E-commerce Chatbots: Benefits, Use Cases and Examples

After COVID hit the whole world, the economy saw a significant change in businesses. Post-COVID, people started online businesses. Now, businesses no more need to have a physical appearance. You must have come across a lot of online businesses. Considering the value of the online market, people are now interested in creating an online presence of their businesses. However, the real struggle of online businesses starts here. You don’t meet your customers in person. But you have to retain them and keep them engaged.

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How can you achieve this? Well, when you have e-commerce chatbots at your service, customer engagement and retention get on an automation more. According to Grand View Research, economic researchers are expecting the global chatbot market to reach $27.3 billion by 2030. Indeed, running an online e-commerce business involves a multi-faceted approach where you need to look into various aspects of the business. To help you when customer engagement, these e-commerce chatbots are a new and the most advanced addition that you can invest in.

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In fact, when I introduced a chatbot in my e-commerce fashion business, I noticed happy clients when satisfactory reviews on services and guidance. Still hesitant to automate your e-commerce business’s customer engagement? Let this blog be your guiding light and introduce you to the benefits of an e-commerce chatbot, its use cases, real-life examples, and future trends.

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Understanding e-commerce chatbots

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As the name suggests, e-commerce chatbots are interactive and engaging AI-powered chatbots strictly used in e-commerce businesses. Suppose you do not have the bandwidth to take up any more human labor for customer-relationship management. Here, an e-commerce chatbot can automate responses to customer queries and provide the utmost support with personalized interactions. 

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Now, you might ask how these e-commerce chatbots understand human language and answer them. Well, these are equipped with machine learning, natural language processes and advanced artificial intelligence models, which help them comprehend and function like virtual assistants. So, be it a product query, to learn more about the status of a purchase or to know about a flash sale, these chatbots can answer them all, thereby minimizing human labor and enhancing business efficiency. 

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Lately, customers want responses quickly so that they can make better informed decisions in less time. It is impossible for human resources to go through all customer queries individually and respond to them with personalized answers. After all, every customer has unique doubts. This is where e-commerce chatbots come into play. Wondering whether customers consider these chatbots reliable? Well, according to Garter, 80% of businesses dealing with customer engagement and support will apply generated AI in the form of chatbots to boost customer engagement.

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Why are e-commerce chatbots essential?

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Implementing chatbots in your e-commerce business is expensive, right? So, should you still make this investment? I’m sure many of you must have this thought and get into a never-ending dilemma of whether you should or shouldn’t use chatbots for your e-commerce business. Here are the reasons why your e-commerce business needs chatbots:

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1. Meets rising customer expectations 

Every customer loves getting attention. To do this, you have to attend to the customer no matter how important a task you have. Is this always possible? Your human resource may get a query from a valuable customer while he’s working in the logistics. To make both ends meet, your business needs an intuitive e-commerce chatbot. Resolve all your queries at any time from any part of the world with e-commerce chatbots.

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2. Enhances engagement through interactive responses 

Often, you’ll come across people who complain about shutting down their e-commerce businesses due to a lack of customer engagement. They struggle with not having the necessary time to engage and connect with people. Here, the e-commerce chatbots can do magic for your business simply by responding to customers at the right time. This reduces their frustration and enhances their loyalty to your brand.

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3. Boosts sales with guided purchases 

You certainly don’t want your customers to leave the e-commerce platform right away. For this, you need someone to guide them through their purchase journey. This is where the e-commerce chatbots come into play. As they are AI-integrated, your customers get products recommended by the e-commerce chatbots that align with their choices. This automatically leads to higher conversion rates and sales. 

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4. Cost reduction through automation 

Suppose you can bring an automation system that handles repetitive tasks like answering customer queries, providing product status, and tracking orders. In that case, it can help your business in two ways - reduce human workload and keep customers engaged with rapid responses. E-commerce chatbots can take up this responsibility as it reduces operational costs and enhances your business efficiency.

