Artificial intelligence may have once conjured up images from science fiction, but today, 78% of businesses are either already using AI solutions. More than ever, business leaders recognize AI’s potential to improve the customer experience.
AI-driven solutions can improve the online customer experience by allowing you to reach your audiences at all hours of the day, exactly when they need you. Here’s how AI tools can fuel more productive interactions with your customers.
What is an AI customer experience?
AI customer experience is the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve how businesses interact with their customers. AI tools such as chatbots, virtual assistants, and predictive analytics tools can automate repetitive tasks and provide faster, more personalized support across multiple channels.
11 ways AI can improve customer experiences
- Faster response times
- 24/7 support
- Enhanced self-service options
- Boosted efficiency
- Better personalization
- Predictive analytics
- Automated updates
- Consistency across channels
- Sentiment analysis
- Voice and image recognition
- Content creation
Here are 11 ways AI can improve your customer experience:
1. Faster response times
AI enables businesses to respond to customer requests and questions faster, increasing customer satisfaction.
AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants use deep learning (processing data in the same way a human brain does), machine learning (learning through algorithms and not specific instructions), and natural language processing (understanding and interpreting human language) to manage customer inquiries in real-time.
Shopify Inbox is a free, built-in messaging platform that uses customer data from your store, such as items viewed, cart contents, and past orders. That way, you can personalize every reply. AI-powered instant answers and suggested replies help you greet customers automatically and resolve FAQs, boosting conversions by up to 69% with quicker responses.
2. 24/7 support
In the past, businesses employed call centers all over the world or asked their agents to work odd hours so they could offer 24/7 customer support. Now, AI-powered chatbots can provide round-the-clock assistance by automating customer interactions, ensuring quick responses regardless of time zone.
For example, Shopify Inbox's instant answers handle order-status checks, return policies, and product questions the moment they come in, even if it's at 2 AM. Set greetings, capture lead information, and respond to questions so all shoppers feel looked after.
When your team comes online, they can see each customer's cart, browsing history, and more. With Inbox running in your store, small teams can deliver enterprise-level support without hiring more staff.
3. Enhanced self-service options
According to a CX Trends Report from Zendesk, 70% of consumers expect a company to have a self-service portal or content available to them. Natural language processing digital agents and AI-generated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) pages provide quick, accessible answers to common inquiries without the need for human interaction.
This is useful for customers who prefer not to talk on the phone, which may be a portion of your target audience; 49% of Gen Z reports feeling anxious about talking on the phone. Self-service allows them to resolve issues privately and at their own pace.
Tip: Use the SB app from the Shopify App Store to build AI-assisted FAQs and a knowledge base right in your Shopify admin.
4. Boosted efficiency
AI tools can boost your business’s operational efficiency by automating time-consuming, repetitive tasks. For example, with Shopify Flow, you can create workflows to:
- Tag orders, send emails, or update inventory levels.
- Handle high-risk orders by canceling them or notifying your team.
- Tag customers based on their purchase behavior to tailor marketing efforts.
- Reorder products when inventory levels fall past a certain threshold.
- Integrate with marketing apps to automate follow-up emails or loyalty rewards.
Meanwhile, this frees human agents to handle complex or nuanced issues that require creative problem-solving or a more personal touch. Your customer experience team will be able to spend more time and attention on each of these cases while AI handles the routine tasks.
Install the Shopify Flow app and explore pre-made templates or create your own workflows in the Shopify admin.
5. Better personalization
Data from Zendesk shows that 56% of businesses are actively investing in AI to personalize the customer experience.
Businesses that implement AI can analyze customer data to offer more personalized experiences. AI algorithms track and interpret customer behavior, including purchase history, to provide tailored product recommendations and marketing strategies.
Shopify automatically merges online, in-store, and social commerce data into one unified customer profile. This lets you create personalized shopping experiences no matter whether shoppers buy, whether through POS, online store, or TikTok shop.
Balancing personalization with ethical considerations like customer privacy is crucial to ensure you use customer data responsibly. Businesses should obtain clear consent and provide options for customers to control their information and opt out of tracking if they desire.
6. Predictive analytics
AI excels at using predictive analytics to anticipate customer needs and predict future issues. By analyzing data gathered from previous interactions, purchase history, and behavior patterns,
AI models can provide valuable insights into customer preferences and challenges. From there, customer experience leaders can proactively address potential concerns and future needs before they arise.
