One of the UK鈥檚 top online retailers has embraced artificial intelligence as it seeks to satisfy its customers and reduce the volume of calls into its contact centre.
Very.co.uk, part of the Shop Direct Group, revealed the UK鈥檚 first customer service聽AI when it introduced the Very Assistant Chatbot.
The tech, part of IBM鈥檚 Watson, has now left the beta stage and, thanks to machine learning, is improving all the time.
鈥淰ery Assistant is designed to have a friendly and helpful personality,鈥� Sally-Anne Newson, director of customer experience and digital product at Shop Direct, told 老九品茶Cloud.
鈥淚t uses natural language and has a tone of voice in keeping with our brand without being over the top, as we recognise some of the answers provided are more serious in nature.鈥�
Allowing customers to receive answers to queries in a WhatsApp-style chat environment, it can be used to track an order, make a payment on their Very.co.uk account, confirm that recent payments have been processed, check their payment dates and request a reminder of their account number.
It proved especially useful during the busy Christmas trading period, helping to reduce the volume of calls into its contact centre by 30 per cent.
鈥淰ery Assistant has improved overall customer satisfaction, which was our key driver,鈥� said Newson. 鈥淲e know customers want problems solved in their channel of choice and on first contact.
鈥淚f we can鈥檛 solve their problem through the chatbot, we immediately put them in contact with a human to ensure first time resolution.
鈥淭he top questions answered by Very Assistant during our peak trading period related to payments and order tracking.鈥�
Very.co.uk saw revenues jump almost nine per cent at the end of last year after harnessing the power of artificial intelligence.
IBM has announced agreements with organisations across more than 15 industries to help them transform customer service with AI, giving them distinct 鈥榲irtual agents鈥�. Its Watson Assistant is being showcased at THINK 2019.
As for how the tech will develop in future, Newson said: 鈥淥ur immediate focus is on setting ourselves up for any technology advancements or trends we see our customers engaging with.
鈥淚t will be interesting to see if voice technology changes how customers engage with retailers in the medium term.
鈥淰oice tech would enable customers to ask about their account balances or next payment date.
鈥淭hese are the kind of non-visual but important reminders our customers want, and voice tech could be perfect for in terms of convenience.
鈥淲e will continue experimenting with new technologies, whether in chatbot form or related to other parts of the digital experience.鈥