This is a guest post by Jay Wolcott, CEO and co-founder of Knowbl.

Statistics show that 81 percent of US consumers shopped online in 2022, but as any business person can tell you, shopping and buying are very different. When it comes to buying, in-store shopping is still much more popular than the online alternative, with recent stats revealing that only 21 percent of global sales happen online.

Why aren’t more people buying online? Experts say it has everything to do with the customer experience. Online shoppers are looking for online interactions that are seamless, convenient, and efficient — and businesses are not hitting the mark.

The problem with online customer experience

In many cases, customers visit a brand’s website because they heard about a product, got interested, and came to learn more. Then they get stuck.

The early phases of the customer journey are about discovery and consideration. This is when customers get to know a product and get excited about it. During these phases, customers need information that clearly reveals how the product can meet their needs.

On most websites, getting that information is not convenient or efficient. Navigation menus give way too many options, cluttering the customer interface and adding confusion to the discovery process. In 74 percent of cases, shoppers are engaging via a mobile device, which makes a bad customer interface even worse.

Where chatbots are available — which is the case nearly half the time — the experience improves, but only slightly. Chatbots, especially those that are AI-driven and leverage natural language processing, make it easier to get information. The problem is they don’t always have information that is helpful to the consumer.

How BrandGPT fixes the customer experience problem

BrandGPT is an emerging platform that has the potential to fix the customer experience problem. BrandGPT empowers chatbots to engage with site visitors, assess their questions, and provide them with intelligent feedback by using language-learning models to create amazing conversational experiences, without any risk inherent in generative AI such as ChatGPT.

BrandGPT empowers virtual assistants that can provide clarity to consumers about the brand’s unique offerings and benefits. Rather than being trained on a vast ocean of information, it focuses on brand-specific knowledge. The brand’s internal knowledge base provides the critical information customers need in a seamless, convenient, and efficient interface.

AI-powered chatbots significantly improve the customer experience. They are an always-on addition to a brand’s customer support team that can carry on conversations with multiple visitors at once. They are always learning and gaining new insights from each customer exchange.

However, AI-powered chatbots, like the generative AI engines they are built upon, can make mistakes. AI’s tendency to creatively fill the gaps in its learning with information that is not factual nor helpful — a practice that has come to be known as AI hallucinations — can cause problems for AI-driven customer service.

BrandGPT minimizes the risk of AI hallucination. It is trained on content prepared by the brand to educate its potential customers, which means there are far fewer gaps in its understanding. Chatbots built upon BrandGPT are also more “fixable” than conventional AI-based chatbots. When problems are detected, BrandGPT can more easily be retooled to ensure it has the knowledge it needs to effectively guide consumers.

Embracing the shift to shopper self-service

Self-service is the new normal in the world of online shopping. Customers want to be able to engage with brands and get information without the help of a human representative.

Most brands are not doing this well. Statistics show that 85 percent of consumers are not happy with the self-service brands are providing via their websites. Consumers say they are either not finding the information they need or the brand is making it too difficult to get to the information. The convenience and efficiency shoppers look for in the consumer experience are not being provided.

BrandGPT stands out as the option that can remedy the customer experience problem. It gives consumers an ever-present, ever-ready interface — deployable on any channel — armed with all the relevant brand information needed. From product consideration to conversion and beyond, BrandGPT provides businesses with the tools they need to effectively guide consumers through the complete customer journey.

This is a guest post by Jay Wolcott, CEO and co-founder of Knowbl.

About Jay

Jay Wolcott, the CEO and co-founder of Knowbl, is an innovative entrepreneur and global business executive with deep expertise in customer-facing operations and using artificial intelligence, machine learning, and digital engagement. With a proven track record, he launched Digital Roots in 2009, a SaaS company providing advanced social media engagement and insights. Digital Roots achieved multinational success, recognized by Inc. 5000 and esteemed publications. Knowbl is a specialized provider of advanced conversational AI solutions that is leading the way in Conversational AI, data management solutions, and enhancing the customer experience. Their expertise in customer journey optimization, machine learning, and artificial intelligence drives their comprehensive solution, seamlessly integrating existing data sources and eliminating the need for manual data entry.

Image credit: Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash