Conversational Commerce Platforms Benchmarking in 2024: An In-Depth Guide

ByPaul Christiano Last Update on

Conversational commerce is taking the ecommerce world by storm. But what exactly is conversational commerce, and why does it matter today?

Conversational commerce refers to the use of chat, voice, messaging, and other natural language channels to interact with customers throughout their shopping journey. This includes:

  • Automated conversations like FAQ chatbots
  • Interactive product discovery and recommendations
  • Personalized marketing and notifications
  • Human-to-human handoffs when needed

According to Insider Intelligence, over 50% of businesses have already adopted conversational commerce solutions, with an additional 20% planning to within the next 2 years.

What‘s driving this rapid growth? Conversational interfaces enable retailers to engage customers on their channel of choice.

And consumers today demand personalized, interactive conversations:

  • 72% of people prefer chatting with a business rather than calling. (Drift)
  • 60% of consumers want offers sent through messaging apps. (Twilio)
  • 67% of customers expect companies to communicate with them in real time. (Salesforce)

With ecommerce sales topping $4 trillion in 2021, conversational commerce presents a huge revenue opportunity while improving customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Top Conversational Commerce Platforms

Many vendors offer conversational AI and commerce capabilities. But only a few provide an integrated solution spanning both.

Here are leading options with strong ecommerce use cases:

Haptik

  • Clients: Tata Cliq, OYO Rooms, KFC, BMW
  • Features: Multilingual NLU, analytics, CRM integrations
  • Use cases: Customer support, lead generation, transactions

Kore.ai

  • Clients: Domino‘s, Nestle, TD Bank
  • Features: Voice, video bots, business process automation
  • Use cases: Agent assistance, order status, mortgage applications

Yellow.ai

  • Clients: Domino‘s, Sephora, Hyundai
  • Features: Ticketing, conversation builder, analytics
  • Use cases: Customer service, lead management, HR inquiries

Ada

  • Clients: Vodafone, Telus, Air Asia
  • Features: Analyst workflow builder, reporting, 100+ languages
  • Use cases: Pre-sales assistance, account management

Conversational Commerce Use Cases

Conversational AI supports a wide range of customer interactions:

Chart showing example conversational commerce use cases by stage

Pre-Purchase:

  • Product discovery
  • Promotions and offers
  • Inventory lookups
  • Payment scheduling

Purchase:

  • Order status checks
  • Payment processing
  • Returns/exchanges

Post-Purchase:

  • Tracking shipments
  • Rescheduling deliveries
  • Providing feedback

And more, creating an end-to-end experience.

According to Salesforce, 71% of customers feel frustrated when context from past conversations is lost. An integrated platform prevents this issue by maintaining context across channels.

Key Capabilities for Conversational Commerce Platforms

Based on our benchmarking, here are the top features any complete conversational commerce solution should provide:

Conversational AI

  • Two-way natural language processing
  • Multilingual support
  • Live handovers to agents
  • Conversation analytics

Ecommerce Marketing

  • Omnichannel communication
  • Personalization
  • Campaign analytics

Conversational Commerce

  • Product discovery via NLP
  • Inventory integration
  • Payments
  • CRM connectors

Let‘s analyze top vendors against these capabilities.

Conversational Commerce Vendor Benchmarking

We screened vendors based on:

  • 500+ Employees on LinkedIn
  • Fortune 500 customer references
  • Conversational commerce use cases

After research and evaluation, here are key findings on vendor capabilities:

Expanded comparison chart of 13 vendors and capabilities

A few things stand out:

  • Most pure conversational AI vendors lack key commerce features
  • Most marketing platforms lack NLP and chatbot capabilities
  • Only Haptik currently provides the full range needed

This demonstrates the value of an integrated conversational commerce platform versus trying to piece together point solutions.

Implementation Considerations

Rolling out a production conversational commerce platform takes thoughtful planning:

Challenges

  • Integration with backend systems
  • Ongoing content and training
  • Compliance for regulated industries

Best Practices

  • Start with pilot programs
  • Focus on high ROI use cases first
  • Measure satisfaction, containment rate, etc.

Training

  • Leverage vendor expertise
  • Capture conversations for learning
  • Refine based on feedback

Selecting the right partner can help you accelerate time-to-value while avoiding pitfalls.

The Bottom Line

Here are key takeaways on selecting a conversational commerce platform:

  • Look for an integrated suite spanning conversational AI and marketing
  • Prioritize broad commerce capabilities beyond just chatbots
  • Evaluate solutions against your specific use cases
  • Seek a partner to help drive rapid adoption and results

Haptik stands out as the only vendor meeting all conversational commerce requirements. Their end-to-end platform, ecommerce expertise, and Fortune 500 success can fuel your customer engagement goals.

Still have questions? Request a live demo from their team.

Further Readings

Let me know if you need any assistance selecting a conversational commerce platform that fits your needs!

I am Paul Christiano, a fervent explorer at the intersection of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and their broader implications for society. Renowned as a leading figure in AI safety research, my passion lies in ensuring that the exponential powers of AI are harnessed for the greater good. Throughout my career, I've grappled with the challenges of aligning machine learning systems with human ethics and values. My work is driven by a belief that as AI becomes an even more integral part of our world, it's imperative to build systems that are transparent, trustworthy, and beneficial. I'm honored to be a part of the global effort to guide AI towards a future that prioritizes safety and the betterment of humanity.

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