AI in eCommerce: The AI Chatbot That Sells Your Products

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ll have seen that almost every other post on social media is about ChatGPT. 

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This new tech phenomenon has created a hum of excitement in the digital world. To date, more than a million people have hopped onto OpenAI’s latest tool to test out what it’s actually capable of—and the answer to that is a lot. 

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Here’s everything you need to know, including how you can use AI to sell more products. 

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What’s the big deal with ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a conversational AI tool that uses advanced natural language processing capabilities to generate responses to questions like a human would. 

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You basically type a question (or a “prompt”) into a chatbox and within seconds the tool will respond with a pretty impressive response. It’s versatile too–people are using it to get recipe suggestions, write marketing emails, and get search engine results for product queries. 

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What ChatGPT can and can’t do 

ChatGPT has changed the way consumers think about AI. The idea that robots are going to take over the world is no longer a huge threat, as people can see how AI tools like ChatGPT can be incredibly helpful for many day-to-day activities. 

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If anything, it’s raising consumer expectations of brands. In one study, 58% of consumers said emerging technologies like chatbots are changing their expectations of companies–that is, they expect quick responses and round-the-clock customer service. With tools like ChatGPT firmly embedded in business processes, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that brands not tapping into emerging tech to create better customer experiences will lose out. 

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Ecommerce brands can use ChatGPT to generate product descriptions, get ideas for abandoned carts and out-of-stock emails, and even get inspiration for product suggestions. What they can’t do with ChatGPT is embed it onto their website to answer questions specifically about their brand. But there is another option. Rep makes it possible to incorporate the powerful capabilities of ChatGPT on your website (and more!). The best part is, it has been created specifically with ecommerce brands in mind. 

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Merchants can integrate the AI chat tool onto their website to work kind of like a brand-specific ChatGPT. It can answer customer questions, deliver post-purchase information, and suggest personalized product recommendations to keep shoppers on-site and interested. 

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Why ChatGPT and conversational AI are changing how ecommerce brands do business

Imagine having an AI tool that can work as your brand concierge. It can guide customers around your website, help them find products, recommend categories, answer product-related questions, and make sure they end up buying. All of this without you or your customer service team needing to be on standby 24/7. 

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An AI-powered chatbot is like the human equivalent of a retail sales associate but much smarter because it plugs into multiple data sources. Ecommerce brands can upload their entire catalog and customer purchase history to build personalized journeys for each and every shopper. And, because it’s installed on the website, it can also monitor shopper behavior to better understand buying habits and predict when customers are facing problems so it can address them immediately. 

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This one piece of technology can give ecommerce brands deeper insights and speed up their processes and provide better customer experiences at the same time. And, with consumers becoming increasingly confident using AI chat (and often even expecting it), it’s a no-brainer for brands to have an AI sales associate integrated into their website. 

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What AI chat can do for your brand 

While ChatGPT acts as more of a search engine crossed with a writing assistant, Rep’s AI chat is more of an automated customer service tool. It can answer questions in real-time, send shoppers to the right page, suggest relevant products and content, and even identify disengaged shoppers and target them with a special offer. 

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Here’s what Rep’s AI chat tool can do for you: 

• Guide customers to the right pages: Is a customer looking for a specific product? Maybe they want to read some reviews before they buy. Or perhaps they just want to know what your returns policy is. Whatever they need, Rep can send them straight to the right page. 
• Suggest relevant products: Set up conversational quizzes that help customers find the right product for them, or ask them a couple of questions about what they’re looking for before suggesting best-fit products and sending them straight to the product page. 
• Share post-purchase information: Keep existing customers loyal by remembering them when they return to your site and providing them with automated updates on their orders. 
• Offer discounts: Rep can identify disengaged shoppers and gain back their interest with a popup that promotes a discount or reminds them of the products they most recently looked at. 
• Answer pre-purchase product-related questions: Actively answer shopper questions in real-time to remove friction from the buying process.
• Understand customer behavior patterns: The AI technology learns from your visitors and gains insight into their preferred journeys, what products they enjoy, and their buying behavior. 

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Rep helps you maximize your existing traffic by creating personalized experiences for each shopper.

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The similarities between Rep and ChatGPT 

There are key differences between an AI chat tool like Rep and ChatGPT as we’ve mentioned here–ChatGPT isn’t brand specific and works more like a very intelligent search engine. However, there are some key similarities between the two which means that the million or so consumers who are comfortable using ChatGPT will be very comfortable using Rep (and, in many cases, will be looking out for it). 

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Real-time answers

ChatGPT response time is exceptionally quick–just like Rep. When a customer asks a question, Rep’s sales associate responds immediately with either a detailed answer or a suggested link where the shopper can go to find out more. 

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Directbed invites shoppers to ask questions which it answers in real-time. 

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Chat-style interface

Shoppers are very familiar with chatboxes on websites. ChatGPT uses a very common chat-style interface that shines a spotlight on the Q&A format. Rep is similar in that the chatbox is very familiar, but it can also be customized to fit your branding. Add your own colors, logo, and button options to create a unique brand experience. 

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Doe Beauty uses emojis to reinforce the chat-style nature of its AI sales associate and has customized the chatbox with its brand colors.  

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Input information 

ChatGPT provides answers based on the information that has been inputted into the system. This is exactly how Rep works–brands can add their product catalogs, product information, returns policy, and shipping information which can then be automatically served through the chatbot itself. 

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Ritual Zero Proof has inputted details about its subscription boxes and other services, along with its brand colors and visuals. 

Delight customers all the way to checkout with conversational AI

The sheer popularity of ChatGPT shows the huge potential this technology has–so much so, that consumers today are raising their expectations of brands because they know they can get instant answers to their questions. Integrating conversational AI on your website with Rep will provide contextual assistance for each individual shopper, creating unique experiences all the way through to the checkout. 

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‍See how Rep can change the way you do business.