The Gist:
- ChatGPT is transforming commerce. With its rise in popularity, AI tools like ChatGPT are being integrated into the CX industry.
- AI will lead to savvy shoppers. Advancements in AI technology will produce a new generation of smart shoppers looking for the best deal.
- Consumers will expect more. As chatbots become more developed, consumers will have higher expectations when it comes to their shopping experience for AI-powered customer engagement.
ChatGPT is dominating the business headlines these days — and for good reason. This powerful technology has the potential to revolutionize the way that organizations work and deliver customer experiences. Although much attention has been paid to how businesses will leverage ChatGPT as a competitive advantage, there has been less focus on how consumers might utilize the technology.
Let's take a look at AI-powered customer engagement and the potential for a more empowered consumer base.
Big changes may be headed our way — with the rapid advancements in AI capabilities, we may see a tsunami of consumer empowerment on the horizon.
AI-Powered Customer Engagement for the People
ChatGPT has shown us that massive consumer adoption of sophisticated AI technology is possible. While it’s still new, ChatGPT has demonstrated unprecedented levels of user growth, even in comparison to the world’s most popular apps.
Clearly this generative AI model has piqued people’s interest; it’s easy to take for granted how noisy and congested a modern consumer’s life can be. It takes a concentrated effort to make sense of all the information around us, and ChatGPT provides a pretty convenient solution for this conundrum. Within this context, perhaps the rapid levels of adoption shouldn’t be all that surprising.
A February 2023 survey of American consumers found that a whopping 47% of respondents tried ChatGPT for fun or learning purposes. Millennials were more likely to use it for work or business, while 37% of Gen Zers said that they could see themselves using it for fun. A GWI Zeitgeist survey, also from February 2023, found that 68% of ChatGPT users would consistently choose it over a search engine to answer questions. With Microsoft’s recent announcement of a ChatGPT integration with Bing, just imagine how that might empower consumers.
Recommended Article: Can Tools Like ChatGPT Help Personalize Marketing Strategies?
A New Wave of AI-Informed Shoppers Is on the Way
Unleashing the power of technology like ChatGPT will undoubtedly yield an army of super-savvy shoppers. Equipped with the ability to price-compare products in seconds, conduct detailed research on products and synthesize massive volumes of peer-reviews with the push of a button, what will brands be left to compete on? There may be increasing pressure on differentiation through experiences once consumers have made their purchase decisions, and as a result, there will be little or no margin for error when it comes to delivering on brand promises.
The proliferation of smartphones, the boom of social media and popularity of online commerce all gave rise to the "Age of the Customer" in the late 2000s. We’re about to see an amplification of the same factors, thanks to ChatGPT. The access to AI-powered customer engagement tools will put even more power in the hands of consumers, so brands had better be ready.
Related Article: How AI Can Help You Connect With Customers and Increase Engagement
Consumers Will Have Their Own Bots
There are implications for consumer empowerment beyond just the realm of access to information and data synthesis. Generative AI technology has the potential to amp up the sophistication of conversational AI tools, such as voice-activated assistants.
Imagine a world where Amazon Alexa or Siri could do more than just place an order, tell you the weather or point you to a web page. What if these services could help you select a new investment product, apply for driver’s license renewal or cancel a gym membership? It’s commonplace for consumers to engage with an organization’s bots when completing these tasks, but what if they could send their own highly conversational bots to act on their behalf?
Businesses should be asking themselves if their bots are ready to play nice with other bots, and what the implications, benefits and risks might be.
Expectations Will Rise and Patience Will Wane
As consumers become accustomed to engaging with more sophisticated and conversant AI, the chatbots of yesterday will seem like dinosaurs. According to a Capterra 2023 Retail Chatbots survey, 25% of shoppers feel understood by current chatbot technology. With that number in mind, just imagine what will happen when more sophisticated bots that can not only understand needs, but respond accurately and comprehensively.
It’s likely that consumers will start expecting more accurate information from all sources, chatbots and otherwise. They’ll expect clear, dynamic and honest engagement from companies — and they’ll want this instantly. Brands will need to assess if all of their digital channels, as well as agents and staff, are ready to live up to these expectations.
Generative AI technology has the power to revolutionize how brands interface with consumers. It’s easy to get excited about the various marketing techniques, CX and operational teams can use large language models (LLM) AI models like ChatGPT to improve experiences and change the way they work, but amid this, leaders should not take their eye off of consumer engagement with this technology.
It’s quite possible that the biggest impact from this AI-powered customer engagement technology will manifest itself as a massive wave of consumer empowerment, rather than simply a competitive edge for companies.
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