8 Ways Chatbots are Changing eCommerce

We live in a magnificent moment of time when we can actually see changes coming to life and experience them on the go as they roll in. It is incredible how many and how much things change right now. Slowly but surely, little by little, these changes are transforming our lives, making it simpler, more focused on important things and less on superficial fluff.

Chatbots are crucial part of these transformations. It is fair to say that they are at the forefront of changes.

Over the course of a couple of years, the technology made a giant leap from a fancy toy to a sophisticated business tool that took over many of the functions that previously required a human touch and immense manpower. Not only they can talk, they can predict behavior, act preemptively and gather data. All of which improves and refines business operation in a way that seemed unthinkable just a decade ago.

How Chatbots Help to Evolve eCommerce

At the moment — chatbots are burgeoning business opportunity with seemingly limitless potential. And there is no market segment where it is more apparent than in eCommerce.

According to the recent stats — chatbots are extremely lucrative industry with overall consumer awareness of the subject growing exponentially. Last year approximately 47% of the customers were ready to buy products with help of chatbots. And there are no signs that this number will drop anytime soon.

It is easy to understand why. Machine learning revolutionized the business and opened up lots of opportunities. Chatbots are able to pull off a variety of activities that were otherwise overwhelming without a fuss.

According to the experts from The App Solutions - there are three major factors in the rise of the chatbots. First is their ability to take over repetitive task, second is the fact that they are available 24/7 and third is that they are able to seamlessly collect information from the customers.

One of the most evident changes is in the user experience. No more users have to be on the own looking for something in the sea of plenty. A simple automated consultant can sort everything out according to any request.

Another segment where influence of chatbots is growing is data gathering. Because of their conversation mimicking abilities, chatbots are good at letting the customer tell what they want in detail. That is an oasis of data for advertising campaigns and invaluable source of service feedback.

It makes sense to explain in detail how Chatbots are transforming the industry and what are the major benefits of using them in eCommerce.

Let’s break it down bit by bit.

1. Consistency & Availability

It is an obvious thing to note — chatbots are ready for action 24/7 no matter the time zone. That means — your business is blissfully lacking that mournful downtime when nothing particular happens.

All you need to do is to integrate chatbot into your service — adjust it according to set requirements and let it do its thing i.e. the talking. It can’t go any simpler than that.

Chatbots primary advantage over humans is very simple — they don’t have off-work time. They don’t need a break, they don’t need to take some rest — chatbots are perpetually running entities.

Chatbots also eliminate such things as response time. With chatbot intact — user can expect a response immediately and not when the consultant will get through the horde of other customers.

In terms of cost-effectiveness — it is extremely beneficial for the business. Chatbots operation takes the pressure off the personnel and allows them to do things allow to keep personnel lean and focused on important things.

However, it’s doesn’t come as easy. In order to make an effective chatbot, you need to perform extensive research. Not only you need refine verbal skill of the bot but you need to fill it with every possible scenario in every conceivable variation. It is also important to implement a seamless transition from chatbots to the human responder in certain cases.

If not — chatbot will do more harm than good and eventually will scare the customers elsewhere. But if done right — chatbots are making magic.

2. Omnichannel presence

Consumer experience is a multi-layered thing. It spans through digital and physical realms and it is critical to take advantage of every channel to the maximum extent. Seamless access to goods and services is something every business wants.

Chatbots cover the digital part without excessive overspending and with the pleasant user experience. However, it is easier said than done.

As it was already stated before — it takes a lot of user cases in order to make it tick-tick-tick. Such things as Interactive voice responses, mobile apps, social media outlets, in-site chats, and e-mail subscription can benefit from bot automation with a wide variety of responses written it.

This augments user experience and adds consistency to the mix. In turn, it increases overall consumer engagement.

3. Improved Customer Experience

Engaging customer experience is a must for any respectable eCommerce service. No two ways about it. Otherwise, why even bother? If you can’t make your customer come back to your service and spend more — chances are he’s doing it elsewhere without a second thought.

