Conversational AI in E-Commerce Boosts Sales and ROI: A Case Study

The world of online shopping is here to stay. With retail and e-commerce so intricately connected, 2021 saw global e-commerce sales reach $4.2 trillion, and 2022 predictions are to surpass $5.5 trillion. This already growing trend to switch to online shopping was propelled forward when COVID-19 hit.

This has brought about new challenges for the e-commerce industry where it now sees a large shift in consumer behavior, namely a decline in customer loyalty, over 70 percent cart abandonment, and a more competitive market. To combat these challenges, it's imperative that companies stay relevant and digitally competitive. New technologies have emerged that are intended to match competitors and convert traditional brick-and-mortar stores to online sellers.

The well-known story goes: you land on a website in search of something, and when you don't find what you're looking for, you drop off. Shopping online is two-sided, consumer and retailer — this is where the company must adapt and provide equal, if not superior, tools to prevent these scenarios from occurring.

This is where artificial intelligence (AI) technology and the e-commerce industry intersect. Through conversational voice AI chatbots and virtual assistants, customers receive a level of service and support that match interactions with associates at brick-and-mortar stores. These autonomous interactions create relationships that are built on self-learning scenarios that become personalized and provide better CX, in turn keeping consumers on your site.

Conversational AI can boost e-commerce sales by 67 percent, with increased engagement and support. Exceptional customer service increases consumers' brand loyalty and trust by 38 percent.

The proof is in the pudding. A recent case study demonstrated just how critical transitioning brick-and-mortar's high level of personalized service is in the digital sphere.

Case Study: They New York

They New York, a modern, luxury design and manufacturing footwear brand, saw in-store sales booming. Having a salesperson readily available to help customers share the company’s unique, sibling-founded story and build connections with consumers was key to the brand's success. When They New York went online, its customer conversion rate dramatically dropped.

In its efforts to overcome this challenge, They New York turned to an on-site AI-powered sales assistant, Rep. Providing high-quality customer engagement with an AI solution that learns from customer behavior over time leads to tailored, personalized customer experiences. Utilizing conversational AI provides consumers with readily available answers to questions, suggests other products to fit customers’ interests, and resolves concerns, ultimately building trust and engagement to complete the purchase cycle.

They New York saw a dramatic improvement in its e-commerce CX, with an increased conversion rate of 3.2X that matched its brick-and-mortar stores in online sales. With over 50 percent of all transactions on They New York’s site being from an interaction with the AI sales assistant, the company experienced 14X return on investment.

They New York is one of the thousands of retail companies that have seen the direct benefits of incorporating conversational AI into their e-commerce operations. With 85 percent of online interactions being handled by virtual assistants, the time has come to make this a mainstream customer experience.

Yoav Oz is the co-founder and CEO of Rep, a conversational AI platform.