Chatbot Services in India - A New Profitable Landscape for Customer-Centric Businesses

Chatbots have made significant strides, evolving from a hyped technology within the AI realm to becoming a prominent part of the tech-driven services we regularly utilize. Despite being in the early stages of adoption, their impact has been remarkable, permeating various aspects of our daily interactions.

Many of us may not even realize how seamlessly this transition has occurred, as we now engage with multiple chatbots on a near-daily basis. According to a Salesforce study in late 2018, nearly one in four customers had already engaged with a brand through chatbots within the previous year.

The population of chatbot services in India is also increasing rapidly as more businesses are realizing their true potential. Now we all know, that artificial intelligence is demonstrating agility and sense in the work areas which were primarily done by humans previously. The first successful integration of AI has been seen in chatbots only.

AI-Integrated Chatbots Permeated the Indian Landscape

In India, similar to many other countries, telephone, and email remain the preferred channels for conducting business. However, they are often slower in providing quick resolutions. The average time-to-resolution for email interactions globally was reported as 39 minutes, while in India, it was 2 hours and 17 minutes. Moreover, only 49% of issues are resolved during the first interaction, according to global data.

Despite this, a majority of people in India (59%) still prefer speaking to a human for their customer service needs. Nevertheless, experts in customer service anticipate a reversal of this trend in the near future. A significant number (61%) of tech-savvy users, often referred to as "the Digital Indian," recognize the advantages of using chat support services.

AI is already benefiting e-commerce businesses in India by enhancing decision-making processes, utilizing machine learning algorithms, and simplifying the customer's product search journey. According to a study titled "Efficacy of AI" conducted by the digital marketing solutions firm iCubesWire, when implemented effectively, 43% of respondents believe that chatbot services in India offer an experience almost as good as interacting with a human.

Distinguishing Aspects of AI-Powered Chatbots

A significant percentage of consumers, with more than 70% in Australia, the UK, and France, and over 50% in the US and Germany, have reported engaging with chatbots at least once in the past year. According to a recent study conducted by Forrester, 57% of organizations worldwide are already utilizing chatbots, highlighting their growing popularity for automating helpdesk and customer support functions.

In the current era, where face-to-face interactions for closing deals are uncertain, chatbots equipped with voice, multilingual capabilities, and video features emerge as valuable solutions. The multi-featured ability of AI chatbot support services fosters a lot of possibilities that businesses can leverage in the areas of sales and marketing.

This is particularly advantageous for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that heavily rely on persuasive communication to secure contracts. By incorporating video conferencing functionalities and providing support in local languages, chatbots can facilitate more seamless conversations, thereby assisting SMEs in their business endeavors.

Voice-Enabled Chatbots

Voice chatbots, also known as voice-enabled chatbots, have the capability to interact with users through text or voice commands. These bots analyze the type of command received (voice or text) and respond accordingly.

In India, nearly 30% of Google searches conducted in 2019 were voice-based. Additionally, Google Assistant recognizes Hindi as the second most widely used language for voice commands globally.

Voice-enabled chatbots offer enhanced accessibility to a broader customer base. By utilizing voice-based conversational interfaces, these chatbots expedite command processing since there is no need to wait for the user to type the query.

Various industries such as beauty and spa, healthcare, travel, FMCG, restaurants, and more can leverage voice-driven chatbots to address customer inquiries and automate their helpdesk operations.

Multilingual Support

According to a study conducted by KPMG and Google, the number of native Indian language users is projected to reach 536 million by 2021. The study, conducted in 2017, highlights some significant internet challenges faced by India's diverse population:

●70% of Indians encounter difficulties using English keyboards.

●60% of Indians perceive limited language support as a barrier to adopting digital technologies.

●88% of users are more likely to respond to digital advertisements in their local language rather than English.

●Around 25% of Indian language internet users face challenges with e-commerce payment interfaces, resulting in dropouts during final checkouts.

The above data emphasizes the importance of incorporating multilingual support in customer-facing applications. By next year, approximately 75% of internet users in India will belong to the vernacular content user base.

Brands like Godrej have already begun utilizing regional languages on their websites. Employing a multilingual chatbot support service allows for personalized conversations and makes technology more adaptable to native users.

Chatbot services in India such as Hitee, designed for Indian SMEs, offer support for various Indian regional languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, Gujarati, Kannada, and Malayalam.

