In today's fast-paced digital landscape, chatbots and artificial intelligence (AI) stand as a revolutionary advancement in the digital marketplace by not only offering more streamlined purchasing experiences and enhanced user engagement for customers but also strengthening the relationships between businesses. This report aims to explore a commonly used self-service tool employed by businesses to support customers at every stage of their purchasing journey, mainly known as chatbots. This 24/7 customer service tool revolutionizes user experiences and drives innovation in the business environment by virtually assisting customers every step of the way in their purchasing journey. The findings and discussion acquired through this study, especially in terms of future research areas, are extremely helpful for comprehending the functions to understand and enhance chatbot technology further enriching user interaction in the evolving business environment.
TopIntroduction
With the rise of technologies and the Internet, it is inevitable for consumers to move online and join the herd of using their digital devices for their basic daily needs. Almost everything can be done online now, from ordering groceries to buying a whole KitchenAid tool and getting it shipped to your doorstep the very next day, even hiring a personal chef to cook the recently bought groceries using the new KitchenAid tool that was recently purchased. In short, consumers can find almost anything and everything on the Web with just the tip of their fingers but the question begs, “How often are their needs and expectations met during this purchasing stage?”. While it's true that the Internet offers an endless option for products and services, the ease of finding these offerings and the level of customer information vary widely. Customers may not always be well informed about all available options for a certain product or service, and they may not receive proper guidance during their online journey to make informed purchase decisions. This raises the question of how businesses address these challenges and assist their consumers effectively to ensure a smooth purchasing journey throughout.
The popular use of the Internet has become an essential component in everyone’s daily lives and it has consequently resulted in a significant shift in the way people make their purchases today (Misischia et al., 2022). This chapter aims to explore a commonly used self-service tool employed by businesses to support customers at every stage of their purchasing journey, mainly known as Chatbots. With the advancements in technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the growing consumer preference for self-service is driving companies to adopt chatbots into their businesses. This is primarily due to the round-the-clock availability of customer support via chatbots, leading to reduced operational expenses in comparison to using real human assistants for addressing customer inquiries (Lee, 2020). Businesses are constantly refining their strategies to remain competitive amidst rivals offering similar products/services and the utilization of chatbots has emerged as a popular approach to maintaining relevance and effectiveness in this competitive landscape.
Recent industry reports indicate that over 80% of businesses are considering integrating chatbots within the next five years. However, numerous service providers are already incorporating chatbots into their operations to emphasize cost-saving measures and automation, partially replacing human service encounters (Hildebrand & Bergner, 2019). This trend may be attributed to the exceptional possibilities offered by chatbots, driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning. Furthermore, the increasing adoption of chatbots across various sectors is depicted in Figure 1 below, highlighting their growing integration in education, tourism, and e-commerce. This trend is projected to continue growing in the coming years. They can be utilized in various domains, including facilitating engagement with students in educational environments, interacting with visitors in tourism destinations, and assisting customers in online commerce (Selamat & Windasari, 2021).
Figure 1. (Scopus preview—Scopus—Welcome to Scopus, 2020), from 1966 to 2019 for the keywords “chatbot” or “conversation agent” or “conversational interface”, Source: Adamopoulou and Moussiades, 2020)