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5. Building brand loyalty 

As an e-commerce platform, you certainly want to build a positive and enlightening image of your brand. You’ll certainly want to pull more customers to your e-commerce brand, right? The solution to this lies in the hands of e-commerce chatbots. The day I implemented chatbots in my e-commerce platform, sales and customer engagement increased 2x.

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Key benefits of e-commerce chatbots 

Considering the modern e-commerce business scenario, these e-commerce chatbots have now become an indispensable tool that helps both existing and prospective customers. Let’s focus on how both sectors can benefit from e-commerce chatbots.

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Benefits of e-commerce chatbots: For customers

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At this stage, you have customers who already rely on you and buy from your e-commerce website. What happens when a competitor with a better product or a better platform comes to the market? Simple. You lose your valued customers. To get rid of this nightmare and keep your existing customers loyal to your brand, here’s how installing e-commerce chatbots can help:

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• Real-time support and assistance - Chatbots do not keep your customers waiting. The moment they come up with a query, it just takes a few minutes for these e-commerce chatbots to respond. Do not judge the accuracy and proficiency of these chatbots as they have their databases filled with previous conversations with customers and their behavior on the e-commerce platform.

• Personalized product recommendation - Since e-commerce chatbots use AI-driven algorithms, they keep track of your customers’ choices and preferences. For this, the chatbots go through the browsing history, past purchases, and latest product searches. This gives your business a lot of cross-selling opportunities.

• Quick responses to FAQs - Unlike human resources, chatbots respond to customer queries and FAQs rapidly without the intervention of any human resource. This reduces the work pressure on human agents while providing faster customer service. Besides, it also saves time on both ends.

• Order tracking and status updates - One of the most magnificent features of e-commerce chatbots is providing real-time order tracking status to customers. Once customers ask the chatbot about the status of their online purchases or orders, the chatbot will provide accurate responses. This builds trust and loyalty about your brand in the minds of the customers.

• Seamless shopping experience - E-commerce chatbots guide your customers right from product selection based on their preferences to checking out. Since these chatbots offer multi-channel support facilities, the customers get assisted on multiple platforms like websites, social media channels, etc.

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Benefits of e-commerce chatbots: For prospects

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Prospects are the potential customers who can purchase from your e-commerce website. So, in a way, these are the hot or warm leads of your business. Here, you need somebody proactive to engage with the prospects, nurture them and convert them into paying customers. E-commerce chatbots can do all of these. This is how e-commerce chatbots can benefit the prospective customers:

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• Lead generation through interactive conversations - Chatbots have the brilliant capacity to gather leads by getting valuable data from them. These AI tools capture data from surveys, demographics and the buying intention of customers. With these interactive chatbots, not only can you get leads, but also qualify and convert them.

• Efficient handling of prepurchase queries - Often, customers ask certain questions regarding a product before making a purchase. When you keep your customers waiting for answers at this juncture, it frustrates them, and they leave your e-commerce platform at once. But with e-commerce chatbots, you don’t need any human assistance. Instead, the chatbots will provide accurate answers.

• Targeted promotions and discounts - You can program and personalize a chatbot to provide certain discounts and promotions, depending on the behavior of the customers and their browsing history. These help prospective customers turn into loyal buyers.

• Guided navigation through product catalogs - Chatbots use extensive catalogs to guide users and help them discover the products they are looking for. Such a dynamic searching capability of these e-commerce chatbots suggests similar products to your customers, emphasizes recent trends and provides a comparative analysis to help them make better informed decisions.

• Capturing customer data for personalization - As mentioned earlier, the e-commerce chatbots constantly gather data and customer insights to understand their shopping preferences, interactions and habits. This helps businesses to craft customized marketing strategies so that the customers are left with no options but to choose you.

