Emerging Technology: Revolutionizing the Customer Experience with Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is ubiquitous, and it has accelerated with the digitalization of processes and activities among many organizations by increasing their capabilities. In terms of corporate language, chatbots technology is a part of human-robot interactions, which offers various opportunities and support firms to discover better insights and provides a better platform for sound decision making. (Luce, 2018) Nowadays, facing challenges and risks are pretty standard in business, both internally and externally. To compete in a new era, firms create a good relationship between customers by providing an efficient service in terms of verbal or physical depending on the affordable product. Focussing on improving customer experience, continual advancements in technology are incorporated to provide better response time and increased quality of interaction (Delamater, 2017). A chatbot can identify consumer needs quickly once when they started interacting with AI-powered bots and proactively start a conversation with them by providing relevant information throughout the entire chats. It can transfer a caller to a service agent if a human is necessary for the loop.
AI algorithms can search through each customer's buying habits, including what they purchased and when they made the purchase. AI improves the shopping experience by making product recommendations based on what the customers are interested in and most likely to buy. AI-enabled chatbots can provide the customers with consistently pleasant customer service and an immediate response instead of being put into a queue to wait for an available support representative. They were making the process of communication as easy and pleasant as possible leads to satisfy customers while at the same time freeing up organizations employees so they can focus their energy and time on other tasks. Consumers today are looking for convenience when it comes to shopping and making payments. 

Using smart speakers such as Echo and Alexa, consumers can make purchases and pay their bills with voice-enabled AI, interacting with any business at a time that's best for them. Sometimes customers want their questions answered after business hours, or they may want to update an order before the business opens the next day. For a small business, hiring employees to be available at all hours is unrealistic and costly. Using AI chatbots can give marketers customers the service they want regardless of what time it is. AI creates a shopping experience that's hassle-free and simple to interact with customers. Consumers are looking for fast and easy interactions when making purchases. AI makes buying smooth and easy, from deciding what product to buy to complete the transaction with fast shipping and delivery.

In the past, phone bots have been automated with limited functionality, usually providing one-word answers and simple directions to consumers. This type of simplicity in business communication can quickly lead to customer frustration. Today's AI phone bots are intelligent and helpful, solving problems and answering questions efficiently and precisely. This means that when customers call the business, they are getting accurate responses to their questions with valuable and intelligent voice interaction (Muhammadian, 2020).

The chatbot is a conversational agent that reproduces the conversation with customers, usually over the internet. They communicate with human users, especially the end-users, through messages via texts and reply accordingly. Even though the technological concept of interacting with the customers is not new, the design of chatbots was made by considering various assumptions. The artificial intelligence developed in the past tends to answer one-liner questions and could not answer any other conversation with the users. Firstly, the chatbot was designed to have limited domain knowledge as one can talk about any topic with the customers (Luce, 2018). Chatbots are designed to focus on specific issues. By the end of every conversation, the customers want to achieve a particular result. This will have an impact on the flow of the conversation. The designers of chatbots can exploit this as some behavioral patterns will arise as a result. 

By 2010, various assistants like Apple, Siri, Cortana, and Alexa came into the market that dealt with a dual conversation with a goal-oriented dialogue. The release of messenger for Facebook is another breakthrough and allowed the agents to discuss non-AI-related companies (Campione, 2021). Chatbots include working with multiple components. When chatbots are receiving a new message, the language identification module will first process the message. The new message and its language, along with any previous conversation, will be retrieved and fed into the classifier module, which will imply the message the user is trying to convey. This will then be used to decide the action sequence. For example, the chatbot reply will be in the form of whether the message is not clear. The proper execution of the situation happens with the module known as an action handler.

Damanvir Kaushal

Keywords

#Emerging Technology

#Customer Service

#Artificial Intelligence

#Conversational Service Automation

References

Campione, R., 2021. HOW DIGITALIZATION IS REVOLUTIONIZING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CUSTOMERS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY: PERSONALIZATION AND GAMIFICATION. International Journal of Information, Business and Management, 13(1), pp.35-52.

Delamater, N., 2017. A brief history of artificial intelligence and how it’s revolutionizing customer service today. Available in https://images. g2crowd. com/uploads/attachment/file/73099/expirable-direct-uploads_2F469f2619-a917-446d-b2b8-14cf8f8 d2c4e_2FChatBotWhitePaper2017. pdf Disponible el, 17.

