AI Chatbots vs Humans – Who Provides Good Customer Support?

Good customer service in your e-commerce store will fetch you loyal customers and boost revenue organically. E-commerce owners often get confused when choosing between human agents and AI chatbots to provide customer service.

The battle between humans and chatbots is ongoing and you will always fluctuate between these two. This article will help you decide which is the best for providing good customer service in e-commerce stores.

Customer Service in the E-commerce Industry

By 2023, chatbots are expected to save 5 billion hours, says Juniper Research.

Customer service chatbots are outpacing human support and enhancing customer satisfaction in e-commerce. When talking about customer service issues, chatbots can resolve them as quickly as possible.

Despite all these advantages, if you are reluctant to add chatbots to your website because of mechanical response, you should know the difference between artificial intelligence-powered chatbots and rule-based chatbots.

Rule-based chatbots in e-commerce stores only work with predefined rules and answer the most frequently asked questions. Hence, you may not always resolve your customers’ questions appropriately. This is why we recommend online business owners add an AI chatbot to their e-commerce stores.

What is an AI Chatbot?

An AI-powered chatbot is computer software that has advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and sentiment analysis to replicate human interaction.

You can make automated decisions by predicting customer behavior with AI bots.

What is Human Customer Service in E-commerce?

If you use a live chat on your e-commerce website or have a phone number to call, you will have human agents behind them to resolve customer questions.

Human agents in live chat software don’t provide automated responses as they will answer questions based on customers’ questions. Live chat is the best example of human customer service in the e-commerce industry.

Advantages of Human Customer Service in E-commerce

Customer service agents in a physical store will greet shoppers and guide them to their preferences. Human customer service in an online store will also replicate the same methods just online and not in person. In online stores, you will witness live chat agents greeting your online shoppers and asking about their preferences, and giving recommendations.

Now it’s important to note the major advantages of live chat agents.

1. Empathetic Responses

Human agents can analyze the customers’ frustration about a process in your e-commerce store and address product issues.

Live chat agents are not repetitive in their responses and will wait for customers to summarize their issues. If a customer is extremely unhappy with a product, human agents will provide empathetic answers and appropriate solutions. 

2. Appropriate Answers

Human agents almost always provide appropriate responses to customers’ questions. When customers are facing issues in an e-commerce store, human agents will guide them to the right place and resolve their issues.

Human agents also solve more complex questions without much difficulty.

3. Personal Touch

Human agents provide a personal touch to the conversation. When online shoppers talk with the human agents in e-commerce, they will feel like they are conversing with customer service representatives in a physical store.

A personal touch in business is significant to generate more loyal customers and better brand perception. Hence, live chat agents are a good choice to grow your business.

4. Predict Shopping Scenarios

Customer service representatives in an e-commerce store will have several experiences about how to resolve customer questions. They will predict shopping scenarios by analyzing customer behavior.

With this experience and expertise, online shoppers will have a seamless customer service experience with representatives.

5. Reduce Repetitive Responses

When you have a live chat on your e-commerce website, you can reduce the repetitive responses to questions.

For instance, Live chat won’t work with machine intelligence. Human interactions on e-commerce websites will instantly build a good relationship with online shoppers. One of the many benefits of having live chat agents on the e-commerce website is that they will not only resolve the problems but will also analyze the details effectively.

Advantages of AI Chatbots in E-commerce

Now that you know the advantages of live chat agents, you must now know the benefits of AI customer service chatbots and their expertise. As AI chatbots replicate human behavior, it is best to see how advanced technologies achieve this result and how best they will help grow your online store.

1. 24/7 Availability

Human agents via live chat are not available 24/7 unless you have a very large customer support team. On the other hand, AI chatbots will respond to your customers despite what time the issue arises.

When your customers visit your website, they will not leave if your chatbot responds immediately. AI chatbots do that efficiently in the e-commerce store. The availability and accessibility will help enhance customer interactions.

2. AI-Personal Touch

Artificial intelligence technology will not give mechanical responses to customers like rule-based chatbots. Hence, AI’s personal touch is similar to that of human agents.

Artificial intelligence technology is a blend of human skills and machine intelligence. Machine learning capabilities will analyze customer conversation data and provide personalized service in e-commerce stores.

3. Emotional Attributes

AI chatbots with sentiment analysis technology have emotional attributes and empathize with customers’ requests, and can give emotional responses similar to live agents.

AI chatbots will replicate human emotions with sentiment analysis technology. If your customers are frustrated with products, the shipping process, or other issues they expect empathy in the response from the chatbot.

4. Multiple Requests

When comparing AI chatbots with live chat, you can resolve several questions immediately with AI-powered chatbots all at the same time.

AI technology will not provide repetitive answers to multiple customers’ questions. When customers ask complicated questions, AI-powered chatbots can tackle them. Online business owners need not worry about leaving a customer without answering their questions if they implement an AI chatbot.

5. Cost-Effectiveness

Imagine hiring multiple human agents for your e-commerce store to solve support requests. The challenges of hiring human agents to provide customer service are extensive. Online business owners will have to train them and keep tabs on their performance to enhance effective communication with shoppers.

Whereas implementing one AI chatbot on the e-commerce store is cost-effective. Online business owners can reduce incoming support tickets and the costs associated with running a large customer support team.

6. Consistency in Response

AI chatbots are not only available 24/7, but they are also consistent in responding to customers.

When a customer asks a question about a particular product, chatbots will direct them to the appropriate page and consistently respond to questions about products. AI bot-driven automation is consistent and clear. Hence, customer-facing bots with AI technology will not disappoint your online shoppers in both consistency and availability.

7. Human-in-the-Loop (HITL)

Human-in-the-Loop technology in AI bots will ensure the chatbot learns the correct things and does not go “off the rails” learning incorrect or inappropriate things

Humans behind chatbots will train, test, and tune the algorithm. Hence, you will not find machine errors in AI chatbots with HITL technology.

Summing Up

The ultimate aim of an e-commerce store owner is not only to convert more website visitors into buyers but also to engage them in an effective way.

Engaging customers will help you retain existing customers and develop brand loyalty organically. AI chatbots and Live chat will provide excellent customer support. Nevertheless, if you compare both software, the AI chatbots win the race and generate more revenue and more Return on Investment (ROI).

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can chatbots replace humans in customer service?

Chatbots cannot entirely replace human agents in customer service but rather augment the whole support team. To avoid machine errors, you should always have human-in-the-loop technology behind them.

2. Why do people like chatbots?

People prefer chatbots because they are instant in their responses and enhance customer experience by doing multiple tasks such as tracking orders and shipping details.

3. What is machine learning technology behind AI chatbots?

Machine learning technology behind AI chatbots learns from previous customer conversations and identifies patterns.