Conversational commerce combines human messaging with sales and ecommerce. Implementing it on your website could lead to a major increase in conversions.

If you’ve been looking at ways to drive sales and increase conversions on your website then you’ve probably come across conversational commerce. 

Conversational commerce is ecommerce driven by conversation. It’s where messaging and conversation services meet sales and ecommerce practices. 

Conversational strategies are becoming increasingly more mainstream. Chatbots, voice search, and live chat facilities all make conversation a key part of the online journey, but how can you utilize them to increase conversions?

Conversational Commerce in 2021…and Beyond

We know that ecommerce isn’t going anywhere. More people than ever are turning to the internet to do their shopping. In 2020 alone, online sales grew by 25%. With everything just a click away, it’s not hard to see why. 

Couple this with the fact that conversation-based smart technology is on the rise and conversational commerce becomes a strategy that businesses can’t afford to ignore. 

Conversational commerce is getting more and more popular and is only predicted to grow.

Smart speakers are becoming a popular mainstay in many homes while search engines are constantly improving their capabilities at understanding voice searches. 

Conversational commerce is built on artificial intelligence that enables online consumers and brands to connect.

There are various stages of the consumer journey that fall under conversational commerce. 

Seeking product advice via live chat, asking your smart speaker to add something to your shopping basket, or using chatbots to recommend products. They’re all conversational. 

Conversational Commerce: How to Implement 

So how can you implement conversational commerce to help increase your conversions? Read on to find out…

Live Chat 

Live chat boxes have become just as important a website feature as a menu and URL. 

Live chats allow customers to talk directly to a member of your team to help them resolve their queries and problems.

The great thing about live chat boxes is that customers don’t have to sit around and wait for a reply like they would with contact forms and emails.

Live chat allows a natural and functional conversation to occur. Often customers won’t remember every question or issue they have in the first instance, only coming up against a problem as they progress through their journey on your website.

The user satisfaction rating of live chats is not to be underestimated.

If they’re filling out a form this means a lot of back and forth and waiting times. With live chat, however, the conversation will progress naturally and at speed, allowing users to get answers to their questions as they think of them in real-time.

Speaking to a real person also helps customers to trust your brand. It gives your company a sense of authenticity and reliability, highlighting that real people are working behind the scenes. 

These all work together to help improve the customer experience that you offer, which in turn will make users much more likely to convert into paying (and returning) customers. Just one reply from a live chat can increase the chance of a conversion by 50%.

Implementing a live chat feature on your website is simple and cost-efficient. Most website builders have a live chat feature ready to install on your website and the service tends to cost considerably less than running telephone support services. 

Voice Assistants and Voice Search

Voice assistants and voice search are everywhere. Users can make a voice search on their smartphones, tablets, using smart speakers, or even via their smartwatch. The ability to search is more accessible than ever before.

Smart speakers will use the featured answer snippet box from search results to answer your question. Not only do they provide you with information but they can also add things to your shopping cart on your command.

65% of 25-49 year olds speak to their smart devices at least once every day.

According to Bing, 52% of those who use a smart speaker are doing so to search for a product or service while 30% use it to compare product prices. 

58% of users use voice search to help them find a local business, therefore, ensuring your website is optimized for both local SEO and key voice search terms is essential if you want to utilize the popularity of voice search to help increase your conversions.

AI Chatbots

Chatbots are robots that use artificial intelligence to answer customers’ queries. They use a mixture of historic patterns and predetermined guidelines to create an experience that mimics human conversation.

While chatbots are a great way of answering customer questions and offering instant customer support without needing an extensive human team, they can also offer you something else.

77% of company executives have already invested in chatbot technology. 

More and more brands are using chatbots as a way of helping customers to find the right products for them. A user will land on a website and be met with the option to tell a chatbot what their needs are. 

The chatbot will then direct them to specific products or categories, removing the need for customers to independently browse multiple product pages to find what they’re looking for.

While chatbots can help users to navigate your website, if they aren’t pre-programmed effectively then they can struggle to answer unique and in-depth customer queries. 

Customers don’t want to feel like they’re talking to a robot (even if they are) meaning sometimes a live chat feature can be more beneficial for fulfilling your customer service requirements.

Conversational Commerce Can Transform Your Conversion Rate 

Conversational commerce isn’t just about keeping up with how your customers are browsing, although that is a crucial part of any business. 

No, it’s about offering customers a personalized experience. It’s this personalization that can transform your conversion rate. 

Conversational commerce should enhance your customers’ experience on your website. It offers them a whole host of benefits, but it has a few for you too..

Direct conversation with your audience – In an oversaturated market, brands need to offer support to their customers. It’s no longer enough to have a faceless telephone number with limited opening hours as your point of contact.

Users want to be able to talk directly with you at any time of the day. The internet doesn’t sleep and nor should your customer support channels. If a user can’t find the help and support they need to make a purchase, they’ll take their custom somewhere else.

Having a direct line of communication with your customers not only helps you to provide them with a great user experience but also offers you invaluable insight into the preferences, needs and, desires of your audience.

Cost and time effective

A chatbot can handle considerably more customer queries than its human alternative. 

Not only is their capacity much greater, but chatbots can also run 24/7, there’s no need to schedule breaks or staff shift changes. Your chatbot will never ring in sick. 

They also allow you to free up an extensive amount of time and resources for your human workforce, allowing them to focus on other areas of the business. 

Lead generation

Conversational commerce doesn’t just have to be about making direct sales and increasing your conversions. 

Sometimes, it can be about generating leads that could convert in the future, even if they don’t right now.

If your chatbots or live chat team can offer a memorable and effective level of customer service, customers will remember and be more likely to return. 

Not only this but you can use your chats to help collect customer data, allowing you to re-target them again in the future.

Final Thoughts on Conversational Commerce

Conversational commerce is proving to be a big deal in the online world. 

Smart speakers and voice search may have once upon a time been seen as a futuristic fad but they have now become part of everyday life. 

Brands therefore can’t afford to not implement conversational commerce across their website. 

Whether it’s optimizing for voice and local search queries, adding a live chat feature, or using chatbots to offer personalized product recommendations, conversational commerce is pretty easy to get started with but can have a major impact on your conversions.