What is a Chatbot?

Users interact with a Chatbot via a chat or messaging interface, imitating a conversation. After a series of questions and responses, users should arrive at an answer or product. Chatbots have moved on from their beginnings as a text-based response tree to now include elements of Artificial Intelligence such as Natural Language Processing. The most common use for Chatbots is for customer service. The Chatbot can answer the simpler customer queries, leaving the complex answers to the ‘living’ employees.

So Chatbots might be a good substitution for human customer service, but are they the next big thing for eCommerce sites? Chatbots can provide an intelligent interaction, but do shoppers really want to have an interaction when they know what they’re looking for?

Not a substitute for Good Search

Chatbots can provide a novel user experience, but when it comes to customers who are searching for a specific product or service, Chatbots cannot be a substitute for good search. A Chatbot is only as smart as the engine behind it.

Take the example of a customer looking for a leather sofa. Using a Chatbot, the customer may have to navigate through a series of questions to narrow down their search. They might select ‘Living Room Products’, followed by ‘Sofas’ and then be presented with a list of attributes, such as brand or size. Eventually, the customer may be presented with the option to select a fabric, where they can choose a ‘leather’ sofa. A Chatbot is typically pre-programmed with the order in which it will ask the questions and a customer may have to answer four or five questions before the most important question is asked. Compare this scenario to a great search system, where the customer can ask for a ‘brown leather sofa under $1000’ using the search box and see exactly the right products.

Chatbot vs Site Search

We thought we’d give eCommerce giant eBay a chance to wow us with their Chatbot capabilities before it stopped taking orders on September 6, 2018. We compared the same search with its regular site search results.

A query using the eBay ShopBot for ‘1967 Corvette Seats’ initially brought back the following responses:

It was necessary to click on one of the options regarding placement before results were presented. The first result shows seat covers rather than seats and the subsequent products available to view by clicking through the carousel were seat parts or tools, and not actual seats either.

The ShopBot then required a typed response to ascertain the desired price range. No clickable answers to save time, just the messaging entry field:

Once a price range was identified, the first result is indeed Corvette seat foam. Subsequent products in the carousel are seat brackets or assembly items.

The ShopBot then asked a seemingly relevant question about which type of seat was required.  On selecting ‘driver seat’, one result is returned, of a seat base for a 1993 – 2013 Corvette:

We think we can see why the ShopBot has had relatively little take up compared to the eBay mobile App. Contrast the Chatbot experience to that of using the regular site search:

Although the first result is a seat belt, the following results are 1967 Corvette seats, as requested, and the site search also provides the customer with a choice of products.

Even though the Ebay Shopbot appeared clever, it was still quite painful compared with simply running a search. If a shopper knows what products they are looking for, their choice is to either spend 2 to 5 minutes taking part in a question and answer session or to simply use intuitive search. Do shoppers want to have a chat with a computer or find the right products the first time they ask?

As Chatbots become more intelligent with advances in Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning, it would be easy to assume that they are a cure-all, but let’s not underestimate the necessity of great search. A Search Box query combined with intuitive Natural Language search technology will speed up a customer’s route to checkout. Instead of customers spending time interacting with a Chatbot, intelligent Search creates a faster track to a product or service, and therefore improves conversion rates.

Do you want EasyAsk’s advice? Don’t rush to deploy something that will bring down your conversion.

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BURLINGTON, MA and LOS ANGELES, CA—November 1, 2011 – EasyAsk, the industry leading provider of natural language e-commerce search and merchandising solutions, today announced a partnership with Magento, the fastest growing e-commerce platform in the world, to integrate EasyAsk’s best-in-class natural language eCommerce search, navigation and merchandising platform with Magento, bringing the solution to Magento merchants around the globe. The integrated solution makes it faster and easier for Magento Enterprise and Community customers to power their sites with EasyAsk’s enterprise-class natural language search and merchandising to increase conversion rates, deliver the best shopping experience and grow their e-commerce revenue.

“Converting visitors into buyers is a significant priority to our customers regardless of size or sector,” said Phil Robinson, Vice President of Business Development at Magento. “The EasyAsk search and merchandising solution uses natural language technology to provide an enterprise-class solution that is affordable and easy to use by any size customer. Now, any of our merchants can take advantage of EasyAsk to increase their conversion rates and grow their eCommerce revenue.”

