VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS AND CHATBOTS IN RETAIL

Abstract

Today, virtual assistants and chatbots are playing a very important role in retail to boost the customer experience, reduce costs, and change the way of selling the products. The aim of this paper is to study the virtual assistants and chatbots for retail business in terms of feasibility, advantages, and drawbacks. Consumer services in the form of Virtual Assistants enabled with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) mechanisms enhance the support and selling propositions to consumers improving customer satisfaction and retention. They can be employed as virtual assistants in the retail websites as well as the messaging apps where they interact with customers, answer questions, offer updates on order status, and provide other services. Organizations should embrace and implement virtual assistants and chatbots as they drive down the operational costs of retail especially in the sectors of customer advocacy. However, there are concerns that need to be addressed including data security, accuracy of responses as well as compatibility with other systems. However, the future of virtual assistants and chatbots in retail seems rather bright due to the continuous improvements in the technologies used and the growing adoption of automated services by consumers. This paper concludes by discussing the future vision to explore, such as voice assistants and personal shopping which are likely to revolutionize the future of retail with a brand new level of efficiency and customer satisfaction.