TOPICS: Chatbot for Ecommerce    Chatbot Trends   

Chatbot for ecommerce - Strengthening Ecommerce Platforms Shipping and Delivery using Bots

Given the benefits of chatbots for ecommerce, the growing demand for chatbots is hardly surprising.

If you’re in the process of starting up or expanding an ecommerce business, you probably don’t need to be told about the importance of a well-oiled shipping and delivery system. Sure, your customers want an up-to-date product inventory, frequent discounts, and a high standard of customer support from your site. But in the end, it is the efficiency and transparency of your order fulfillment process that gets you returning customers.



In other words, your buyers want to receive their orders on time, and know exactly where their parcels are at a given point in time. But can’t you offer that the old-fashioned way? Do you really need to add an ecommerce shipping and delivery chatbot to your website?

Well, let’s find out.

Chatbots improving on-demand order tracking:

Let’s first look at the typical sequence of steps that occur after a customer has placed an order on your website. The customer receives an order ID, and an approximate date by which they’ll receive their parcel. Once their parcel ships out, they’ll also receive a tracking number with which to locate it.

Some ecommerce businesses handle shipping and delivery themselves, but if you’re operating on a national or international level, it often makes more sense to engage a logistics service provider to take care of it for you. But what does this mean for your customer?

It means that in order to track their parcel, they now need to visit the logistics service provider’s website. They need to enter their custom tracking ID into the relevant window every time they want to check how far their parcel has reached. Most customers don’t get automatic updates about the whereabouts of their parcels until they’ve arrived at their nearest logistics hub and are out for delivery.
It’s a process that has plenty of room for improvement.

Let’s imagine now that your website already has online chatbots that answer customer support queries and offer product research and purchase assistance. And now, let’s add shipping and delivery updates to the job description of these AI bots. What that means is your customers don’t need to go anywhere else to know the whereabouts of their orders. They can get any updates that they need right through the online chat window on your site.

This is already a more streamlined situation, but let’s take it a step further. Let’s imagine that the customer doesn’t even need to key in an order tracking ID. Instead, your chatbot automatically pulls out that information when your customer is logged in, and offers them the option to check their order shipment status at any hour of the day.

Essentially, when you create a chatbot for ecommerce shipping and delivery updates, you’re taking a big step towards making your website’s user experience more intuitive. Your customers know that all they need to do to find out about their order, is ask your chatbot, “Where has my parcel reached?”

The best chatbots for ecommerce shipping and delivery will also be able to connect your customers to your logistics service provider for any custom assistance or complaints about a parcel. For example, the customer can instantly receive the contact details of the delivery person and get in touch with them to reschedule the delivery or ask for an update.

Ecommerce shipping and delivery chatbots for logistics service providers:

Prominent courier companies that handle shipping for ecommerce platforms have already started using online chatbots on their websites and messenger apps. These AI bots expand the level of customer service they could originally offer, by allowing users to access a wide range of shipping-related options.

Users can create accounts with them, and track their parcels at any hour of the day. All from the convenience of a simple chat window. And this no longer remains exclusive to ecommerce shipping and delivery. Building chatbots for logistics service providers also makes it possible for users to check how far their mail or holiday gift package has reached. Without going through the hassle of retrieving and typing in a random string of numbers and letters whenever they need an update.

Ecommerce shipping and delivery chatbots add a whole new level of convenience to the typical online shopping workflow. For more information or questions on chatbot development for shipping and delivery, get in touch with us.