Vonage, the New Jersey-based, cloud-communications technology company, is preparing to radically transform the way people shop by making it an amazing experience—rather than a chore.
The tech company recently acquired Jumper.ai, a software platform that enables brands to engage in dynamic real-life type of conversations with customers. Instead of receiving annoying, boring emails or text messages, Vonage’s new software creates a universe in which shoppers can interface with live agents or artificial intelligence. Its goal is to build a better way for potential customers to have an enjoyable, productive interaction with a retailer. The retailer, in turn, will have more sales and build a loyal following.
This concept is referred to as “conversational commerce.” It’s an on-demand retail trend that leverages our constantly growing convergence of shopping and conversations on platforms, such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram.
With a cool chat feature, you will have a seamless shopping experience. Consumers can engage in personal conversations with virtual or real live experts. Customers can inquire about products and pricing information in real time. Via text, customers may actively engage in conversations to inquire about clothes, cars, jewelry and an array of products that they’re interested in considering purchasing.
This will enhance trust in the brands that make themselves easily accessible and user-friendly. The growth could be exponential, as instant messaging has fast become the go-to medium for communication for family and friends. This is the natural extension of the trend.
Vonage’s platform provides insights about customers’ shopping behaviors, delivering notifications and product suggestions for additional selling opportunities. The last 18 months have shown that consumers became extremely comfortable with online purchases, compared to pre-pandemic times.
Conversational commerce chatbots virtually simulate the in-store experience. Sales assistants engage a customer in conversation, listen to what they want and offer on-target recommendations. This completely transforms customer interactions from lackluster, irritating and bland notifications to “conversations across the spectrum of customer engagement points,” Vonage CEO Rory Read said.
Here’s an example: you notice an outfit worn by an instagram model and would like to purchase the attire. This can easily be executed through interactive messaging. The software technology takes care of all the rest.
Conversation starters can be text messages or alerts that originate from a mix of leading international brands that already includes Burger King, Estee Lauder, Disney, Unilever, L’Oreal, Kiehl’s, Axe, Dove and Ben & Jerry’s.
Savinay Berry, Vonage executive vice president of product and engineering, said that the new acquisition will lead toward over $25 billion in the next three to five years. This isn’t new, untested technology. Conversational commerce is huge in China and Asia. The U.S. is starting to play catch up. Berry says that Vonage’s vision and strategy is “storefronts are conversations.” He says it’s a game changer and helps complete “Vonage’s vision of end-to-end conversational commerce.”
According to Juniper Research, the market for conversational commerce will be worth $290 billion by 2025. A 2020 LivePerson survey reported that around 85% of worldwide consumers are on board with messaging brands, more than three-quarters (78%) of shoppers reported they would like the ability to securely message with any business and 74% said they are more likely to do business with a company if they could message rather than call them.
Consumers reported the channels they currently use to communicate with a business include email (76%), text messaging (41%) and social media (33%), indicating a large gap between the channels available to consumers and those they’d like to use.
This trend could be a big win for many retailers that suffered during the pandemic. While Amazon thrived, many smaller businesses had a hard time, especially those with predominantly physical locations. Vonage’s new platform could help level the playing field.
A new class of workers will be needed to help create, build, market and maintain the technologies. There will be additional needs for people in warehouses and fulfillment centers to serve the expected growth in online sales.
It’s likely that, in addition to chatbots, AI and avatars, many shoppers will ask for real-live people to help them. It would enhance their shopping experience if they could see a person modeling the clothes and talking about how the garment feels. A new field of virtual shoppers and advisors, similar to social media influencers, will emerge.
Source: Forbes
