You know what it’s like buying white goods online, you want a condensing tumble dryer and you don’t want to constantly be emptying the water bottle so need one that has a hose and can be plumbed into a drain…. constantly scrolling to the product descriptions where it may or may not be specified, or scanning images to check if you can spot a hose is a waste of time and queries like this are always immensely frustrating to consumers… so why not provide an AI chatbot that knows the answers and can ease the shopping journey?
That’s exactly what Cdiscount have been working towards, as they launched a new generative AI chatbot, which started answering questions initially on domestic appliances with the plan to expand to additional categories in the future.
Aiming for consumers to get their questions answered in natural language, they are aiming for the experience to be as close to human performance as possible and indicate that satisfaction with their new chatbot is three times better than previous iterations.
Using solutions from iAdvize, the AI was unleashed on Cdiscount’s catalogue of products and aims to be able to advise on product selection with answers all in the tone consumers have come to expect from Cdiscount. Intended to answer even advanced product queries, the chatbot has the capability of transferring the conversation to a human when needed. This will be generally when the AI doesn’t have an answer and is expected to enable customer service agents to focus on higher value added sales.
First results, reported by La Revue Du Digital, are that 40% of conversations have been completely handled by the AI chatbot and satisfaction rates or 70% have been achieved.
Having first launched their AI Chatbot in April and after two months of testing, in June it was launched in additional categories including TVs, Laptops and Garden Furniture. TVs buying is always a source of annoyance, as I have cabling buried beneath the plaster to the wall mount…. but that means I only want a TV with a figure of 8 cable – It doesn’t matter how great the ultra HD is or what Internet connections it has if I can’t plug it in, but rooting though images and specifications rarely say if a TV uses a figure of 8, cloverleaf, or kettle plug style cable. Hopefully Cdiscount’s chatbot will know the answer!
With ongoing concerns by regulators, likely to start legislation on the use and development of AI, Cdiscount’s AI chatbot is hosted in Europe and fully GDPR compliant.
