Conversational commerce

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Conversational commerce is e-commerce done via various means of conversation (live support on e-commerce Web sites, online chat using messaging apps, [1] chatbots on messaging apps or websites, voice assistants [2] ) and using technology such as: speech recognition, speaker recognition (voice biometrics), natural language processing and artificial intelligence. [3] [4]

Contents

Development

WeChat in China

During this time, in China, e-commerce via WeChat – at its core a messaging app, but also letting merchants display their goods in mobile Web pages and via social feeds – grew strongly. By 2013 e-commerce in China had overtaken that of the U.S. [5]

Facebook Messenger

In 2016, Facebook announced its Facebook Messenger chatbot platform, heralding the arrival of conversational commerce via the most widely used messaging app in the world outside China. More than 34,000 businesses had opened shop on Messenger by August 2017. [6]

Early cited examples of conversational commerce chatbots on Facebook Messenger include 1-800-FLOWERS with an IBM Watson artificial intelligence-powered chatbot/assistant, [7] [8] and Mexican airline Aeroméxico, whose chat platform running on Yalochat lets customers search, book, track, or check in for flights; ask any question, using A.I. and NLP to provide answers; [9] [10] or pull the chatbot into a group chat.

Apple Business Chat

In June 2017, Apple announced its Apple Business Chat [11] product, allowing consumers and businesses to message each other via the Messages app.

WhatsApp

In September 2017 WhatsApp announced the pilot of its new Enterprise solution, the first time large companies would be able to attend to large groups of customers in an approved WhatsApp solution, after WhatsApp banned earlier unofficial solutions. Companies who piloted the solution included airlines Aeromexico, KLM, [12] [13] [14] [15] Latin American online travel agency Despegar [16] and online retailer Linio. [17]

Enterprise solutions for WhatsApp have been available since 2015 from a variety of third-party vendors, and though unofficial, they have been used by major companies and governments including the Governments of Colombia and Costa Rica.

Podium

In March 2020, Podium announced a contactless payment solution [18] allowing local businesses to accept payments through two-way SMS text message conversations with customers. Outside of traditional instore card-present transactions, there existed only a few options for businesses to accept payments, most of which were not secure, PCI compliant, or convenient. Through Podium Payments, businesses can engage with customers and securely close sales all within the same convenient channel. [19]

Telegram

In May 2017 Telegram supported basic payments in chats using bots and in April 2021, the payment 2.0 that supports payment in more than 200 countries via integration with 9 different payment providers. [20]

Alexa and Google Assistant

Both Amazon and Google are providing APIs to enable payment via voice chat using stored payment credentials in Google Pay or Amazon Pay. [21] [22]

Web chat

Although, they do not have any functionalities to facilitate actual transactions within the conversation, companies like LiveChat Software, CM.com, and LivePerson have powered live conversations between customers and live agents as far back as the 2000s, [23] before retail businesses used messaging apps to communicate with customers.

Related Research Articles

E-commerce is the activity of electronically buying or selling products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. E-commerce is the largest sector of the electronics industry and is in turn driven by the technological advances of the semiconductor industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Instant messaging</span> Form of communication over the internet

Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and triggers a transmission to the recipient(s), who are all connected on a common network. It differs from email in that conversations over instant messaging happen in real-time. Most modern IM applications use push technology and also add other features such as emojis, file transfer, chatbots, voice over IP, or video chat capabilities.

Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V. operating as Aeroméxico, is the flag carrier of Mexico, based in Mexico City. It operates scheduled services to more than 90 destinations in Mexico; North, South and Central America; the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia. Its main base and hub is located in Mexico City, with secondary hubs in Guadalajara and Monterrey. The headquarters is in the Torre MAPFRE on Paseo de la Reforma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chatbot</span> Program that simulates conversation

A chatbot is a software application or web interface that is designed to mimic human conversation through text or voice interactions. Modern chatbots are typically online and use generative artificial intelligence systems that are capable of maintaining a conversation with a user in natural language and simulating the way a human would behave as a conversational partner. Such chatbots often use deep learning and natural language processing, but simpler chatbots have existed for decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual assistant</span> Software agent

A virtual assistant (VA) is a software agent that can perform a range of tasks or services for a user based on user input such as commands or questions, including verbal ones. Such technologies often incorporate chatbot capabilities to simulate human conversation, such as via online chat, to facilitate interaction with their users. The interaction may be via text, graphical interface, or voice - as some virtual assistants are able to interpret human speech and respond via synthesized voices.

Amazon Pay is an online payments processing service owned by Amazon. Launched in 2007, Amazon Pay uses the consumer base of Amazon.com and focuses on giving users the option to pay with their Amazon accounts on external merchant websites. As of March 2021, the service became available in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.

LivePerson is a global technology company that develops conversational commerce and AI software.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WhatsApp</span> Messaging and VoIP service owned by Meta Platforms

WhatsApp is an instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other content. WhatsApp's client application runs on mobile devices, and can be accessed from computers. The service requires a cellular mobile telephone number to sign up. In January 2018, WhatsApp released a standalone business app called WhatsApp Business which can communicate with the standard WhatsApp client.

Viber, or Rakuten Viber, is a cross-platform voice over IP (VoIP) and instant messaging (IM) software application owned by Japanese multinational company Rakuten, provided as freeware for the Google Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS and Linux platforms. Users are registered and identified through a cellular telephone number, although the service is accessible on desktop platforms without needing mobile connectivity. In addition to instant messaging it allows users to exchange media such as images and video records, and also provides a paid international landline and mobile calling service called Viber Out. As of 2018, there are over a billion registered users on the network.