While chatbots are not the ultimate solution for well-mannered customer experience — it is definitely a viable option that substantially upgrades the whole thing.

Let’s take the simplest thing — customer can’t decide what kind of product he wants to buy. Chatbot can help — with a set of predetermined stats and little user input combined with a simple comparison of prices, characteristics or other information — bot can suggest something as close as possible to what the customer wants.

4. Reducing Operation Costs

It is well-known fact — expertise costs money. Back in the day — experts were drained dry and often wasted on mind-numbing repetitive bouts of answering to frequently asked questions again and again and again.

Not only it was inescapable and counterproductive in terms of human resources — it was extremely cost-ineffective. Even more so — such jobs weren’t exactly prestigious. However, with the ascension of chatbots — things have changed.

A couple of algorithms and library of responses make an army of zombie-like consultants obsolete. Chatbots can handle more requests, and they can do it with the same quality all the time. That thing makes them instantly cost-effective solution.

It doesn’t mean that consultants are completely gone — but their services are used more sparingly in particular cases beyond chatbots competence.

5. Lead Generation

Leads are bread and butter of any business. That is what you need all the time. Chatbots can help get some sweat-sweat leads.

The trick is on the bots but on the switching from the bots to actual humans who perform the heavy lifting. Here’s how it goes:

• Chatbots interact with the customer;
• Conversation provides an insight into consumers preferences;
• it can result in buying a certain product on its own;
• or it can lead to the switch where the human consultant will perform a corbomite maneuver upon customer and make an offer one can’t refuse.  

On the other hand — collected data can be used elsewhere — in the advertising campaign or simply in service subscriptions.

6. Automation of Repetitive Tasks

Repetitive tasks are the backbone of any business operation. It is something you have to deal with whether you like it or not. If not — everything falls apart and you go out of business reenacting Picard’s facepalm. Consistency of presence is something you want to have maintained no matter what. Hopefully, chatbots can help.

Think about such overly mundane things as:

• maintaining template conversation with consumers;
• recommending products;
• consulting on general subjects;
• doing stats-based round ups;
• reminding about something half-done or considered;
• making suggestions to do something.

All aforementioned can be easily relegated to bots. With a little help of predetermined scenarios — you can keep your personnel for more effective and engaging thing.

Not only this is cost-effective — it also boosts overall morale of the collective.

7. Consumer Analysis and Personalization

While chatbots are extremely effective in dealing with general demands of the customers — they are also valuable source of information for your business operation.

It is all very simple — every response customer leaves contains some kind of information. Certain aspects of speech, time of response, errs and typos, preferences — everything can be mined for information.

Combined it builds a portrait of the consumer with an assorted collection of patterns. This gives bot flexibility and widens its arsenal of reactions.

Coupled with cookies information and other ad tech assisted collected data — it helps to construct a certain information bubble around the customer and show him everything he might need according to the collected data.

In return, it can help you to refine and adjust the chatbots and eventually make the user experience even more effective.

Another benefit of collecting information is adjusting your service to the customer. Personalization is very effective in terms of building and solidifying the bond between user and the service. It is what makes them come back for more.

8. Gathering Customer Feedback

There is nothing more gratifying than customer feedback. While it seems to be a low-hanging fruit — it is actually a rather hard thing to collect in any sort of cohesive way.

The problem is well-known — people tend to talk trash or gibberish instead of providing real suggestions. But since it all can be automated — the results can be filtered automatically and you will only get the cream of the crop.

The upside of this is that you actually get an insight into user perception of your service and its problems and improve upon it. The downside is that it takes a lot of chatbots adjust to make him filter it right.

In conclusion

Chatbots are here to stay and it is evident that they will further improve their verbal skills which will make them even more effective at their job. However, it will also boost the competition in the market. That in turn will open even more opportunities for new solutions.

7 Reasons To Start A Web Development Business Right Now

Web development is the hottest commodity at the moment. Everybody wants some. The competition is all time high and the industry shows no signs of slowing down. Even more — it seems to be moving even faster — with more and more technologies emerging and more and more solutions coming for them.

