NEW REPORT: Bots Inside Of Messaging Apps Target Customer Service, Not Sales

While it’s nice to be able to shop from the comfort of the couch, purchasing online can be rather confusing for some consumers. After all, there are no customer service associates they can turn to.

To ease the online shopping experience, retailers are increasingly turning to social media platforms to offer consistent support to their customers.

In the latest PYMNTS.com Omni Usage Report, a Vantiv collaboration, PYMNTS explores new technology, tools and solutions debuted by retailers and merchants designed to make shopping a little simpler.

Around the Omni Usage world

With consumers expected to shell out a striking $682 billion this holiday season, retailers are going the extra mile to meet them where they are in a simpler and faster way.

Toys R Us, for one, is looking to get some goodwill with customers with a new curbside pickup program. The company recently announced it would offer drive-up and curbside options for online orders at nearly 30 stores across the U.S.

And Toys R Us isn’t alone. Nordstrom recently announced that 10 of its store locations in California, Washington, Illinois, Texas and New York will allow customers to pick up their online purchases outside stores, without ever leaving the comfort of their cars.

Find more of the latest omnichannel news and trends inside the tracker.

Making customers support more social

Omnireadiness isn’t just about offering curbside pick-up, though. It’s also about helping customers along the length of their online shopping journeys.

That’s a thought that is crucial to making consumers’ shopping experience as seamless as possible, according to Nicolas Capuono, vice president of customer relationships at online lingerie seller Adore Me. The New York City-based company recently debuted a new help feature, powered by a hybrid-bot, that allows consumers to connect with the brand instantly and seamlessly over Facebook Messenger.

In a recent interview with PYMNTS, Capuono, explained how the integration provides Adore Me’s customers with a more efficient and seamless shopping experience.

“We decided to add the Facebook chat feature for two reasons,” Capuono explained. “One is that we wanted to meet our customer’s expectations and serve the demographics that shop with us, and those customers expect to be able to interact with us on social [platforms]. The second reason is the potential of integrating Facebook with not just customer support, but [also] other features as well.”

To download the December edition of the PYMNTS.com Omni Usage Report, a Vantiv collaboration, click the button below.

About The Tracker

The PYMNTS.com Omni Usage Report, a Vantiv collaboration, features industry-spanning research and insights that arm retailers with data to make smarter decisions for enabling omnichannel commerce.