Praful Krishna, Chief Product Officer, Haptik

Praful comes with 20+ years of cross-functional experience in developing, digitizing, marketing, and investing in AI and NLP-driven products at startups and Fortune 500s. He was previously Founder & CEO at Coseer, a company helping data science teams in enterprises with intelligent process automation tools. Before entering the world of AI and Products, he was at a hedge fund and a consultant with McKinsey & Company. He is an alumnus of IIT Bombay and Harvard Business School and currently lives in San Francisco. His mission for Haptik is to drive the transition of businesses from web to the conversation economy, resulting in significantly improved customer experience. He is excited about building Haptik as the most compelling conversational AI platform of the 21st century, by enabling businesses to win lifelong customers.

 

Conversational Artificial Intelligence is a type of artificial intelligence that refers to computer programs/technologies like chatbots or virtual agents with which users can interact. These chatbots communicate with humans by recognizing their texts and speeches, understanding their intent, deciphering multiple languages, and finally responding smartly by mimicking human conversation. The journey of chatbots dates back to 1966 with the introduction of the first-ever chatbot ELIZA. The concept garnered immense popularity in the 1990s with the rise of new-age technologies like artificial intelligence. It is AI that allows chatbots to understand complex questions and respond accordingly. 

The prevalence of Conversational AI in today’s scenario

Conversational AI has spread across almost every sector and transformed how humans and machines interact with each other and perform tasks. Modern chatbots function outstandingly in a specialized manner as long as users revolve around specific topics. Conversational AI has also gained prominence in Conversational Commerce or Marketing.

What does Conversational Commerce stand for?

The Conversational Commerce market would exponentially grow from $4.8 billion in 2020 to $13.9 billion by 2025. In the real world, Conversational Commerce refers to all local neighborhood retail stores where shopkeepers greet customers, answer their queries, ask what they require, and accordingly recommend relevant products per their expectations. These retailers also guide customers on how to receive the best value on their merchandise, offer them attractive discounts & offers, and always request to revisit their stores. So, the experience of Conversational Commerce is immensely personal and affirmative, with abundant information.

Leveraging the potentiality of WhatsApp in India to receive an end-to-end shopping experience

Today, Conversational Commerce is incomplete without the most popular messaging and video calling app WhatsApp. According to a report by the Government, WhatsApp recorded 530 million subscribers in 2021. Simultaneously, the Indian online shoppers’ estimates put their number below 300 million. When retailers unleash the power of WhatsApp in Conversational Commerce, they can offer unparalleled engagement, a seamless customer experience, and an extended reach. As a powerful platform, WhatsApp enables big or small businesses to effectively reach their customers via its business APIs, Click-To-Converse ads, and other purpose-built features.

WhatsApp commerce has emerged as the growth engine of millions of small and large-scale businesses. It is strategically designed to help brands meet their customers’ expectations and deliver personalized and delightful shopping experiences to all their WhatsApp customers. WhatsApp chatbots have become an integral part of every brand’s digital transformation journey, as it offers unmatched ease and convenience to customers while shopping.

Voice Assistants- another critical retail channel in Conversational Commerce

Voice Commerce has gained phenomenal popularity in artificial intelligence technology with the ever-increasing demand for the adoption of smart speakers and contactless shopping experiences. As the present generation of users is highly inclined toward their smartphone’s voice assistants, retailers are steadily adopting the same. Such tremendous demand phenomenally supports the growth and development of Voice Assistants in e-commerce. Alongside Voice Assistants, a multilingual conversational AI solution has become the need of the hour in today’s fast-paced world. 

Unleashing the power of Multilingual Voice Interfaces

Multilingual chatbots are an extraordinary asset to businesses, as India is a linguistically diverse country. The nation majorly has non-English speakers outnumbering English language speakers. Companies can effortlessly solve customer queries and deliver a superior customer experience by leveraging multilingual chatbots. A multilingual conversational AI solution allows retailers to tap regional markets and create exceptional brand awareness among potential customers. Due to these factors, more brands are steadily deploying Conversational AI into their core operations.

Bottomline

Conversational Commerce does wonders for businesses by enabling them to reach, engage, and delight customers. On the way forward, several factors, including extended reach driven by language and form factors, cutting-edge technology, and exclusive venues like Metaverse, should drive unprecedented growth and success in the Conversational AI domain with a bright future. 

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