Needless to say that the majority of web developers are using tried and tested templates without putting much thought. And for the most part — it is just fine. That is the nature of the business. You don’t need anything extraordinary — just barely good enough is the industry standard.

However, that is wrong mind frame to put yourself. Any web developer who has some dignity wants to make difference. That notion started such web development company as The App Solutions and many others.

And today is the right time to make your turn.

Here are seven main reasons to start your own web development business.

1. Web Development is in high demand

Digital domain is burgeoning with opportunities. Everyone needs a digital presence — a website, a couple of new fancy features here and there and also some odd coolio apps in adjunct.

The demand for web development companies is growing and there is more than enough opportunities to test your skills and show your bones.

High demand also means that you can cut your teeth extremely fast in a wide variety of projects. Gained experience in turn will translate into higher price tags on your side.

2. You can master it on your own

One of the most undeniable advantages of web development is that you can learn it on your own without attending university and getting a degree. It is all on the internet and takes a bit of effort to get through but once you have done it — it is only a matter of time, place and experience.

However, web development business is not limited to development skills and you will also need a couple of handy managers to keep it together. But that is also something you can deal with through all-mighty resources of internet.

3. Limitations are well-known

Web development is not something where you can clap your hands, close your eyes and invent bicycle all of a sudden from out of nowhere. It is built upon decades and decades of various developments and designed to make everything from existing blocks and strings. Basically you are playing with a variation of a LEGO set to a certain extent.

Because of that it is extremely easy to understand what you can and what you can’t do and thus it makes the case for more productive and what is more important cost-effective work.

4. Conceptual opportunities are endless

On the other side from technical limitations comes conceptual opportunities. You never know what will blow up the next day but you can definitely try something else.

Basically — the entire web development industry is built upon trying something completely different. Finding that something is important skill that is highly valuable on the market. It is a cornerstone of reputation.

Once you master it — be prepared for influx of job offers.

5. You don’t need headquarters

One of the biggest advantages brought by web development is that you don’t need to have your own office and full staff in order to adequately operate. You just need your desk with war machine and well-adjusted network of contacts tied in tight knot.

Because of that comes another advantage — you don’t have fixed nine-to-five work schedule. Instead, — you can work in whatever time window you feel right (of course all this should be talked through with the clients beforehand in order to avoid misunderstandings).

6. Production costs are low

In this day and age — it takes little to nothing to start your own company.

You need to register it, buy some equipment and then pay some taxes. Work stations and digital presence are probably the biggest initial expense but both are usually covered relatively quickly in the process.

Considering that you don’t need to maintain entire office and you don’t need to keep lots of spare parts just in case — there are not many production expenses. That means — you will almost immediately start to profit (especially if you are doing your job pretty well).

7. Competition is not ravenous

Another comforting reason not to be afraid to start is that competition in web development is not aggressive. There are enough job opportunities for everybody and then some. One man’s fail is another man’s possibility.

However, it doesn’t mean that if you fail you will be able to get offers as easily as others. But it means that you won’t be blacklisted for your shortcomings.

In Conclusion

As you can see — it takes little resources and whole lotta effort to start web development company. And since the latter depends solely on you — it is not that hard. Or is it?

5 Things You Need for a Successful E-Commerce Website

Of all types of business you can on the internet - eCommerce seems to be the weirdest. It is everchanging and yet its foundations stay the same. There is seemingly infinite number of ways to get through that boil down to general buzzwords. That makes getting into it look easy nothing thing. But it is not. Getting into eCommerce is extremely hard. Competition is big and merciless, and it won’t give you a chance to get even because you are only starting out. You need to fight your way through. Hopefully, there several ways that can help you to break into the eCommerce business without playing dirty. You may need web calculator for the numbers. Here’s a quick rundown of five things you need for a successful eCommerce website.

