The rise of new business apps called chatbots

Technology is flexing its muscles more than it ever has. Case in point; Domino’s Pizza has a chatbot named Dom that ensures that your order is fulfilled. All you have to do is post a pizza emoji to Domino’s Facebook Messenger. Like Domino’s most businesses are now ditching apps for bots to handle customer service requests.

What are chatbots?

In short, chat bots are chatting robots. They are a fundamental form of artificial intelligence software that chats with consumers and answers all their questions in a life like manner. Bots are designed to sift through a reservoir of company data to retrieve an answer when queries are made. Chat bots are also designed to respond in a matter of minutes, which increases efficiency greatly.  In cases where in depth answers are required, chat bots can also direct a query to an expert.

Real life examples

Spring, which is a mobile first eCommerce, launched its first Spring boat which serves as a personal shopping concierge to clientele on Facebook’s Messenger app.  Spring bot first asks customers about their preferences and styles and then creates a variety of options that they can choose from. The bot selects all accessories including shoes and bags.

Types of chatbots

There are mainly two types of Chatbots currently in the market:

1. Chatbots created based on set rules- these bots have limited brain power and only responds to specific commands that are programmed into them.
2. Chatbots created based on machine learning- These varieties are powered by artificial intelligence and are designed to comprehend language and commands seamlessly.

As the Chatbot continues to respond to people’s queries, it becomes more intelligent, which means that the user experience improves with each customer.

Examples of chatbot possibilities include:

• Weather bot: provides weather updates to people whenever needed
• Grocery bot: allows you to pick and order a variety of groceries
• News bot: Posts breaking news as they occur
• Life advice bot: This bot allows people to share their problems and issues and helps them come up with solutions
• Personal finance bot: Helps with personal money management
• Scheduling bot: makes the process of schedule meetings easy

Benefits of Chatbots

• Enables direct communication and allows direct transactions without third party interference.
• No download or account creation needed; all you have to do is search for a bot on a messenger app and start chatting.
• They can be shared easily on messaging apps and any social media platform including WhatsApp.