Shopify Sidekick is an excellent AI assistant for your analytics. It connects all your data points to uncover opportunities and deliver insights for marketing, inventory, and CX decisions.
7. Automated updates
Integrating AI into your business’s email strategy can help your customer experience team deliver personalized, timely information to customers. AI can analyze customer behavior and send relevant automated content throughout each stage of the customer journey.
This way, customers receive immediate updates and promotions tailored to their needs, whether that be a shipping notification for an order or a coupon code to nudge a shopper who has items left in their cart.
8. Consistency across channels
While human agents may adhere to agreed-upon policies and style guides, their preferences, biases, and moods can influence how they interact with customers. In some cases, a customer may welcome a human touch, but it can also introduce inconsistencies and even confusion when different agents are engaging with a customer across multiple channels.
"Our customers expect a seamless experience, regardless of the channel they are using. Maintaining a consistent brand message, visuals and tone across multiple channels has been challenging but Shopify has allowed us to centralize our branding to efficiently and consistently manage all our channels from a single dashboard," says Kerri Economopoulos, managing director at Titan AV.
AI technology also delivers a seamless, unified experience regardless of whether customer engagement occurs on chat, email, social media, or the phone.
9. Sentiment analysis
AI integration enables businesses to run sentiment analysis by evaluating customer feedback in real-time.
This process uses natural language processing to detect emotion and overall satisfaction levels from reviews, social media posts, and surveys. With these data-driven insights, you can identify trends in customer sentiments and address concerns or adjust your strategy to improve customer satisfaction.
10. Voice and image recognition
AI features, such as voice and image recognition, can improve accessibility and speed up processes.
Virtual assistants that offer voice-activated navigation can improve a site’s accessibility by giving users with mobility impairments access to content hands-free. Image recognition can also simplify tasks like verifying identity or scanning products to make payments or returns more efficient.
11. Content creation
The right AI tools can create branded content for various marketing and support channels. Shopify Magic builds CX-ready copy right inside the tools you already use. Every chat, email, and FAQ answer lands fast and is consistent.
Magic can also help you generate policy text, announcement bars, and product copy. Lean businesses can ship marketing and support content in minutes right from the Shopify admin.
What does AI customer experience look like today?
- Intelligent Change’s chatbots
- Ilia’s shade-matching quiz
- Olive & Piper’s personalized recommendations
Many businesses are already using AI solutions to improve customer experience and increase sales. Here are three companies that have successfully implemented AI:
Intelligent Change’s chatbots
Intelligent Change, which sells guided journals and other self-improvement tools, uses Relish AI to add a 24/7 virtual shopping assistant and an AI-powered chatbot to its site.
“Being a Relish client now for almost a year, I am happy with their services and the AI touch they add to our website,” the Intelligent Change team says in a testimonial on Relish AI’s website. “We are able to deflect many common questions through our chat in a seamless conversation flow. The support staff is incredibly responsive, helpful, and proactive.”
Ilia’s shade-matching quiz
Award-winning beauty brand Ilia sells foundations and concealers. To feel confident about their online purchase, customers must be able to determine their shade virtually. To solve this, Ilia employed Octane AI to create a simple, AI-powered, shade-matching quiz.
By launching this quiz before releasing the brand’s new Skin Renewal Complexion Sticks, Ilia generated excitement for the new product that garnered a waitlist of 55,000 shoppers. “We really wanted to build an experience that was custom, and unique, and seamless to our brand,” Ilia VP of ecommerce Cherene Aubert says in a testimonial. “We really treated this project with a lot of care.”
Olive & Piper’s personalized recommendations
Woman-founded jewelry boutique Olive & Piper wanted to maximize sales during its peak season, which runs from Black Friday through Valentine’s Day. It used LimeSpot’s AI technology to offer customers personalized service and product recommendations, resulting in a 35% increase in conversions.
AI customer experience FAQ
How do you use AI in customer experience?
You can use AI to automate and personalize customer interactions, resulting in customers receiving faster support.
What is one way AI improves the customer experience?
One of the main ways AI can improve the customer experience is by providing 24/7 customer support via chatbots and self-service options.
What is AI for customer service?
AI for customer service is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve and automate various aspects of customer interactions and support.