Introduce Yourself

The first impression is a critical part of perception. If you fail to get it right - you are going to have some troubles. You need to engage your customer from the very first screen. Let’s start with the logo - it is a critical element of user perception. It must serve as a reassuring symbol of good, excellent service. Is it visible? Is it catchy enough to be memorable? That is important. Also - it will be beneficial if you add some trust marks to your website. They serve as an endorsement and boost the credibility of the service. It helps on initial stages of operation. Since in order to operate correctly you buy licenses and make deals with various companies - for example, McAfee for security or PayPal for monetary transactions - it makes sense to add their logos to the site design.

Simple, effective design

User experience is the thing to be reckoned with all over the internet - not only in eCommerce segment. If the thing is hard to use or just too densely packed - expect no spikes of activity on your website. Good website design is a sign of respect for the user. You need to make every element of navigation easy to follow, and overall design scheme must be intuitive. Otherwise, the user will get lost and disinterested instead of buying something. The order form must be informative and straightforward. There are three essential elements that must be foolproof: login, shopping cart, and search. These features must be as simple to use as possible without being limiting. Everything about them must just click with the user. Place them together, make the operation easy to follow.

Giveaways

Giving away something for free or with substantial discounts is a way of engaging the audience. You can even apply some stunt marketing techniques if you amp the conceptual side of the affair. In order to pull this off, you need to know your audience and understand their needs. If done right - you are going to get an influx of activity on a website that will probably lead to some quality decisions. Usually, this works really well with banners and news flashes. Speaking of which…

News and popular lists

Maintaining the newsfeed that describes buzzworthy happenings or something new on the website is a critical part of keeping customers attention. Another essential element are the lists of the most popular product in specific segments. Believe it or not - that thing works miracles if done right. And it is relatively easy to do - you just need to check the stats and dance around them. You can also tell stories about and around popular products. Or you can merely inform that new, slightly improved version of something had arrived and available at discount.

Social Media Activity

Fun fact: about twenty percent of online purchases occur while surfing through social networks. Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest are most viable general sources of customers. It is easy to understand - when something pops up in the newsfeed - it incites curiosity. Because of that - it is reasonable to maintain social media presence. Social media are very effective when used as a newsflash for the hottest news and offers. However, keep in mind that overposting can result in decreasing activity on your website due to overexposure.

Conclusion

Doing eCommerce is fun and lucrative affair. It is a segment of business that rarely if ever gets stale. It is like quicksilver or music group The Fall, i.e. always different but kind of always the same. Nevertheless, there is some room for improvement and innovation and opportunities lurk at every corner.

How to find right Outsourcing Provider and not break into tears?

The market is unflinching and often merciless. At no point, it will ever give you a break just because. If you need something special - you will probably need to make it from the ground up no questions asked. Because no one is going to give it to you without return favors.

However, it doesn’t mean that you are always on your own and there is no one to watch your back. It doesn’t work that way. There are many helping hands out there ready for action.

Here are several things to take into consideration while looking for an outsourcing company.

Price tag

The approximate bottom line is probably one of the first and certainly most important thing you are looking for while considering the company for the job. After all - you want the project to be cost-effective. A web calculator is always a pleasure but think twice before offering something.

There is no such thing is low prices in software development. That is a costly thing and there is a reason for that. You pay for an expertise, you buy people’s time and services.

If the price is too low - that might mean one of the two things. Either the company in consideration are a bunch of goof chasing an easy buck in exchange for a piece of garbage. Or this company really doesn’t like paying dues to its workers. Either way - avoid such companies at all cost.

Portfolio

Another important choice factor is companies portfolio. It is one of the most effective ways of considering the expertise of the company. Because it is their storefront - it is what the company is proud.

The portfolio is always a trip down a value lane. It shows what company considers worth mentioning.

But don’t take this front at face value. Look at the way it is delivered.

The way things are described is telling. It might be engaging, filled with lively detail or it may be perfunctory meh-inducing been there done that. Look closely at which details are accentuated and which are diminished - that is a giveaway of companies actual capabilities in the field.

