Understanding the Global Chatbot Market – Worth Investing?
The global chatbot market, which grows by 23.5% per year, is expected to jump from $2.6 billion in 2020 to $10.5 billion in 2026, according to research by Markets and Markets, which covered North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific countries, Latin America, and Central Europe and Africa countries.
These are just a few of the numerous studies on online chatbots available in the market.
With this in mind, Leadster provides an overview of this tool in the national and international markets, along with its benefits and forecasts for those looking to delve deeper into the topic.
Let’s go!
What are Online Chatbots?
Before we talk about the data encompassing chatbots in the global market, let’s understand their concept.
Online chatbots are software that simulate human conversations. They can use AI (Artificial Intelligence), conversational marketing, and even natural language processing (NLP).
With this type of tool, it is possible to instantly engage visitors to your site through specific and personalized messages for each user, in addition to providing instant responses.
Overview of Online Chatbots in the Global Market
In addition to the data provided by Markets and Markets, Mordor Intelligence – a market intelligence and consulting firm – also released a study showing the size of the online chatbot market. Some of the most noteworthy data include:
- The largest current market for online chatbots is in North America;
- The fastest-growing chatbot market in the world is in the Asia-Pacific region;
- The main areas of operation are: Retail, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI), and Healthcare;
- The main players in the market are: IBM Corporation, Dialogflow, Amazon Web Services, and Live Chat.
One factor that can explain the growth of this sector is technological advancement, especially when talking about Artificial Intelligence.
Tools with this technology offer faster resolution of customer complaints and problems in 90% of cases, as highlighted in the MIT Technology Review report: Humans + Bots: Tension and Opportunity.
Throughout this article, we will show more advantages of using online chatbots in your business. Keep following!
Why Do People Use Online Chatbots?
Well, now we know how online chatbots are behaving in the market, but why is there such rapid growth?
According to the State of Chatbots Report 2018, published by Drift, we can see that the most common means of contacting companies are telephone (60%), email (60%), and website (54%). The chatbot appears at the end of the list with only 15%.
However, these more used means have been causing frustrations for customers, such as:
- Difficulty navigating the websites;
- Problems getting answers to simple questions;
- Basic company details are hard to find.
In other words, we can see that users want speed for questions that are simple to answer.
When asked, participants mentioned some situations in which they would use online chatbots, as the tool provides a quick and effective response. Let’s see:
- Fast answers for urgent questions: 37%;
- Complaints or problem solving: 37%;
- Detailed answers: 35%;
The justification for the speed of response of online chatbots can also be proven with this research, as participants answered which channel they expect to get an instant response from.
But, if people already expect to get a quick response through chatbots, why are they not yet among the main communication channels used by companies?
Some of the main concerns of end users are:
- Preference for dealing with humans – 43%;
- Concern about the possibility of chatbot errors – 30%;
- Being stuck with chatbots only through messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger – 27%.
These answers show that there is still a myth about chatbots, where some people think the tool will not be as effective in responding to their visitors or that there will be “bugs” all the time. Therefore, it is necessary to make their advantages clear.
Benefits of Online Chatbots
The Drift report itself listed three main advantages of using chatbots, as answered by respondents: 24-hour service, instant responses, and answers to simple questions.
However, we can list many other benefits of this tool, such as:
- Convert more site traffic – chatbots, especially those for conversational marketing, help attract customers, using just a simple message to grab attention and end up converting the visitor into a lead;
- Generate more qualified leads – all essential data can be collected by the chatbot, making it possible to ask the right questions to characterize the potential customer and qualify them;
- Automate your processes – imagine how much time your team spends responding to hundreds of emails, social media messages, and even phone calls. All this time can be saved with a chatbot on your site. There, users will get the main information, in addition to resolving most doubts;
- Improve customer service – with the online chatbot, your customer will have instant responses, as well as 24/7 service.
The Data Doesn’t Lie
To make the advantages of using a chatbot in your company even clearer, let’s look at more studies that prove the efficiency of using chatbots in companies.
- According to data released by Forbes, business leaders say chatbots have increased sales by 67%;
- According to the report “Chatbots are here to stay – So what are you waiting for?” by Accenture, 57% of companies say conversational chatbots provide substantial ROI with minimal effort;
- According to CNBC, chatbots are projected to save $0.70 per customer interaction, resulting in savings of $8 billion by this year (2022);
- Finally, according to a survey by Hubspot, 47% of customers are open to buying items through a chatbot.
Forecast for the Online Chatbot Market
A simple Google search will lead to numerous studies discussing chatbots, their forecasts, and how the market is expected to be in a few years.
However, these studies vary by location, research time, number of respondents, and platform used.
With this in mind, the forecast we will mention here has a broader scope and is reliable, citing only one source to avoid conflicting information.
Let’s go!
According to data from Juniper Research:
- Online chatbots will save $11 billion in the retail, finance, and healthcare sectors by 2023;
- Both users and companies will save more than 2.5 billion hours of customer service by 2023;
- Juniper predicts retail will benefit the most – over 70% of accessed chatbots will be based in this sector, driving e-commerce transactions to reach $112 billion by 2023;
- The forecast is that 50% of chatbots will be accessed through discrete applications.
Best Online Chatbots on the Market
Now that you know the global chatbot panorama, its advantages, and growth forecast, it’s time to learn about some of the best chatbots on the market to apply to your company.
Leadster
Leadster’s chatbot focuses on sales and marketing.
The tool, in addition to increasing lead generation and conversion rates for websites and landing pages, offers an active approach, conversation personalization, A/B testing, dashboards, and lead qualification.
Drift
We have already mentioned Drift a lot to provide data on online chatbots, but the company also has its own tool.
Drift’s software is a very comprehensive option for those looking to invest in chatbots also directed to Marketing and Sales.
In addition to its focus on conversion, the platform offers customized experiences, sales pipeline, lead segmentation and analysis, reports, and more!
JivoChat
For companies considering chatbots for customer service and support, JivoChat is one of the best options.
The tool can be used on websites, e-commerce platforms, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and email.
JivoChat offers a 14-day free trial.
We have reached the end of our content on the global online chatbot panorama!
What do you think about not falling behind these tool-driven results and taking a look at the free demo Leadster has prepared for you?
