Chatbots were introduced in the middle of the 20th century. Alan Turing was the main “culprit” behind them as he was the guy who asked whether machines can win a game called the “Imitation Game”. He wrote about this topic in his seminal paper “Computing Machinery and Intelligence”.
They’ve gone a long way from reproducing conversations to become personal assistants, provide customer support, suggest products, etc. A big contribution in this has been the artificial intelligence which helps chatbots get millions of uses.
In this article, we are going to introduce five brands who started using chatbots after noticing the potential they have.
- TJ Maxx: TJ Maxx is one of the giants in the retailing industry and is one of the companies that definitely knows how to get the full potential out of its chatbot. There are many ways in which it helps finding deals that match your preference or finding adequate shopping solutions, just to name a few. It’s most successful campaign was the holiday season in 2016 which not only boosted it’s revenue, but improved the brand as well.
- Starbucks: The next huge brand on this list is Starbucks, the famous coffee company. With the introduction of its chatbot, it made buying your favorite drink really easy and, above all, interesting. Coffee can be ordered by a text or voice message, and the best part is that you get feedback from the bot with the cost and when the drink is going to be ready.
- Spotify: A music, podcast, and video streaming company which exists for almost a decade, uses its bot on Facebook Messenger and makes it easier for the customers to search for, listen to, and send songs to their friends. The most interesting feature that this chatbot has is the ability to recommend a playlist depending on your mood, what you are up to, and select any genre you like.
- Sephora: One of the biggest cosmetics companies in the world with almost 300 brands, Sephora, is another company which uses the help of chatbots to advertise its products. Whether by providing makeup tutorials or getting product reviews and ratings, its chatbot is really helpful and is doing the job that is meant for.
- Mastercard: Since Mastercard launched its chatbot, billions of dollars worth of online sales were provided through its digital assistants. It is really helpful for banks and merchants as they can use the chatbots to conduct conversations with their customers. Customers can also check their online transactions and see how much money they’ve spent in a certain period.
There are many facts that show that chatbots have become an important factor in reducing costs and time. In 2017 the banking and healthcare systems saved a total of $0.019 million dollars and that sum is going to rise to 8 billion dollars in 2022.
With 80% of businesses willing to start using chatbots by 2020, it is more than evident that the huge rise of chatbots is only going to continue, as they are really taking over almost every industry in these modern times. Take a look at the infographic below to see interesting facts about chatbots that you probably didn’t know.
Infographic source: Chatbots gone wild