Documentation

If you moved on with the company - you need to keep the documentation straight. You need to sign an official contract that will clearly determine the deadlines, responsibilities of each party and the manner of cooperation. Every step of the way must be documented through and trough.

While it may seem a bit paranoid - it might help in case of trouble.

Work Plan / Pay schedule

Another important thing is working out The Plan. You need to know exactly when happens what and what it adds to the table. That thing should be discussed and never violated. That is the secret of the successful outsourced project.

For example, if you are working with the agile approach - you need to define when MVP will be ready for presentation and then define deadlines for new features or new iterations of the product.

Then comes pay schedule. That is a sacred thing for any employer and there should be no funny things in. The payment schedule is usually organized according to working plan. The model of payment is usually connected with the overall progress of the project. Basically - you pay for what you get.

Conclusion

Outsourcing is always a viable solution in cases when you need something more than usual package of some service. Something tailor-made for your business.

However, one must keep in mind that software development is a tough business. There is lots of stuff going on. The competition is rough and merciless. You either make it or break it. That fact makes companies a bit hard and stiff. Such is the reality and you have to deal with it. And that means you have to be cautious or you are going to get busted.

Keeping in mind said things will save you from much headache.

Five things you need to know before outsourcing the project

Modern world is all about being open and thinking outside the box. That is why outsourcing became a thing and proved to be a viable solution in cases when company needs something specific for their business operation. It is a reasonable way of doing things. After all — you can’t be an expert in everything and keep everything in-house all the time just in case — it is simply overbearing and rather devastating for the budget.

Instead of hanging out for no reason — outsourcing provides solution for the problem when it turns up. Because of that outsourcing is very cost-effective and helps to gain additional insights into your own operations. The biggest gain is of course expertise which is in many cases superior in comparison with in-house common handymen.

However, it is not that simple and there are many forks in the road that can seriously derail your plans and damage your credibility.

Here are five things you need to consider upon choosing the outsourcing company.

1. Prices are not what they seem

One of the biggest factors in choosing one company for outsourcing over another is the price of work. Evaluation of the project and subsequent price estimation are very important stages. Each piece must be thoroughly checked ten times in order to be as precise as possible. The price is easy to calculate with a little help of web calculator. And that is where things get complicated.

Price rates are very obvious thing to consider — you don’t want to pay more than you have to. You want to pay just right price. And you want quality results. And there are companies who can offer seeming the same thing for significantly lower price. But don’t step into this trap. Some companies tend to state lower price rates in order to stay in competition without offering anything substantial.

In order to avoid misfortunes of hiring unqualified but cheap outsourcing team you need to be cautious on the evaluation stage. Ask question about every aspect of the project — be sure that the team knows how to do it. As a precaution measure — you can ask your colleagues for advice whether they know anything about the company or specific personalities.

2. Company’s portfolio is telling

Next important factor in choosing to outsource team is checking out company’s portfolio. For some it may seem completely optional — it is actually very important from several points of view.

First of all, portfolio is a showcase of the company’s achievements — their legacy. It is what the company is proud of. The selection of the projects shows the values of the company and tells what they consider to be important.

Then it is style of presentation. Look closely at the way projects are described — is it engaging or completely perfunctory? Which elements are accentuated and which are diminished or ignored all-together? Close look at portfolio can tell you if the company in consideration are is the real deal.  

3. The Devil is in the details

When the company is chosen and everything is set — next step is getting the documents straight. Any kind of business relationship must be secured on paper and / or e-mail. That is legal document — it must be embodied in some way. In fact — it is reasonable to document the entire affair step by step just in case. If something goes wrong — you will have a back-up to see when and why.

Documents help to synchronize every side of the project. Their primary purpose is to solidify responsibilities and establish the ownership of the finished product and its components. It is foundation of relationship.

Documentation serves as a declaration of a basic rules of the interaction and general course of action. Project may evolve over time, budget may change — but documents state general intentions and responsibilities.

