the robot powered internet
TRANSCRIPT
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.
2
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
3
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
4
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