THEROBOT-POWEREDINTERNETTheMagicofonline-to-offlineDOYOUHAVETOPASSATURINGTESTTOCREATEAMEANINGFULCONNECTION?

Imagineorderingfoodusingchatappsfromoneoftheclassierrestaurant.Howaboutusingamongoneofthepopularchatapps,scancodefromrestaurantsandnewconversationpop-upsintheApp,“WelcometotheABCKitchen!WhatcanIgetyou?Suggestedanswershoverovermykeyboards,andyoutap“OrderPizza.”Itwritesback:“PleasetypeyourPizzaorderbelow.”“TheClassicsliceandDietCoke,”you

type,droppingthepleasantriesyou’dusuallyusewithahumanserver:Minuteslaterawaitresscomesby,andinsteadofaskingwhatyouwantputsdownadelicioussliceofpizzaandatall,darkglassoffixandice.Isn’titfeellikethefirsttimeyoutappedabutton,andUbercarappearedafewminuteslater-themagicofwhatmanyinthetechindustrycallonline-to-offline,theabilityofphysicalorderservicesfromanapp.

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Exceptnowyoudon’tevenneedanewApp-youcanjustchatyourwaytoaricherlife.

Thegoldeneraofappsisalreadyover.AsperForbesarticlepublishedinFeb2016,Americanhavebeendownloadingzeroofthempermonthonaverage.Mostofushavealltheappsweneedandhavenarrowedourusedowntoafewmessagingandsocialnetworkingservices.So,insteadofwastingthousandsofdollarspushinganapponanunwillingpublic,B2B,B2CaretakingtheirbusinesstoservicessuchasKik,FacebookMessenger,andWhatAppthattheircustomerisalreadyusingtotext.

InChina,millionsofbusinessalreadytakepaymentsandadvertisethroughso-calledofficialaccountsonWeChat,orWeixinginMandarin,thecountry’sbiggestmessagingapp,with~650millionactivemonthlyusers.WeChatmayhavegrossedasmuchas$3.8billionlastyear,mostofitfromsellinggamesandvideosadsonofficialaccounts,buttranslationfeewilllikelytotakeupabiggerportionasmorebusinesssellgoodsandservicesthroughtheapp.MoreofficialaccountsarereportedlysetuponWeChateachdaythanontraditionalsiteontheWeb,Atestamenttoleaptowardsamobile-firstor,moreprecisely,amessengerfirstInternet.

Botswillplayasignificantroleinfuture

Botsareafancywaytodescribeautomatedmessages.TheyarealternativetoServiceagentsanddescendfromAI.Chatbotshavealreadybeenpoppingupeverywhere,fromApple’sSiritoMicrosoft’sCortanatoAmazonAlexa.FacebooklauncheddigitalassistantcalledMinAugust2015basedhumanagents+botthatlearnedfromhumanresponsesandmayactasashowcaseforwhatbusinesscoulddoonMessenger.Chatbotscould

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beasignificantreplacementtoGooglebecause“Googlegiveyoualltheseresults,butuserneedtoperformactions”

Benefitsofusingchatbotwithusecaseexample:

UnifiedCustomerexperience OrderyourfavoritefoodfromApporMessengerfromyourtable IntegratedCustomerservice

o Bookaflightfromonecitytoanother?Text“MON.DD,YEAR,City,Country”onthe“AirlineName”andyoucangetlistofoptionsyoucantapandpayfor

o Atavendingmachine,youcanscanQRcodewithappandpayformilkyVitasoydrinkwithPayPal

INSTANTCONTENTo DealsandPromotions

SEAMLESSCOMMERCEo Guidedandnaturallanguageprocessing(e.g.reorderfavoritesandpast

order) Quicklyandeasilyscaletootherchannels Easytodefinelogicononeandexpandonothers

Thehardpartishowsatisfiedcustomerwithbots.Butpeoplemaygrudginglyacceptbotastheyevolve,butitwilltakelotsofexperimentingtoseewhatworks.ThebotjuststartedtheirjourneywithScanthecode,paywiththumbprintandawaitressappearswithyourdrinks.Igrin-“I’mlike,controlling

theworldbychattingtoit?”“It’ssosimple;it’smagical.”

KeyPlayersinChat

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EachconversationchannelwillbeconnectingconsumerandbrandwithrightusageofAIandapplicationofusecasehelpinganddeliveringnextwaveof

innovationinROBOT-POWEREDINTERNET

Questionscompaniesshouldask

•IsChabotthenextfrontierofcustomerengagement?

•Whoontheirendisgoingtohandleallthischatting?

•Doesitmakesensetohiremorehumansortraintheircurrentcustomer

servicepeopleORusenewemergingoptions“Gowithrobots”?

• DoyouhavetopassaTuringtesttocreateameaningfulconnection?

• Doesbotgivetheedgeintheracetocreatetheworld’smobileoperatingsystem?

• Doyouwanttogetclosertousers/customers?

Footnotes

1. RobotpoweredinternetarticleandinterviewwithKikCEObyForbesinFeb2016

Author

NamanRaval

ManagementConsultant-Fortune500Businessconsultingcompany

Closeto10yearsofexperienceinSalesandCustomerimpactstrategy,Productdevelopment,ProductMarketing,GTM,CRM,Channelstrategy,offeringdevelopment