eCommerce has entered the chat bot era. Chat bots — also referred to as bots — are APIs that integrate with web platforms to interact with customers. Think of them as virtual assistants because they facilitate customer support, sales, or alerting team members to an issue.

Artificial intelligence (AI) driven chat bot services like Twyla, for example, ‘learn’ by evaluating your team’s customer support chat logs. You can optimize responses for accuracy, helpfulness, and brand voice while freeing up existing customer service agents to focus on more complex tasks.

If you’re a small business seeking to streamline your business operations, here are six ways to use bots worth considering: 

1.) Launch and Automate Marketing Campaigns

Shopify says you can hire its “virtual marketing employee” Kit starting at just $10 per month. The Kit API performs digital marketing tasks, such as email marketing, Facebook, and Instagram advertising. It also sends a daily follow-up message via SMS or IM with advice for improving marketing campaigns. As a user, you can implement suggested changes with the click of a button – by replying Yes.

2.) Manage Online Sales

Chatbots can improve online sales channels by seamlessly handling online purchases. The 1-800-Flowers chatbot, which launched on Facebook Messenger, not only offers user suggestions, it also allows users to select and send floral arrangements on Facebook Messenger without having to speak with a sales agent. 1-800-Flowers President Chris McCann told Digiday, “Over 70 percent of the company’s chatbot orders were new customers.”

3.) Personalize Online Transactions

Big brands, personal stylists, and makeup artists use Kik’s Bot platform to up-sell via product recommendations. For example, on this particular Kik bot, if a customer is shopping for a dress, AI will make suggestions based on available inventory. Then, it will suggest related items to complete the look, such as matching shoes or accessories. If the customer abandons the cart, the chatbot captures details from the interaction. This data can be synched to send follow-up emails, cart reminders, and promotions.   

4.) Improve Customer Knowledge Base

Bots can also improve your customer’s knowledge base by helping them find company and product information. noHold, Inc’s Albert is a patented technology that feeds bots information from Word and Google documents – turning Product Guides (or backend Policy Manuals, etc.) into informative conversational chatbots while reducing delayed response times and misguided information.

5.) Boost In-Store Sales

Shopping companions like Amazon’s Echo (and Alexa Skills Kit, the voice behind Echo) help brands connect with customers using voice commands. For instance, say “What’s for dinner?” and the Campbell’s soup bot instantly gives meal and recipe ideas. Small business owners such as liquor distributors and apparel brands can utilize this technology to direct customers to retail locations where their products are available for purchase (i.e. “Where can I find..?”).

6.) Answer Employee Questions

Loka, Inc’s Jane is an employee information chat bot for businesses on Slack. Employees can ask anything and receive a timely response – allowing HR departments to tackle the big problems. In addition to answering frequently asked questions like “When is payday?,” these bots can alert HR teams to potential issues or gaps in employee knowledge. If, for example, the system is receiving an unexpectedly high amount of expense reimbursement questions, this might indicate a problem with the accounting software that needs addressing.

AI should never fully replace human interaction. But, chat bots are significant to business owners seeking to automate operations and focus on growing their business.