Page 10 - AeM_Dec_2017

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

53% of Singaporean shoppers are seeking

the help of chatbots for holiday shopping

Commenting on Singaporeans’ attitudes towards
chatbots, Nicholas Kontopoulos, Global Vice President
of Fast Growth Markets for SAP Hybris said, “The
customer experience can make or break a brand. In
view of this, businesses need to stay attuned to these
concerns and optimize the use of chatbots as one
component in a wider omnichannel strategy. While
chatbots can proactively offer answers for initial queries
on pricing, product features, or book and make
reservations, they cannot fully replace the value of
human interaction when it comes to building customer
relationships. Any hint of customer dissatisfaction
needs to be solved immediately, by a human services
officer.”

To win Singaporeans over, chatbots need to become
more understanding and intuitive – almost half of
Singaporeans (48%) say that they will engage with
chatbots more often if they are able to make more
Bot-powered commerce is on a tipping point in personalized recommendations on what to buy. Other
Singapore according to the new SAP Hybris motivating drivers that will encourage shoppers to use
Singapore Christmas Shopper Survey 2017. chatbots more often is to offer comparison of prices
and products from other brands (47%), assure that
This Christmas, more than half (53%) of Singaporean personal information will be kept private (38%), provide
shoppers are enlisting the help of chatbots for holiday recommendations on similar and complimentary
shopping. In fact, majority of shoppers who asked products (34%) or simply becoming more human-like
chatbots for gift recommendations have actually acted (18%).
on the recommendation (74%). Businesses and brands,
however, should not neglect incorporating the human “Singaporean shoppers have an appetite for deeper
touch. engagement with chatbots, but what the results really
tell us is that they want a more personalized
This is because Singaporeans expect assistance from ecommerce experience. Today’s consumer has higher
chatbots to be rudimentary, with 58% viewing chatbots expectations and businesses need to keep a close
as useful only for basic information search, anticipating pulse on the ever-evolving customer journey to react to
that more complex enquiries will need to be handled by not just changing consumer preferences but context at
a human being. Others feel that talking to chatbots have point of purchase or even consideration. To this end,
so far been a frustrating experience and they would businesses should view chatbots as more than just an
rather speak to a human being (21%) and close to a fifth answering machine – they are also a valuable mine of
expressed an outright dislike for chatbots (17%). data that offer fresh perspectives into the underlying
reasons for sales trends and help brands better
More than 1,000 consumers in Singapore were surveyed understand what their customers are looking for. Armed
on their use of and attitudes towards chatbots, with the with these insights, they can then take action to
results reflecting that while Singaporeans are open cultivate sales and entrench customer loyalty”, added
towards engaging with chatbots, they still have Kontopoulos. ◊
reservations. One of the top concerns that Singaporeans
have towards chatbots is that their requests might not be By MediaBUZZ
understood (61%). A third (35%) are worried that their
personal information might be leaked if they divulge too
much to chatbots, and 13% say that chatbots are too
creepy if they know too much about them.

10 December 2017 - Digital Commerce & Customer Experience