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Use cases of e-commerce chatbots

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Considering the versatility of these e-commerce chatbots, you can micromanage all functions of your retail business using these chatbots. Still skeptical about installing e-commerce chatbots? Want to know more about their superpowers? Here is a list of use cases of e-commerce chatbots:

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1. Personalized shopping assistance 

With chatbots in the house, you don’t need to employ any human agent to conduct steady research on your customers or even the prospects. These e-commerce chatbots can conduct personalized communications with customers and analyze their browsing history and preferences to suggest more similar options. This undoubtedly increases customer engagement and sales. In a study, participants preferred AI chatbots with sentimental analysis much more than non-personalized versions.

2. Order management and tracking 

With e-commerce chatbots, customers no longer have to be clueless after making a purchase. Rather, they can track their order, get the latest updates on the shipping status and get a tentative delivery date generated through these chatbots. In the US, 24% of consumers rely on chatbots for shopping regularly. This automatically enhances user satisfaction and brings a positive development in chatbot resolution and customer retention rates.

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3. Customer support and FAQs 

Once you implement chatbots in your e-commerce websites, they take care of handling everyday inquiries and answering frequently asked questions. This provides instant and consistent support to the customers while letting human resources take care of other complex business matters. So, with e-commerce chatbots, you don’t have to keep your customers waiting. Remember, the longer they wait, the more is their chance to leave your e-commerce website and switch to your competitor’s. 

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4. Cart recovery and abandonment reduction 

Most of your customers have a habit of leaving products on the cart without purchasing. Here, the role of e-commerce chatbots comes into play. The moment the e-commerce chatbot notices your customer leaving any product on the cart, it immediately notifies the customer. To ensure the customer completes the purchase, the chatbot sends reminders on the incentives that the customer can enjoy. Automatically, this recovers your revenue, which you could potentially lose otherwise and reduces abandonment rates. 

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5. Post-purchase assistance 

The e-commerce chatbots never let go of your customers once a purchase is made. Rather, they always have the customers covered. After the purchase, the chatbot helps customers with feedback and asks for recommendations for future references. This increases the customer retention rate and allows you to conduct a personalized marketing approach to learn more about your customers' choices. 

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Real-life examples of e-commerce chatbots

E-commerce chatbots are no longer in the conception phase. In fact, several modern retail businesses and e-commerce websites have embraced these virtual assistants for more productivity and support. Likewise, here are the top 5 real-life examples of e-commerce websites that have interactive chatbots. 

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1. Amazon AI shopping assistance (Rufus)

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This global e-commerce giant has launched Rufus, an engaging e-commerce chatbot that leverages the supreme power of natural language processing and generative AI to communicate with customers via text and voice commands. Right from personalized product recommendations based on customer tastes to helping people navigate through the massive product catalog, Rufus acts as an obedient shopping virtual assistant to consumers. 

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The primary purpose of creating Rufus is to improve the shopping experience of the customers by understanding their choices, tastes and preferences and referring them or helping them with products accordingly. This has not only helped customers find products faster but also has reduced their efforts by recommending what they are looking for.

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2. Pizza My Heart’s ‘Jimmy The Surfer'

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Being a prestigious Pizza chain in California, Pizza My Heart came up with ‘Jimmy The Surfer,’ a perfect AI-based chatbot that streamlines the whole pizza ordering process. It enhances customer experiences and offers conversational communication for building a healthy relationship with the customers. 

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What makes Jimmy The Surfer stand out from its competitors is it has a very friendly, light and casual tone of communicating with the customers. After all, this is a food joint. So, the chatbot should maintain a similar approach to replicate the brand personality. Besides, if you order something via Jimmy The Surfer, it will keep a record of your order and recommend foods of a similar kind from time to time. 

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3. Amarra AI Chatbot

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Amarra is a fashion and apparel distributor in New Jersey that functions all over the globe. When the company faced challenges in managing inventory and offering steady customer support, it came up with an AI-powered chatbot. From then on, the chatbot has only enhanced Amarra’s operational efficiency while nurturing a healthy relationship with customers. 

