Customer service is of utmost importance to any business or brand. If the customers are happy with the service they will be loyal, if not we may lose a customer. Especially in today’s business world, where there is a lot of competition. Almost all of the brand’s products have become very easy to replace. Thus, providing the best customer service has become a must-do thing. 

Earlier, there used to be a customer care team that would help customers. But the problem with those systems is, they cannot be available at any time. Because humans work on a shift basis. As technology advances, artificial intelligence and machine learning are assisting businesses with a solution known as chatbots.

Chatbots are literally changing brands and customers’ interactions with each other. It is been said that in the next few years, around 87% of organisations will depend on AI-powered customer care. It will be used by 47% of organizations. This article discusses chatbot trends, their types and their importance in 2023. 

What are Chatbots?

Chatbots are programs that will engage in conversation with human beings. Chatbots are present on websites and mobile applications. Their primary intention is to be readily available to help customers if they have any doubts. These are widely used to solve small problems that customers are facing. Chatbots can respond with text or voice. In the current era, they are preferred by almost all organisations. 

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Importance of Chatbots

Chatbots are available 24/7. Hence, a customer’s doubt can be resolved at any time. Since it is available all the time, it will reduce the waiting time for the customers. A customer can send a text and get a reply within seconds. They do not need to wait for the reply for several hours or days, which was the case earlier. Hence, installing bots provides customer service. Good customer service can retain customers. This will make the business profitable. Thus, chatbots in customer service are very important for business. 

Types of Chatbots

There are 6 types of chatbots are present. A business will not need all 6 types. You can choose one according to the organisational needs. 

Menu-Based Chatbots

It is the basic version and most commonly used. They are also called button-based chatbots. Menu-based bots will usually address the FAQs. They will help customers who have very small problems. But they will be unable to provide solutions to customers who have complicated problems. 

When a customer starts interacting with the chatbot, it will provide three options for questions. The customer has to choose one question that is more relevant to their query. And they will be answered. In some cases, the options will not have the question that you are looking for. In those cases, you can contact the customer care executives. In recent days, companies have been very keen on training chatbots. It is useful now but will reach greater heights in the near future. 

Linguistic-Based Chatbots

This type of chatbot needs to be trained with words, phrases and synonyms. When a customer asks a question if the words are already defined by the developer. The results will be provided in a fraction of a second. This type of chatbot can also converse with customers in a friendly manner. Thus, it is a very useful type of chatbot. But the only downside is, they can take so much time to develop. But once developed, they can be completely relied on. Keep in mind that this kind of chatbot needs specificity. If the words do not match its dictionary, the query will be ignored, even if it is the simplest.  

Keyword recognition-based Chatbots

This type of chatbot will use keywords to recognise the needs of customers and provide results. It is clear that both brands and customers rely on chatbots only for basic assistance. So these bots are trained to recognise those keywords and answer them.

For example, if a customer asks, “ What is the status of my order?” The status of my order can be a keyword. Chatbots can recognise this keyword and proceed. They may ask for the order ID. Once the order ID is given, the results will be given to the customers. But the only downside is that some keywords can be redundant. In those times, there can be some issues. This can be overcome by hybridising menu-based with Keyword recognition chatbots.

Machine Learning Chatbots

This type of chatbot will utilize Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. They will use the conversations had with the specific users to learn and improve themselves. These are one of the smartest bots available. It is the most preferred because it can improve itself over time.

For example, If a person orders a product on a website. Based on the conversation that happened, the chatbot will learn about the user. And then the next time the same user contacts you. With the old information, the chatbot will ask whether they like to repeat the order. It not only saves time but will also give a great user experience. Thus, it is the most advanced type of chatbot.

Voice bots

These days, voice recognition is the most convenient form. Customers prefer to speak than type. Voice bots can recognise the voice of customers and help them. They can also speak back to the customers. It provides a seamless experience for the customers. As a result, it has become one of the most popular bots in recent years. 

Hybrid Chatbots

Every business has its own needs. They have their own way of dealing with customers in marketing with AI tools. So what they do is make a hybrid of the chatbot types that will be useful for them. The most common hybrid used by people is a keyword-based chatbot or a menu-based chatbot. If you are a business that needs the features of any two types of chatbots and you can hybridise them. 

Chatbots Trends in 2023

A new year always arrives with some trends to follow in almost all industries. Likewise, there are going to be some hot-bot-trends in the chatbot industry as well. Those chatbot trends are mentioned below. 

Voice-enabled chatbots

As mentioned previously in the articles, websites will concentrate more on voice bots to improve the user experience. Voice-enabled chatbots will recognize customer commands and respond with appropriate responses. Voice bots are the future of chatbots. 