The EasyAsk eCommerce search and merchandising software – available on-premise or as a service (SaaS) – is a comprehensive, full-featured solution that uses natural language technology to offer superior capabilities, including:

• Intuitive natural language search that allows customers to enter highly descriptive search phrases – “men’s blue polo shirts under $50” – and find the exact products they seek in a single click
• Powerful automatic features such as relaxation, spell correction and more, virtually eliminating the “no results” page creating a better shopping experience and drastically reducing lost visitors due to search
• Integrated faceted navigation powered by natural language attributes that make it faster and easier for shoppers to navigate to products they like and speeding conversion
• Easy to use merchandising tools which allow non-technical users to create powerful promotions with cross-sell and up-sell offers driven by natural language rules
• Advanced analytics that identify trends in shopping behavior, brand experience and more, providing pinpoint advice to merchandising teams to better tune the shopping experience

EasyAsk eCommerce Edition has helped customers achieve industry-leading conversion rates that dramatically increase their e-commerce revenues.

The EasyAsk Magento Extension integrates EasyAsk search, navigation and merchandising with the Magento eCommerce platform for fast, easy implementation and delivers a seamless customer experience for site visitors.  The Extension and the easy to use EasyAsk tools allow customers to implement EasyAsk natural language search and merchandising in days versus the weeks or months required by other third party search platforms, for faster return on investment.

“We are pleased to partner with Magento to create an innovative eCommerce solution that combines to deliver the best customer conversion rates in the industry,” said Craig Bassin, CEO of EasyAsk.  “Blending EasyAsk’s natural language technology with the state of the art eCommerce functionality of Magento allows customers of any size to offer a superior shopping experience that will fuel their eCommerce growth.  We are truly delivering the benefits promised by IBM/Watson to all of our EasyAsk eCommerce customers and doing it today.”

IJHANA, a leading e-commerce consulting firm and Magento partner implemented the combined Magento and EasyAsk solution for a large tool retailer with a catalog of over 5,000 items.  “The e-commerce catalog was characterized by complex descriptions and terminology requiring a search product that intuitively knew what the visitor was looking for,” said Kevin Calloway, Managing Partner, IJHANA.  “The EasyAsk natural language solution was easy to implement and dramatically expanded the search and navigation capabilities, helping the site convert customers faster.”

About Magento
Magento (https://www.magentocommerce.com/) is a feature-rich, open-source, enterprise-class eCommerce solution that offers merchants a high degree of flexibility and control over the user experience, catalog, content, and functionality of their online store. In August 2011, Magento was acquired by eBay Inc., and is now part of the X.commerce division (www.x.com). Launched in 2007, the Magento platform now serves tens of thousands of merchants worldwide, and is supported by a global community of solution partners and third-party developers. Magento Go is a hosted, software-as-a-service solution that provides small and growing merchants with the ecommerce tools they need to succeed online. Based in Los Angeles, Magento, Inc. is a fast-paced, entrepreneurial organization dedicated to the mission of enabling the eCommerce ecosystem. www.magentocommerce.com  

About EasyAsk
EasyAsk is radically changing the speed and ease of how people find information through the company’s ground-breaking natural language search software.  EasyAsk software products go far beyond traditional search, allowing users to simply ask questions in plain English and receive highly tuned results on demand.  The EasyAsk eCommerce Edition uses this unique technology to deliver an industry leading website search, navigation and merchandising solutions that boosts online revenue through increased conversion rates, better customer experience and agile merchandising.  EasyAsk Business Edition revolutionizes enterprise decision-making, moving beyond traditional business intelligence solutions with easy, low-cost deployment and a unique natural language interface that extends access to information anywhere in the organization.

Based in Burlington, Massachusetts, EasyAsk has long been a leader in natural language information analysis and delivery software. Customers such as Coldwater Creek, Lands End, Lillian Vernon, Aramark, TruValue, Siemens, Hartford Hospital, Ceridian, JoAnn Fabrics and Harbor Freight Tools rely on the EasyAsk software products to run their business and e-commerce operations daily.  For more information, please visit EasyAsk.

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