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What adds a feather to the hat of Amarra’s chatbot is its complete assistance with content creation. Whether you need to take care of catalog updates or write a product description, Amarra’s chatbot has you covered. In a report of Business Insider, researchers noted that the implementation of Amarra led to a 40% reduction in overstock issues. Further, Amarra’s AI chatbot has also reduced content creation time by 60%. 

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4. Shopify chatbot

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To keep online retailers engaged throughout their shopping journey and even after the purchase, Shopify has come up with its interactive chatbot. Right from around-the-clock customer support to inventory management, order management automation and assistance, you can call the Shopify chatbot to be an all-rounder. 

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What sets the Shopify chatbot apart from its competitors is its assistance in developing interesting marketing campaigns. Besides, the chatbot can follow up on your customers by sending automated messages. This enhances conversion rates and reduces cart abandonment.  

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5. Nike virtual shopping assistant

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This global sportswear biggie integrated artificial intelligence into its retail strategy. The Nike virtual shopping assistant helps customers with customized product recommendations based on the preferences of the user. Further, if you are struggling to figure out the clothing sizes, this Nike chatbot will help you with the accurate sizes according to your body structure.

After finding the perfect fit for you, the chatbot gives you a complete array of new clothing collections. In a way, it performs two tasks - helps Shopify users with complete shopping guidance and promotes new collections and ranges, thereby triggering users to check out and explore the new range. 

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Copilot.Live - The best chatbot for e-commerce 

Now that you have a clear understanding of how e-commerce chatbots function and how they help you enhance sales and the entire business, you must be looking for a reliable one. Indeed, there are way too many e-commerce chatbot platforms that help e-commerce retail businesses accelerate the entire customer journey. However, of all, the best chatbot for e-commerce and retail businesses is Copilot.Live. As an advanced chatbot platform, Copilot.Live streamlines your entire customer journey and builds a reliable and loyal relationship with the customers.

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With Copilot.Live, you can automate your e-commerce tasks like inventory management, customer interaction, etc. This automation can be done both via chat and calls. Besides, Copilot.Live offers ‘Pixxy’ through which you can create amazing designs for your e-commerce products and the website. When you present a voice command design request to Copilot.Live, instantly, it creates your design. Further, since your e-commerce retail website is open to the global market, you can expect from different countries to inquire about products. The multilingual feature of Copilot.Live helps them with answers in their native language. 

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Steps to create e-commerce chatbot using Copilot.Live?

Wondering if creating an e-commerce chatbot using Copilot.Live is a challenging task? Here are the five steps you must follow:

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Step 1: Setting up Copilot.Live:‍

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First and foremost, go to the official website of Copilot.Live and sign in with the necessary details.

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Step 2: Customizing chatbot look:

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Next, you get to the dashboard of Copilot.Live. Here, you can use several customization options to give your e-commerce chatbot that personality that reflects your brand.

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Step 3: Feeding chatbot with data:

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To train the chatbot and make it function in a personalized way, add accurate information and tie it to the e-commerce database.

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Step 4: Chatbot testing:

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You certainly don’t want the chatbot to fail after launching. To prevent this, test the chatbot and check if it answers correctly.

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Step 5: Deployment and monitoring:

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Finally, deploy the chatbot on the official website of your e-commerce venture and on all other social media platforms to offer cross-channel convenience to the users. Keep on monitoring the chatbot and update it from time to time.

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Challenges and solutions in e-commerce chatbot implementation

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Doesn’t the e-commerce chatbots have any challenges? What if implementing these chatbots brings some technical issues? Indeed, failure in chatbots is the least you can expect. So, to be in an advantageous position, let’s jump into some challenges along with the solutions you can incorporate.  

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1. Language and cultural barriers 

Your e-commerce platform or website is accessible to people all over the globe. Here’s the catch. What if the chatbot fails to understand native languages? What if the chatbot doesn’t understand the cultural preferences of people from a particular location? This leads to frustrated customers who eventually leave your e-commerce platform. 

