Chatbots are the most frustrating part of shopping online for telco services for nearly a quarter (24%) of consumers, as one in five (20%) admit to completely abandoning an online telco purchase due to a chatbot’s inability to provide adequate customer support. This is among the findings of a research survey by 15gifts, which polled both telco providers and consumers from the UK and US about the challenges plaguing digital transactions.
Current chatbots are the cause of significant frustrations for consumers looking to make a purchase, as almost nine in ten shoppers (87%) are unable to get all their queries answered using the functionality, whilst almost a fifth (18%) bypass them altogether and instead seek help from a contact number or live agent.
Despite the pitfalls of chatbots, telco providers spend heavily on the technology. In fact, almost half of businesses (47%) invest millions of GB£/US$ each year to keep them running. With a plethora of services and often jargon-filled product suites to choose from, the difficulty in selecting the right product is recognised by telco providers, although not adequately addressed. Nearly half (48%) of telco providers admit they themselves would not be very confident making a purchase based on the current online buying process provided to customers.
Alongside chatbot limitations, telcos are facing other challenges preventing them from converting sales. Over half (52%) of consumers are asking for a more human-like interaction in the overall online buying journey, something which nearly all telco providers (98%) admit they are struggling to offer.