New findings claim that merchant integration of technologies such as AI bots and natural language
AI bots to drive mobile remote purchases to $2.1 trillion
interfaces will lead to remote goods purchases by mobile totalling $2.1 trillion by 2021.
This represents a 100% increase from this year’s projection for spend on physical and digital goods.
The research found that rising smartphone use in digital retail was the underlying cause for stakeholder development in the following areas:
1. Bots
2. Natural language processing
3. Disruption at the payment gateway
Understanding Shopper Intent through Conversation
The new study, Mobile & Online Remote Payments for Digital & Physical Goods: Opportunities & Forecasts 2016-2021 found that shoppers would be driven away from merchants where keyword search and menu-driven systems were in place.
It suggested that where merchants deployed conversational interfaces, such as bots and natural language search, they would be able to far better understand the consumer’s intent. The North Face, for example, has developed an intelligent digital assistant to help consumers choose the appropriate product. Meanwhile, Facebook, Google and storefronts such as Etsy are investing heavily in similar solutions.
“Product search and discovery is a key stage in the shopper journey,” noted research author Steffen Sorrell. “Offering a conversational consumer interface, then marrying intent with contextual product data will drive merchant differentiation.”
Transforming the Payment Gateway
Additionally, the research revealed that substantial activity is taking place to improve the experience at the point of payment. Disruptive players are simplifying the consumer experience by challenging tried-and-tested but frustrating checkouts. For example, Klarna eschews card number entry and usernames and passwords. Instead, shoppers can enter simple-to-remember information, such as their email address and postcode.
Meanwhile, the research examined how machine learning is used to minimise the chance of payment rejection. Adyen, for example, are using the technology to avoid payment rejection due to bad formatting or misrouted connections to the acquiring bank.
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