Artificial intelligence may have once conjured up images from science fiction, but today, 84% of ecommerce businesses are either already using AI solutions or considering implementing them into their workflows. More than ever, business leaders recognize AI’s potential to improve the customer experience.
AI-driven solutions can improve the online customer experience by allowing you to reach your audiences at all hours of the day, exactly when they need you. Here’s how AI tools can fuel more productive interactions with your customers.
What is an AI customer experience?
AI customer experience is the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve how businesses interact with their customers. AI tools such as chatbots, virtual assistants, and predictive analytics tools can automate repetitive tasks and provide faster, more personalized support across multiple channels.
10 ways AI can improve customer experiences
- Faster response times
- 24/7 support
- Enhanced self-service options
- Boosted efficiency
- Better personalization
- Predictive analytics
- Automated updates
- Consistency across channels
- Sentiment analysis
- Voice and image recognition
Here are 10 ways AI can improve your customer experience:
1. Faster response times
AI enables businesses to respond to customer requests and questions faster, increasing customer satisfaction. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants use deep learning (processing data in the same way a human brain does), machine learning (learning through algorithms and not specific instructions), andnatural language processing (understanding and interpreting human language) to manage customer inquiries in real-time and deliver solutions for common issues within seconds. This significantly reduces the wait time for customers looking for help.
2. 24/7 support
In the past, businesses employed call centers all over the world or asked their agents to work odd hours so they could offer 24/7 customer support. Now, AI-powered chatbots can provide round-the-clock assistance by automating customer interactions, ensuring quick responses regardless of time zone.
This constant availability can help meet rising customer expectations for instant service. Chatbots reduce the need for human intervention for routine queries, such as order tracking, return processing, and product recommendations.
3. Enhanced self-service options
A majority of customers prefer self-service over talking with a customer support agent. Natural language processing digital agents and AI-generated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) pages provide quick, accessible answers to common inquiries without the need for human interaction.
This is useful for customers who prefer not to talk on the phone, which may be a portion of your target audience; 90% of Gen Z reports feeling anxious about talking on the phone. Self-service allows them to resolve issues privately and at their own pace.
4. Boosted efficiency
AI tools can boost your business’s operational efficiency by automating time-consuming, repetitive tasks such as data entry, email management, and routine inquiries. By reducing the need for manual labor, you can speed up processes and boost efficiency, resulting in cost savings.
Meanwhile, this frees human agents to handle complex or nuanced issues that require creative problem-solving or a more personal touch. Your customer experience team will be able to spend more time and attention on each of these cases while AI handles the routine tasks.
5. Better personalization
Businesses that implement AI can analyze customer data to offer more personalized experiences. AI algorithms track and interpret customer behavior, including purchase history, to provide tailored product recommendations and marketing strategies.
Balancing personalization with ethical considerations like customer privacy is crucial to ensure you use customer data responsibly. Businesses should obtain clear consent and provide options for customers to control their information and opt out of tracking if they desire.
6. Predictive analytics
AI excels at using predictive analytics to anticipate customer needs and predict future issues. By analyzing data gathered from previous interactions, purchase history, and behavior patterns, AI models can provide valuable insights into customer preferences and challenges. From there, customer experience leaders can proactively address potential concerns and future needs before they arise.
7. Automated updates
Integrating AI into your business’s email strategy can help your customer experience team deliver personalized, timely information to customers. AI can analyze customer behavior and send relevant automated content throughout each stage of the customer journey. This way, customers receive immediate updates and promotions tailored to their needs, whether that be a shipping notification for an order or a coupon code to nudge a shopper who has items left in their cart.
8. Consistency across channels
While human agents may adhere to agreed-upon policies and style guides, their preferences, biases, and moods can influence how they interact with customers. In some cases, a customer may welcome a human touch, but it can also introduce inconsistencies and even confusion when different agents are engaging with a customer across multiple channels.
On the other hand, AI technology delivers a seamless, unified experience regardless of whether customer engagement occurs on chat, email, social media, or the phone.
9. Sentiment analysis
AI integration enables businesses to run sentiment analysis by evaluating customer feedback in real-time. This process uses natural language processing to detect emotion and overall satisfaction levels from reviews, social media posts, and surveys. With these data-driven insights, you can identify trends in customer sentiments and address concerns or adjust your strategy to improve customer satisfaction.
10. Voice and image recognition
AI features, such as voice and image recognition, can improve accessibility and speed up processes. Virtual assistants that offer voice-activated navigation can improve a site’s accessibility by giving users with mobility impairments access to content hands-free. Image recognition can also simplify tasks like verifying identity or scanning products to make payments or returns more efficient.
What does AI customer experience look like today?
- Intelligent Change’s chatbots
- Ilia’s shade-matching quiz
- Olive & Piper’s personalized recommendations
Many businesses are already using AI solutions to improve customer experience and increase sales. Here are three companies that have successfully implemented AI:
Intelligent Change’s chatbots
Intelligent Change, which sells guided journals and other self-improvement tools, uses Relish AI to add a 24/7 virtual shopping assistant and an AI-powered chatbot to its site.
“Being a Relish client now for almost a year, I am happy with their services and the AI touch they add to our website,” the Intelligent Change team says in a testimonial on Relish AI’s website. “We are able to deflect many common questions through our chat in a seamless conversation flow. The support staff is incredibly responsive, helpful, and proactive.”
Ilia’s shade-matching quiz
Award-winning beauty brand Ilia sells foundations and concealers. To feel confident about their online purchase, customers must be able to determine their shade virtually. To solve this, Ilia employed Octane AI to create a simple, AI-powered, shade-matching quiz.
By launching this quiz before releasing the brand’s new Skin Renewal Complexion Sticks, Ilia generated excitement for the new product that garnered a waitlist of 55,000 shoppers. “We really wanted to build an experience that was custom, and unique, and seamless to our brand,” Ilia VP of ecommerce Cherene Aubert says in a testimonial. “We really treated this project with a lot of care.”
Olive & Piper’s personalized recommendations
Woman-founded jewelry boutique Olive & Piper wanted to maximize sales during its peak season, which runs from Black Friday through Valentine’s Day. It used LimeSpot’s AI technology to offer customers personalized service and product recommendations, resulting in a 35% increase in conversions.
AI customer experience FAQ
How do you use AI in customer experience?
You can use AI to automate and personalize customer interactions, resulting in customers receiving faster support.
What is one way AI improves the customer experience?
One of the main ways AI can improve the customer experience is by providing 24/7 customer support via chatbots and self-service options.
What is AI for customer service?
AI for customer service is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve and automate various aspects of customer interactions and support.