Artificial Solutions is a multinational technology company that develops technology for conversational AI systems.

eGain Corporation is a cloud-based software company with its headquarters at Sunnyvale, California. eGain provides applications for customer service, knowledge management, and analytics, that businesses use to serve and sell to their customers. The company is listed on NASDAQ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flok (company)</span> American tech startup based in New York City

Flok was an American tech startup based in New York City that provides marketing services such as chatbots/AI, customer loyalty programs, mobile apps and CRM services to local businesses.

niki.ai Artificial intelligence company

Niki was an artificial intelligence company headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka. It was founded in May 2015 by IIT Kharagpur graduates Sachin Jaiswal, Keshav Prawasi, Shishir Modi, and Nitin Babel.

The e-commerce market in Mexico in 2015 was estimated by Forbes to be 12 billion U.S. dollars and by the Mexican Internet Association AMIPCI to be 257.1 billion Mexico pesos. This represented 1.6–2% of all retail sales vs. a global average of 7%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Witlingo</span> Software as a service company

Witlingo is a B2B Software as a Service (SaaS) company that enables businesses and organization of all sizes to use the latest innovations in Human Language Technology and Conversational AI, such Speech recognition, Natural Language Processing, IVR, Virtual Assistant apps on Smartphone platforms(iOS and Android), Chatbots, and Digital audio, to deeply engage with their communities.

Gupshup is an American messaging platform for businesses to communicate in. With primary operations in India, United States, Europe, Latin America, Africa, Middle East and South East Asia, it is owned and operated by Webaroo Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haptik</span> Indian enterprise conversational AI platform

Haptik is an Indian enterprise conversational AI platform founded in August 2013, and acquired by Reliance Industries Limited in 2019. The company develops technology to enable enterprises to build conversational AI systems that allow users to converse with applications and electronic devices in free-format, natural language, using speech or text. The company has been accorded numerous accolades including the Frost & Sullivan Award, NASSCOM's Al Game Changer Award, and serves Fortune 500 brands globally in industries such as financial, insurance, healthcare, technology and communications.

A conversational user interface (CUI) is a user interface for computers that emulates a conversation with a real human. Historically, computers have relied on text-based user interfaces and graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to translate the user's desired action into commands the computer understands. While an effective mechanism of completing computing actions, there is a learning curve for the user associated with GUI. Instead, CUIs provide opportunity for the user to communicate with the computer in their natural language rather than in a syntax specific commands.

Yalochat is an artificial intelligence platform specializing in emerging markets. It is based in San Francisco with offices in Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai, Bogotá, and São Paulo.

Conversable is a SaaS based Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered conversational platform, headquartered in Austin, Texas. It allows customers to create intelligent, automated response flows through conversations in any messaging channel or voice platforms. It has offices in Austin and Dallas.

References

  1. ↑ Taylor, Glenn (5 March 2018). "Retail's Big Opportunity: 87% Of U.S. Consumers Grasp The Power Of Conversational Commerce - Retail TouchPoints". www.retailtouchpoints.com.
  2. ↑ "How to prepare your products and brand for conversational commerce". 6 March 2018.
  3. ↑ Miller, Dan (2013-12-13). "10 Trends to Watch: Conversational Commerce 2014 |" . Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  4. ↑ Messina, Chris (2016-01-19). "Conversational commerce". Medium. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  5. ↑ "How savvy, social shoppers are transforming Chinese e-commerce - McKinsey". www.mckinsey.com.
  6. ↑ Tiersky, Howard (1 August 2017). "Success secrets for conversational commerce". CIO.
  7. ↑ Caffyn, Grace (20 February 2017). "What 1-800 Flowers has learned from its Watson-powered concierge".
  8. ↑ "1-800-FLOWERS.COM CEO: A 'fifth wave' of retail is emerging". finance.yahoo.com.
  9. ↑ "Aeromexico taps Yalochat.com and IV.AI to build first advanced AI Customer Service Chatbot". Traveldailynews.com. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "Aeroméxico comienza a utilizar Aerobot, el primer chatbot de una aerolínea en el continente" [Aeroméxico begins to use Aerobot, the first airline chatbot in the continent]. prnewswire.com (Press release) (in Spanish). Aeroméxico. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  11. ↑ "iOS - Business Chat". Apple. Retrieved 2019-03-01.
  12. ↑ "Building for People, and Now Businesses". WhatsApp.com.
  13. ↑ "AM Lab 7 on LinkedIn: "Yesterday, WhatsApp announced WhatsApp for…".
  14. ↑ López, Andrea (30 October 2017). "Ahora, gracias a Yalo, podrás chatear con Aeroméxico vía Whatsapp".
  15. ↑ "Yalo, la tecnología mexicana que lleva Whatsapp a Aeroméxico". Expansión. 30 October 2017.
  16. ↑ 20Minutos (2 February 2018). "Despegar comienza a brindar servicios por WhatsApp". 20minutos.com.mx - Últimas Noticias.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ↑ Maza, Paulina (26 January 2018). "Linio primer retailer en implementar WhatsApp Enterprise". Linio Blog MX.
  18. ↑ "Podium Expands Interaction Management Platform to Now Include Payments" (Press release).
  19. ↑ "Payments Product Page 2021".
  20. ↑ Hanna, M. "Telegram Payment API" . Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  21. ↑ Hanna, M. "Amazon Alexa Pay my gas". Amazon. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  22. ↑ Hanna, M. "Google Assistant Payment" . Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  23. ↑ "LiveChat Founders Buy Out Investor Naspers, Regain 60% Stake". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2020-07-28. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
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