Video Conferencing Chatbots

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, travel restrictions are likely to persist, leading to a significant reliance on video conferencing software for personal interactions. When it comes to a growing business, scheduling and setting up meetings with every customer can be a tedious task.

●Automation becomes particularly beneficial for activities such as product demos, sampling, and addressing frequently asked questions (FAQs), allowing business owners to free up their time for crucial decision-making.

●For instance, manufacturing businesses and wholesalers can record product demos and incorporate them into the chatbot workflow, eliminating the need for repetitive demonstrations.

●Private clinics typically maintain registers or spreadsheets to manage daily appointments and then switch to various video chat platforms (WhatsApp, Skype, Google Duo, Zoom) for patient consultations.

●However, this approach often leads to missed appointments, patient record issues, and communication gaps.

●To address these challenges, private healthcare practitioners can utilize chatbots to automate appointment scheduling and communicate with patients through the same chatbot interface, ensuring seamless and efficient coordination.

●Similarly, stockbrokers, wealth managers, legal consultants, finance service providers, tour operators, and tax consultants can employ video conferencing chatbots to facilitate different levels of engagement with their clients.

●Enterprise chatbots can integrate with organizational workflows, enabling the routing of customer queries to the relevant teams or agents whenever necessary.

Chatbots with video conferencing features can also support Video Know Your Customer (KYC) processes by automating document collection and verification through built-in facial recognition mechanisms. This can significantly expedite customer onboarding for businesses in the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sectors.

The Reason Conversational AI Technology Matters

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are widely recognized as the foundation of the Indian economy, playing a vital role in the nation's ambitious goal of achieving a $5 trillion economy by 2025. However, the unexpected outbreak of Covid-19 and the subsequent extended lockdown have created a distressing period for SMEs not only in India but globally as well.

●To revitalize India's extensive MSME sector, the Government announced a stimulus package on May 14th, 2020, amounting to Rs 20 lakh crore.

●This comprehensive package includes six relief measures and enables banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to offer up to 20% of the total outstanding credit to MSMEs.

●Despite these efforts, the fundamental challenge faced by small and medium enterprises, which heavily rely on personal communication, remains unresolved.

●To adapt to the new normal of social distancing and a staggered workforce, the sector must readily embrace technology to drive its business forward.

●Running a small business is already challenging even during favorable times, and productivity suffers greatly during unexpected crises.

●Limited resources and constraints on investing in workforce training pose significant hurdles for employers in this context.

●Furthermore, effective communication is key for most MSMEs, especially when it comes to persuasion and customer engagement.

●Failing to bridge the communication gap can result in customer loss, which businesses simply cannot afford at this critical juncture.

●Aligning with the Government of India's push for self-reliance, reducing dependencies of any kind can greatly aid startups and SMEs in sustaining their business operations.

A feasible solution to address communication-related concerns lies in the deployment of technology for customer support, scheduling, and reminders. By embracing such technologies, SMEs can navigate through these challenging times and ensure smoother operations while optimizing their resources.

Benefits for SMEs and Consultants

Chatbots serve as an excellent tool for automating customer support and helpdesk conversations, allowing human resources to focus on more complex tasks. Conversational chatbots equipped with Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities can understand various types of queries and provide responses that resemble human interaction.

In the current pandemic era, where social distancing has become the norm and business travel is limited, chatbots offer the possibility of contactless global customer support. Here are some key benefits:

1. Round-the-Clock Communication Support: Chatbots with context-based automated replies facilitate lead generation and nurturing, ensuring constant communication with customers.

2. Multilingual Support: Conversational chatbots can handle regional languages and are often trained to understand industry-specific jargon. This enhances communication by making it more authentic and human-like.

3. Platform Integration: Chatbots can be integrated with popular platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, and others where consumers are actively engaged. Enterprise chatbots also offer integration capabilities with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems.

4. Video Conferencing: Certain chatbots, such as Hitee, incorporate video conferencing features alongside text-based chats, enabling face-to-face interactions and personalized engagement.

5. Data collection: Chatbot platforms maintain records of interactions, allowing businesses to utilize the data for future analysis of consumer intent and preferences.

In conclusion, by leveraging the features of chatbot services in India, businesses can enhance their customer support capabilities, streamline communication, and gather valuable insights to improve their overall operations.