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As a solution, develop a chatbot that offers multilingual support and can communicate in multiple languages. By this, your potential customers get assistance in their preferred language. Besides, make sure to customize your chatbot in alignment with the cultural values and norms that satisfy the sentiments of the people. A perfect e-commerce chatbot supporting 50+ languages is Copilot.Live. 

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2. Handling complex queries

Chatbots are adept at handling straight-forward queries from customers. But what about the complex ones? Can chatbots solve complex issues? Often, people get frustrated because the chatbots fail to answer ambiguous problems. This leads to a loss of potential customers. 

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Here, the only solution is to use an advanced AI mechanism that understands the nuances and communication context of the people. The machine learning technology you implement should comprehend user interaction that can take care of intricate queries. Besides, implement NLP to help the chatbot produce more accurate answers. 

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3. Maintaining a human touch 

Your customers will fall in love with your e-commerce platform only when the platform serves them in the way they want. Here, automation won’t work. Your chatbots need personalization. An ideal chatbot should be able to strike a balance between automation and personalization, as your e-commerce platform and the customers need both. 

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As a solution, your chatbots need to implement a hybrid support model where they can handle regular inquiries while effortlessly escalating complex problems to human support. Make sure to craft chatbots that can imitate human conversational tone and style. When the chatbot understands the empathy and emotions of your customers, it automatically offers a better user experience. 

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4. Performance tracking and improvement

If you have to improve user engagement and make them come back to your platform, it is crucial to keep track of the performance of the chatbot. With time, you develop your e-commerce business a lot and often forget to update the chatbot likewise. This leads to a failure to meet the expectations of your customers. 

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For more e-commerce platform improvement, tracking, monitoring and evaluating the performance of the chatbot is a must. What’s the best method for this? Simple. Rely on customer or user feedback. After all, you’re implementing the chatbot for user engagement. Further, you can use some analytical tools to measure the KPIs. 

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Future trends of e-commerce chatbot

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With the constant evolution of e-commerce chatbots, modern consumers are expecting more now. For this, several advanced chatbot technologies are coming up that enable smarter and more intuitive engagement. Let’s take a look at some of the future e-commerce chatbot trends that can redefine your e-commerce business and make it one in a million: 

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1. Voice-activated chatbots 

Nowadays, you can incorporate voice-activated e-commerce chatbots to offer your customers an intuitive and hands-free experience. This is sure to help all mobile users who are on the lookout for a solution that doesn’t hamper their accessibility. Here, the chatbot uses a speech recognition mechanism to interact with consumers. 

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2. Omnichannel integration

Modern customers want your brand to be present consistently across apps, websites and social media platforms. Here, you need to implement omnichannel technology in the chatbots that help customers with smooth support at all touchpoints. In a study by Harvard Business Review, researchers found that 73% of customers prefer using multiple channels in their shopping journey to have consistent communication.  

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3. Emotionally intelligent responses

Now, the task of an e-commerce chatbot is no longer restricted to offering functionality only. Instead, people are looking forward to emotionally intelligent responses by interpreting their sentiments and tone. By analyzing these sentiments, these chatbots can understand when a user is confused or happy and align their tone and language style accordingly.

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4. Hyper-personalization

The more specific recommendations your customers get, the happier they are. For this, e-commerce chatbots use hyper-personalization. This feature allows chatbots to track browsing history, real-time conversations, and behavioral patterns of customers and recommend products accordingly. This allows consumers to shop more and rely on your e-commerce brand. 

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Therefore, e-commerce chatbots have now evolved as a driving force behind today’s economy. These AI-integrated chatbots are no longer restricted only to automation. Now, they have gone far beyond that and help customers throughout their shopping journey. In a way, e-commerce chatbots are not just a luxurious addition to your business but a need that accelerates business growth and functionality. So, if you have to stay relevant in the e-commerce market and rule the industry, incorporate these AI-powered chatbots now and scale your business effortlessly.