AI Virtual Agents: the future of retail is here.

Retail challenges worldwide.

The idea of shopping as an enrichment experience is becoming increasingly popular. Whether online or offline, customers don’t just want to shop – they want to leave the store after with more insight and experience than before. In other words, today’s retail world is all about customization, connectivity, and being customer-centered, as the following trends confirm:

• Tailored experiences. Shopping via social media platforms and chat has proven to be more popular among the youngest generation due to its entertaining nature. Moreover, modern algorithms show users highly personalized purchase suggestions, and according to Twilio, 60% of consumers are more likely to buy again after a customized experience.
• Frictionless means good. Most complaints about stores involve waiting a long time in line, delayed or imprecise customer service support, or poor experience at checkout. Providing an easy and frictionless transaction is the #1 rule to a successful purchase and creating a returning customer. As already stated, your store presence should represent not only something useful, but also a delightful experience.
• Meet the audience where it’s at. Customers can’t conceive a store that solely has an offline presence. A mix of both or even an online-only presence, paired with a presence on different channels, is necessary to keep the audience engaged.
• Customers won’t settle for mediocre service. Zendesk states 61% of customers switch to competitors after a negative customer service experience, and 68% would rather spend more money on products and services if customer service is excellent, according to Hubspot.

Falling behind on these trends leads to abandoned carts, loss in revenue, and customer complaints. Luckily, by getting to know just one word, you can build a future-proof retail organization: multichannel. Providing users with a multichannel experience, i.e., the possibility to shop both online and offline through multiple channels (social media, SMS, chat, WhatsApp, and so on), is the key to keeping customers happy and making them come back to your store in an era where retail organizations are expected to explode in growth. According to Forrester,“by 2027, US Online Retail Spending Will Reach $1.6 Trillion”.

Imagicle Virtual Agents. Turning look-arounds into purchases 24/7.

Imagicle Virtual Agents are AI-powered virtual assistants designed to automate conversations naturally, 365/24/7 days a year. These intelligent agents, available in the form of chatbot – Digital Virtual Agent – and voicebot – Voice Virtual Agent, support human colleagues by taking over repetitive tasks when the office is closed, staff are busy, or phone lines are overloaded. 

Voicebots handle FAQ-based phone calls escalating the call for complex issues, while chatbots open up new communication channels on platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, and website chat, making it easier for customers to interact with your organization through the digital channels they use on a daily basis. For real-life use cases, see here.

This comprehensive omnichannel solution meets the needs of any user, enhancing operational efficiency and customer experience. To give you an idea, McKinsey states omnichannel solutions bring customers to shop 1.7 more than single-channel solutions. And the best part is, according to your business needs, you can even choose to implement Voice Agents or Digital Agents only, further optimizing your expenses.

Let’s delve into some practical use cases of how Imagicle Virtual Agents can benefit retail sector:

No more abandoned carts.

How many times have we tried to make a purchase but got frustrated by the difficult check-out process? Or maybe just exited a website without buying anything because we couldn’t find what we were looking for quickly? In this case, Digital Virtual Agent comes into play eliminating these scenarios in two ways: a proactive chat virtual assistant will guide the user in their purchase, and then, if the customer wants to exit the website, it will help them complete the order by providing contextual information, automatic promos, and resolving any doubts. To give an idea of how important these enhancements might be, the average amount of abandoned carts in online shops in the USA is 70%, which translates into 260 USD going lost.

Easy appointments.

With voicebots or chatbots, users can independently book and manage appointments at headquarters, stores, or branches without unnecessary waiting time. Virtual Agents book mutually convenient slots, avoiding conflicting meetings or misunderstandings.

H24 support, in every language, on every channel

Customer service doesn’t have a closing time anymore. Site visitors can get guidance through their preferred modes, channels, and language, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, in an easy, human-like conversation, whether written or spoken. Moreover, designing the flow is easy and doesn’t require prior IT knowledge.

Always know where packages are.

Suppose your business heavily relies on shipping packages. In that case, Virtual Agents have true potential to make your life easier by delivering accurate order status information in real-time, freeing operators from a repetitive question that gets asked multiple times a day. No more manual checking, Virtual Agents always knows where packages are.

FAQs 2.0.

Every website has a FAQ section, but Virtual Agents take it to the next level by providing new, contextual, conversational answers. This prevents the customer from wandering around the site looking for info they can’t find, improving the experience and speeding everything up.

See Digital Virtual Agent in action.

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