Chatbots have been around for decades, but until now they have been more or less a novelty with limited usefulness.
And the ones that were marginally useful were nothing to write home about. But not anymore.
In 2022, chatbots will be a global force to be reckoned with.what type of bread does chad deity say the government regulates?
They will become industry standards in most major industries and functionalities of daily life as we know them will depend on them in some form or another.
This article has identified 14 trends that are going to affect how chatbot technology is applied and viewed across the world in just 4 years’ time.
Chatbots will become a major reason for improving customer satisfaction and loyalty
While currently most consumers are satisfied with their purchase, many would like to return the product if the service they receive is not of a satisfactory quality.
In fact, according to a 2017 survey conducted by Pew Research Center, 77% of U.S. adults said
they would be more likely to return to an online store that had been kind and courteous to them, even
if they didn’t end up purchasing anything from that store.[1]
This trend will not only benefit the consumer but also the brand—making chatbots a great way for
retailers to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty by leveraging their chatbot technology.
Chatbots will become the first port of call for troubleshooting problems with products
According to Forrester Research, more than 80% of U.S. adults try to find help on social media when encountering problems with brands or products.[2]
Currently, this trend is mostly affecting consumer technology products—such as computers, TVs, smartphones and games
consoles—but in 2022 it will extend to all product categories including automotive and financial services.
Therefore, chatbots will provide an extra source of revenue for retail companies by helping consumers access troubleshooting information
at any hour via the messaging platform that suits them best (i.e., Facebook Messenger or Viber).
Chatbots will become a main source of professional advice and customer service
In the U.S., more than 60% of consumers rely on social media to ask for advice or share personal information,
while only 36% trust a brand’s customer service team to respond to a request in a timely manner
] However, it is important to note that this trend is only currently affecting consumer products—such as computers, smartphones, tablets and games consoles—
but by 2022 it will also affect commercial products including automotive, financial services and even healthcare—just to name a few.
This trend will be made possible by chatbot technologies that can provide professional support remotely.
Chatbots will become a standard tool for e-learning and informal education
In the U.S., more than 60% of consumers would rather learn new skills from a friend or family member offline than on a video platform such as YouTube.[4]
But for this trend to become a reality, chatbots will have to be not only able to provide examples, questions and entertaining contents
but also interact with participants in an intuitive way.
This will help make learning more enjoyable by creating greater engagement between learning providers
learners in chats that help build rapport and encourage participation.
Chatbots will become more intelligent
Currently, consumers are more challenged communicating with computers than with people,
but by 2022 they will be the more successful communicator of both human and non-human beings.
This can be achieved by using artificial intelligence of various kinds to help chatbots understand their customers’ needs,
make smart decisions and provide useful answers even if the customers are not necessarily able to articulate these needs themselves.
Chatbots will become an integral part of social media interactions
While Facebook is currently still the most popular social networking site for US adults,
use of other social media channels has grown significantly in recent years.
For instance, Facebook has had over 200 million daily active users in the U.S.
However, in 2022, when more people are using chatbots on social media channels
that are not owned by Facebook, this trend will start to be noticed.
Chatbots will have more conversational skills
Currently most consumers prefer chatbots with limited conversational skills because they find them easier to use.
But this is likely to change in the future as these chatbots will have more sophisticated language skills and robust databases of pre-written conversation topics.
This means consumers will be able to communicate with chatbot technology in a style they are comfortable with—such as texting or emailing—
and therefore better understand each other’s needs without the need for verbal explanations.
The technology for building chatbots will be easier to use
Currently, building a chatbot is a long and monotonous process that requires programming skills.
But by 2022, chatbot building tools will be much easier to handle—
especially because they are likely to be integrated into mainstream cloud-based services.
Therefore, anyone, even those with no programming skills whatsoever,
will be able to build their own chatbots that are fully functional in both messaging platforms and social media platforms.
Chatbots could become the reason for better customer service worldwide