Luce, L., 2018. Artificial intelligence for fashion: How AI is revolutionizing the fashion industry. Apress.

Muhammadian, R., 2020. Artificial intelligence in marketing. How AI is Revolutionizing Digital Marketing.

Using Cookies to assess digital marketing performance

 What is a cookie?

Before we start it is important to know what exactly the cookies are and how it helps in the field of digital marketing. So, cookies are a piece of code that lives on your web browser and stores information in the user’s web browser to identify and enhance your experience online. This technology is utilized to work with different capacities which include keeping track of stateful data such as items added into the shopping cart, keeping data from applications that have already been filled out (for autocomplete function), Account- protected servers receive the user’s account information and log-in status through authentication cookies. (Kaspersky 2021)

With an increasing understanding of privacy concerns and laws like the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and e-privacy, there is a greater need to educate consumers about what cookie files are, what information they should hold, and what types of cookies are available. (Clearcode 2021)

Now we will see the types of cookies. Essentially cookies are divided into first-party cookies and third-party cookies from a technological standpoint. However, all store the same data and can execute the same task. But what makes them unique is how websites build and use them.

 First party cookies

They are specifically stored by the domain (website) you are visiting. They enable website owners to collect analytics data, remember language preferences, and perform other valuable functions that aid in the delivery of a positive user experience.

Third-party cookies 

As mentioned even they perform the same function as cookies do but third-party cookies offer information that lets advertisers identify their audiences' taste and expectations beyond their interactions with the brand.  Exposing trends and other user data can be used to help influence potential marketing strategies. To view related advertisements, they store information across web domains and across interactions, hopping from browsers to social media applications and beyond. They are created and saved in a user’s web browser to monitor their online activity through various websites. (Adroll 2021)

Cookies in Digital marketing 

Now let's see how cookies are used in facilitating your digital marketing function. Considering Targeted digital marketing, web cookies are used in delivering many forms of personalized digital ads. They save user data and behavior records, allowing advertisement providers to reach a specific customer audience based on factors such as gender, age, interests, location, actions on websites, and actions on search engines or social media.

Cookies may be a tiny aspect but it plays a crucial role in promoting targeted ads on social media platforms. Without cookies, accounts could not be generated, downloaded, or maintained; without the user profile, consumer data would be unavailable; and without the data, targeted ads would be impossible. To begin thinking about social media accounts in this way – as freely surrendered caches of user data – is to obtain an understanding of how Facebook has created one of the world's most powerful targeting empires. It's even a little unsettling.(Targetinternet 2021)

 Using third-party cookies to assess marketing performance.

 Well, you have already seen third-party cookies in motion if you've spent some time on the internet. It is quite often that you have been to an online retailer and looked at a few items only to find advertisements for the same items on entirely different websites? Third-party cookies operate exactly in the same way. they observe your actions outside of the brand's ecosystem and then use it to provide personalized marketing to help you move from surfing to a paying client. In the long run, the information gathered from third-party cookies is used to create accurate consumer profiles.

Consumers are becoming more aware of how advertisers use their personal information as they do more of their business online. As a result, there is a growing trend for an online marketing future that is more privacy-friendly. Google's decision this year isn't the first time browser creators have restricted the use of third-party cookies; Safari did so in 2014, and Mozilla's Firefox in 2019.( Targetinternet 2021)

 

 Viewing the web cookies can be an interesting experience. Each one is intended to support a specific purpose while also adding a subtle layer of color to your online experience. We get the feeling that, while cookies aren't great, we can't imagine life without them.

- Spoorthi Joshi S

 References

 AdRoll. 2021 |MEGAN PRATT |Third- party cookies and digital marketing: what’s next? https://www.adroll.com/blog/marketing/third-party-cookies-and-digital-marketing-whats-next ( Accessed on 21^st march 2021)

2.      Targetinternet 2021 | The digital marketing guide to web cookies | target market| https://www.targetinternet.com/digital-marketing-guide-to-cookies (accessed on 21st march 2021)

3.      Clearcode 2021| Michal Wlosik, Michael Sweeney| First party and third- party cookies: what’s the difference? https://clearcode.cc/blog/difference-between-first-party-third-party-cookies/#cookie-types ( Accessed on 20^th march 2021)

4.      Kaspersky 2021| what are cookies? https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/definitions/cookies ( Accessed on 20^th march 2021)