4. Perils of Work Plan & Payment Schedule

Secret of any successful outsourced project lies in carefully planned working process. Every inch of the way must be thought-over and considered. Think of the project as a timed puzzle. Each element needs to be in the right place in the right time. If not - it all crumbles and you feel really sad.

If the project is developed with agile approach — then you need to define what will constitute the MVP and when exactly it must be ready for presentation. After that planning is organized according to team capabilities with an intention to boost their efficiency to maximum effect. Team must know what is expected so that they can sort it out the most effective way.

Payment schedule is organized according to work plan. There are sections of work. They are gradually prepared, presented and subsequently accepted. The mechanism of payment must be intact with the overall progress of the project.

5. What’s up after the end?

After the project is completed and accepted you need to secure issue of maintenance. Usually this thing is discussed and agreed upon beforehand. But over the course of the project things may change — so it is better to talk it through again after the project is done.

Amount and time of support, its price rate is very important thing. Not only it helps to keep the product afloat and intact — it is window of opportunity to improve and refine certain elements of the product.

In conclusion

Outsourcing is a smart way of doing business. It allows you to focus on the essential parts of your operation without bleeding out resources for stand-by precautions. This approach opens a lot of possibilities in refining and upgrading your business strategy as any interaction leads to new ideas and opportunities.

Three most important things in website design

Designing websites seem to be no big deal for some. You just need to cobble together a couple of pages with certain kinds of information, slap designation insignia in the corner, add web calculator, kiss it on the cheek, take it online and move on with an exquisite feeling of impeccable accomplishment.

Right? Hold on, boyo! It is not that simple.

In fact, it is the farthest thing from simple because you can’t just make a website on a whim — you need to make a website that will engage users and will make them want to come back and interact more. Otherwise, — why even bother?

Making effective website design is a hard thing to pull off. You never know what works and what not. It is always try and fail.

While the majority of rules are completely informal and absolutely optional — there is a reason why they exist. Most of those rules are simply tried and tested solutions based on experience — and there is no reason not to use them for your own benefit.

Here are three most important things to remember while designing a website.

Useful content

While that is probably the most obvious thing in the world — there are no two ways about it. Making useful content is your top priority. You need to deliver the goods to users. That takes an effort but it is totally worth a sweat and even a tear.

That works in your favor in a couple of ways.

First — you build a reputation as a valuable source of information. Through well-written content, you can show your expertise and competence in the area of interest. That will lead to a steady build-up of the audience.

Second — good content opens up business opportunities. If your company is providing services or making products — that can be a gateway for customers to come in and cooperate.

Cleanness of design

Let’s imagine a scenario. You enter a website. And there are hordes of things jumping out at you all at the same time. And also lots of splashes, flashes, slashes and eye floaters running wild. You have no idea what is going on and where you can go outside the page of entrance.

Chances are you might feel a little bit lost, greatly perplexed and arguably incredibly annoyed. Because of that you will probably leave that website and will avoid it in the future. That is bad and you should not allow this to happen on your website.

Keep in mind all the time — overstuffed pages kill site dead. Not only it scares the users and potential customers — it is also rather unpleasant from an aesthetic point of you.

There is no reason in pulling off tour de force — you need a website that will provide valuable information for its users in a convenient manner. That means — keep it simple and functional. Users don’t need to guess what button does what — it must come intuitively.

Multi-platform format

In this day and age — the computer is not an only option for web surfing. There are smartphones, tablets, hybrids, etc, etc. However, not everyone adapts their sites to different platforms.

The result might not be as critical as previously mentioned overstuffedness — but it makes the case of needlessly inappropriate format for the platform.

It is important to make appropriate versions of the website for each platform for sake of convenience and respect for the user experience. Page layout is dependable on the size of the screen so it is important to put the most important elements without breaking the balance.

Summing up

There are many more elements of website design but these are the most important — you can’t succeed without them. Simply by following them you are doing half the work and avoid lots of unfortunate things that can occur otherwise.