TORONTO, July 21, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Ada, the market leader for Automated Customer Experience (ACX), today released ecommerce data that showed the profound impact COVID-19 has had on the relationship between customers and support teams.
The "new normal" for customer service teams in ecommerce is that every day they are dealing with Cyber Monday or Black Friday levels of customer inquiries, according to data from more than 1.6 million customer conversations. Customer conversations exploded as high as 43% above Black Friday volume, and have maintained Black Friday levels of activity through early July.
"COVID-19 has proven the conventional agent-first, customer service model to be outdated and unable to meet the needs businesses or customers. Even if budget was no object, and it is, you cannot hire and train people fast enough to meet the surge in demand during COVID-19. The challenges facing customer service organizations demonstrate why automation needs to be a central, frontline component of any customer service strategy. No matter the impact and dislocation caused by COVID-19, automation can help meet customer needs and business requirements at this critical time," said Ada co-founder and CEO Mike Murchison.
"With volumes spiking and the contact center workforce being disrupted, now is the time to double-down on AI and create a multi-speed human and machine workforce. Virtual agents, built using AI technology, offer customers instant, on-demand service. They provide automated support, deliver a conversational experience, and can handle the same intents as human agents. They can both understand and satisfy individual customer needs," according to an Accenture report titled, COVID-19: Responsive customer service in times of change.
The New Customer Relationship
What COVID-19 has shown is that while positive customer engagement still requires a personal touch, it no longer always requires a human touch. When a brand respects customers' time and uses technology to serve answers quickly and intuitively, and only escalate conversations to a human representative when required, customers are satisfied. Not getting quick resolution of common questions is yet another source of frustration, leaving customers unsatisfied even when they do finally make that human connection.
An automation first strategy built with conversational AI is the right solution to meet the immediate needs of anxious customers. By using AI to generate more conversations, 80% of customer inquiries can be solved quickly, with high satisfaction. Giving customers the option for on-demand self-service instantly improves customer satisfaction.
To learn more about implementing an automation first CX strategy, visit Ada.Support
About Ada
Ada is the market leader in Automated Customer Service (ACX). As the only chatbot platform purpose-built to support an automation-first customer service strategy, Ada's AI-powered platform is designed to deliver the scale and impact that transforms customer support from a cost center to profit center. Headquartered in Toronto, Ada enables hundreds of brands around the world to meet the needs of today's customers with thoughtful personalized interactions proven to enhance long-term value and boost the bottom line. Learn more at ada.support.
SOURCE Ada
Share this article