Predicting customers behaviour

Bots when interacting with customers, will understand them and answer. While answering every question, it will learn from the experience. So, when another customer or the same customer interacts with the chatbot, the previous experience is used to improve customer service. This is going to be one of the hottest trends in the chatbot industry. It will give the customers great satisfaction with customer service.

Shopping and Paying using Chatbots

To date, placing an order via the website is a common thing. Shopping via bots was followed by only a few. But in the upcoming years, shopping and paying using chatbots will be the trend. Many companies are trying to provide customers with a great user experience. In order to make the shopping process very easy, they are relying on bots. Customers can convey Websites are currently focusing more on payment processes. Websites are currently focusing more on payment processes. 

Real-time Insights

The scope of Chatbot can also be used to deliver notifications. In 2023, brands will use bots to convey information on sales, deals and other important news. This will be done with the use of Artificial Intelligence. The intention behind this trend is to deliver valuable information on time. This will contribute a lot to improving the ROI of the industry. Hence, it is going to be one of the trends to follow in 2023. 

Engaging with Customers

Establishing a positive connection with the customers will increase the customer base. It was one of the trends in 2022, and it continues to be a trend in 2023 as well. When a customer views a product on the website or adds it to their cart but then does not place the order.

Chatbots will message the customers via WhatsApp or any other mode to remind them about the cart. They will also engage with the customer and collect reviews of the products. They will also remember to restock the products. So, this trend solely focuses on engaging with customers to establish a good relationship. It will also help increase the brand’s sales.

Chatbots in Social Media

We all got that one automated message from social media and texting apps stating that the concerned person would contact us soon. But in 2023, this will be changed. Businesses are planning to train bots to interact with the messages that are received on social media. This can build relationships with customers. Customers usually message a brand if they have any problems with the products or if they have any doubts regarding the product or service. Ignoring this kind of message can make you lose a great customer. Having mentioned that replying to 1,000 messages manually. Chatbots are going to be very helpful for replying to messages. 

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Upselling and Cross-Selling

With the current technologies available, like AI and Natural language processing, upselling and cross-selling can be done using bots. Since bots now have the ability to learn from users, they can analyse the needs that users may have. With these details, it can cross-sell or up-sell goods to the customer. With this trend, customers will be able to find great deals. It will also help the business to sell the goods. Thus it is one such trend that will help to increase the ROI. 

Helps Employees

Not only in dealing with customers. Chatbots will also help with internal processes. Bots, with the help of Artificial Intelligence will automate many processes that take place in the industry. The processes can be related to manufacturing and quality checking. This will save time for the employees. So that they can spend time on other valuable things.  It is one of the growing trends in chatbots in 2023. 

For Global Growth

Chatbots will remain necessary for expanding business globally. Social Media has made us connect overseas. Businesses are also trying to create a customer base abroad. Chatbots can be a base for growing the business globally. Not only in expanding but also in retaining the customer base. It is going to be one of the hottest trends in the chatbot industry in 2023.  

Conclusion

Customer service is of utmost importance in any organization. Any business that treats its customers well will have a better future than one that does not concentrate on them. The reality is brands are ready to treat their customers with all their hearts. But manpower will not be available at any time. The need for something that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week arises here. The technological world was ready to fill the gap. They used AI to make a new concept called Chatbots. 

Bots are able to engage in conversation with humans. They are also available at any time. In the initial stages, bots did perform on average. But then, with the help of machine learning, these bots are trained. Nowadays, bots perform really well. There are many types of bots. Those types are mentioned in the article. You can choose one, or you can hybridise two or more to make a chatbot that will cater to your needs. Like any other industry, there will be trends that will be popular in 2023. The trends are also mentioned in this article. You can implement these and get benefits.   

FAQs

1. What are chatbots?

Chatbots are software applications that will engage in conversation with humans. 

2. How chatbots are used?

Bots are used to solve customer problems. They can chat, talk and mail customers. 

• What are examples of Chatbots?

Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are the two best examples of bots. 

4. Will the chatbot work without an internet connection?

Chatbots can work without an internet connection. It can perform tasks and respond to users even in the absence of an internet connection. 

5. What are the types of chatbots?

The six types are,

• Menu-based chatbots
• Linguistic based chatbots
• Machine Learning chatbots
• Keyword recognition chatbots
• Hybrid bots
• Voice bots  

6. What are Voice bots?

Voice bots are a type of chatbot that can recognise the voice commands of a customer. It can also interact with the customer through speech. Customers may feel that it will be more comfortable to speak than type. 

7. How to build a chatbot faster?

Bot-building platforms can be used to develop a chatbot within seconds.