A recent report by Jupiter Research forecasts that chatbots (Chat Robots) will be responsible for cost savings of over $8 billon per annum by 2022 for the Banking and Healthcare sectors, up from $20 million last year. Chatbots are gaining popularity and many predict 2017 to be the year of chatbots.
The growing trend and need for companies to adopt chatbots for sales and customer support is in sync with what consumers are looking for. Here are some stats supporting the application of chatbots:
- In a recent survey by Ubisend, more than 50% of people surveyed said it is important for a business to be available, contactable and responding promptly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- 49% of the people surveyed said they would rather use a messaging application to communicate with a business than a phone call
- Website online chat is preferred over SMS. 80% consumers surveyed said they would utilize online chat over SMS
The outreach of smartphones and better internet connectivity along with the growing popularity of messaging apps will support the growth of chatbots. People now use 1:1 messaging apps more than they use social networks. eMarketer predicts that by 2019, 65% of the global population will use messaging apps.
How do chatbots work?
Not just large enterprises, chatbots would prove to be beneficial for small businesses as well. Chatbots will help small business owners as a tool for instant customer service, save time in handling repeat sales and customer queries, increased social media engagement and productivity. Are you interested in getting a customized chat for your business? Contact us for a need analysis and implementation support.