the management can interact with clients.
The second business opportunity for chatbots is in the Internet of Things (IoT) were the technology can be applied as an interface through which the electronics can interact with others and their owners (Kar and Haldar 2016). IoT are expected to reach a high of about 20.8 billion by 2020, and the data that they produce is best handled through mobile devices that the owners have (Barker, 2017). This will create an enormous opportunity for the integration of chatbots that have the capability to refine IoT user requests for subsequent requests. For instance, according to Kar and Haldar (2016) Tesla Motors has started developing iWatch plans that will make sure customers can use bots to communicate with service centers for their vehicle maintenance at a convenient time without having to endure disruptions in their schedules.
The third business opportunity for chatbot technology is the growing m-commerce segment, which has seen organizations start developing mobile applications and using social media to connect and communicate with their customers (Eeuwen 2017). The growth of M-commerce has seen organizations for the first time get access to marginalized customers that were not initially part of their target clientele and most importantly integrate them into their brand. Companies have realized that by embracing M-commerce they can be in a position to refine the relations they develop with their clients since unlike other methods of engagement such as online advertising, the M-commerce approach offers direct relationship with the customers (Eeuwen 2017). For instance, an organization through the approach is capable of marketing its products directly to the customers without relying on middlemen who charged a marketing cost, and at times made the branding exercise ineffective since the message got lost.
The development of m-commerce coupled with the rising number of messenger app users in the recent years has prompted numerous companies in the fashion, airline and insurance industries to start offering services directly through the apps to their target clients (Sheth 2018). For instance, airlines through their messaging application have created forums through which passengers can check in, ask questions, book flights and receive updates on flights among other organization issues taking place (Dahiya, 2017). The revolution of the means through which organizations and customers can interact especially through the widespread adoption of texts, which are time suitable and comfortable to both parties has led to the widespread adoption of conversational chatbots. The chatbots have the capacity to refine how the communication between a firm and its customers is handled.
Conclusion
The study explores the impact chatbots have on business operations and the business opportunities that exist for chatbots. There are numerous advantages that a business stands to reap from the integration of conversational bots such as improved customer service since it offers extensive proactive customer support and has the ability to monitor consumer data to give better insights to the administration. The application of chatbot technology into contemporary business application is likely to continue growing in the coming years as they gradually phase out human effort in customer relations.
References
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Heo, M. and Lee, K.J., 2018. Chatbot as a New Business Communication Tool: The Case of Naver TalkTalk. Business Communication Research and Practice, 1(1), pp.41-45.
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