The Increasing Popularity of Chatbot Technology
The use of chatbots has seen significant growth over the last few years. Businesses in a wide range of industries are using them to save money while also providing better service to their customers. In many cases, they are even helping brands to attract more customers.
The global chatbot market was $1072.4 million in 2018 and it is expected to grow by a CAGR of 27.9% from 2019-2027. With so much growth in the last few years and impressive growth being expected for the future, let’s take a look at a few of the trends that are contributing to the expansion of this market.
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Increased Adoption
An increasing number of businesses are using chatbots to better serve their customers. Customer service is one of the most common ways in which this technology is used, but businesses are moving to use chatbots for an even greater range of tasks. In addition to customer service, chatbots are helping people place orders, find the products they need, check the details of their bank account, and more.
A Shift Toward Voice
Right now, most chatbot interactions are facilitated through typing and text. However, voice technologies are getting better and many of these chatbot features are starting to leverage this advantage. As the technology becomes more capable, the shift toward voice is going to be inevitable. With a voice chatbot, it provides consumers with an easier and more natural way to interact with the program. The businesses that take advantage of this will be able to provide a much better customer experience than those that do not.
Messaging Apps
Chatbots are also moving to messaging platforms. Instead of having to integrate a chatbot in with an app or website, businesses can now build chatbots that work in messaging apps like Facebook Messenger. In fact, advertising on Facebook is becoming a lot more engaging and efficient through the utilization of chatbot technology. Not only are chatbots more accessible, but they also provide businesses with more opportunities to start conversations with customers.
Data Collection
Chatbots can be an important source of customer data. With so many customer interactions happening a day, a chatbot can collect data on customer interactions, and this data can then be used to improve products and services in a number of ways.
Human-Like Behavior
With every year, using a chatbot is going to become more like interacting with a real human. The ability to accept commands and questions through voice and to respond with voice feedback is one way chatbots will become more like humans, but there is more. Chatbots are going to get more conversational, and this will provide a better simulation of talking to another person.
Voice Assistants
According to Juniper Research, there will be more than 8 billion voice assistants in use by the year 2023. As a result, digital voice assistants will start to take over many of the tasks that would have been handled with an app. With a voice assistant like Amazon’s Alexa, consumers can access a wide range of services all in one platform and the voice interface will make it much more convenient.
More chatbots are coming online every day and this trend is expected to hold for the foreseeable future. As the technology develops, chatbots are only going to become more capable and more convenient. With improvements surely on the way, it is only going to drive adoption of the technology more and continue the growth of this market.
