In 2022, chatbots were everywhere. And the numbers don’t lie—they’re growing in popularity, usage, and reach.
We know because we checked it.
Our study confirmed that about 88% of customers had at least one conversation with a chatbot within the past year.
But what does this mean for businesses? Especially those who haven’t yet adopted chatbots into their marketing or customer service?
It is a perfect moment to explore the attitudes towards chatbots among companies and online shoppers. We surveyed 774 online business owners and 767 customers to find out what are the current chatbot trends.
In this study:
If you are interested in other studies about AI and chatbot technology, you can also check out:
One of the most apparent chatbot trends for 2023 is that their use will become even more widespread, and chatbots themselves will keep getting more sophisticated. In addition to customer service and data collection, chatbots will be used in other areas such as marketing, human resources, and operations. Their ability to handle a wide range of tasks makes them an attractive option for ecommerce stores, b2b companies, real estate, or even healthcare and education.
Our survey revealed that:
In 2023, the chatbot market is projected to grow over $994 million. This is a huge growth, indicating an annual gain of around $200 million. With its current compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 22%, we can expect this number to reach 3 billion dollars by the end of this decade.
Currently, chatbots are widely adopted by smaller businesses. It is very easy to add a third-party customer service bot powered by one of the popular chatbot builders. On the other hand, larger businesses tend to take a more strategic approach. This forces them to tailor their own in-house solution and makes the development process much longer.
In 2023, businesses might have to adopt more than just a text chatbot. Voice-assistants are becoming more and more popular. It is predicted that in 2023 the number of voice chatbots will rise to over 8 billion.
Another trend for 2023 is the rise of AI-powered GTP-3 chatbots. GTP-3 is a language model developed by OpenAI, presenting a state-of-the-art natural language processing model. It became available to the general public in late 2022, and the internet went crazy. It is predicted that soon businesses will be expected to not just have a chatbot, but use the GPT-3 technologies to assist customers more effectively.
Right now, chatbots are used by about a quarter of businesses. But it is worth taking a closer look at the chatbot usage among companies of various sizes, too.
Businesses of all sizes can benefit from chatbot technology. But we found that small businesses are willing to embrace the technology at a faster rate than larger businesses. That’s because they often have fewer resources and need to find more efficient ways to connect with their customers.
Businesses fell in love with chatbots precisely because they are incredibly efficient and can handle a large number of requests simultaneously.
In 2022, the total cost savings from deploying chatbots reached around $11 billion. And this number will only continue to grow as more and more businesses adopt the technology. It’s not really surprising as chatbots can save businesses up to 30% of costs on customer support alone.
If we look at these numbers from the perspective of the projected global chatbot market size of $1.34 billion (for 2024), it looks really promising. The average ROI for chatbots would be 1,275% (and that’s just support cost savings).
But the chatbot industry itself is only the tip of the iceberg.
How much can chatbots help companies increase their sales?
Business Insider Intelligence report predicts that global retail consumer spending via chatbots will reach $142 billion by 2024. It’s no surprise that so many companies want to join the bandwagon. And those who have decided to introduce chatbots are quite happy with the results.
How effective are chatbots?
Our study shows that most businesses, especially in the ecommerce sector, are very satisfied with how chatbots have improved their customer service and marketing operations.
Interestingly, there is a clear correlation between satisfaction levels and the use of pre-made templates or drag-n-drop editors. Business owners, especially with micro and small businesses, perceived chatbots as more effective if they personally took part in designing them or choosing the right chatbot templates.
Use of chatbots: support or marketing?
People associate chatbots with online support and getting help. However, there are other applications of chatbots too. Using chatbot software on a website can improve your conversions and boost your marketing.
Most of the information regarding how chatbots increase conversions is usually taken out of context. It is true that chatbots can increase sales conversions in some industries by 70%, but it is difficult to establish universal chatbot benchmarks. Some marketing statistics make such estimations and bold claims, but it is impossible to monitor all ecommerce transactions and connect them with chatbot usage.
Instead, it’s best to discuss what the engagement rate is for each type of message sent by the chatbot. For example, if we implement chatbots that ask for a CSAT score, we can expect 6% of users to reply to their message or give a score. Here is a detailed list of chatbot stats connected with customer interactions
The more specific and contextual the messages are, the greater the amount of interaction from customers. In 2022, the trend for specialized chatbots took force. Most likely, it will become even more popular in 2023.
As chatbots become more widespread, businesses will need to ensure that they are providing an excellent customer experience. In order to do this, chatbots will need to be able to handle more complex conversations and provide accurate information. Chatbots must be able to keep up with customer expectations.
We asked users what they expect from chatbots. It turned out that response time is the most important issue for them. Interestingly, the results coincide perfectly with the business goals of companies that want to get a chatbot for their business websites.
Our survey shows that customers expect:
Some have very strong opinions about chatbots used in customer service:
I'm somebody who absolutely hates calling people but I still would a million times rather talk to a human than a poorly working AI that barely understands what you say and can't parse context or tone.
On the other hand, the majority of consumers are very impatient and declare that they would use a chatbot. A typical positive chatbot experience is all about receiving accurate answers to simple questions.
So, the two most important things turn out to be getting an instant reply at any time of the day and accurate recognition of customer problems. Finding the balance between meeting these two requirements turns out to be the key issue of modern customer service.
The best approach seems to be a combination of traditional human-operated live chat and chatbot automation. There are many situations where interaction with a chatbot is just fine.
Many studies have tried to show that Millennials and Generation Z are extremely keen on new technologies and chatbots. However, these observations may prove to be a bit of an overreaching interpretation.
It’s true that Gen Zers spend more time online, on social media, and their messaging apps. But they are also quite skeptical of fully automated customer service.
While the youngest segment of consumers appreciates the convenience of instant messaging powered by AI, only 44% of Gen Z respondents believe that chatbots will make traditional customer support call centers obsolete. The new generation of online shoppers seems much more aware that different situations require different ways of communicating. Still, around 20% of Gen Z shoppers prefer to start their customer service experience with chatbots rather than talking to human agents. Compared to only 4% of boomers, this is quite a big difference.
Businesses should try to meet their expectations and offer chatbots or direct human contact depending on which option is more convenient. They value both—quick answers from chatbots and real-time assistance from live chat agents when they need help.
Chatbots offer a variety of benefits for businesses. They can help increase customer engagement and loyalty, drive sales, and improve operational efficiency. Additionally, chatbots can provide businesses with valuable data insights that can help improve marketing efforts and product development.
On the other hand, chatbots are still a relatively new technology. There are some inherent pitfalls to them.
Nonetheless, chatbots are a 1:1 answer to the needs of today’s consumers and business owners. Companies using chatbots have already discovered that they:
It is difficult to miss the exact correspondence between what customers expect and what chatbots are able to deliver.
Ultimately, chatbots offer a cost-effective way for businesses to solve common customer service problems. And connect with customers in a more personal way and improve their overall customer experience.
It’s quite visible that chatbots are heavily influencing practically every sphere of our life and business. Here is some more data proving the impact of chatbots on finance, healthcare, and HR.
Chatbots in finance:
Chatbots in healthcare:
There may be some murmurs of discontent regarding the fact that AI is dominating yet another aspect of our daily lives. However, at the end of the day, chatbots are perceived as a useful technology by consumers and businesses alike.
Are there too many companies that use chatbots?
Not according to our study. Only 17% of customers believe that companies overuse chatbots and make it too difficult to reach human agents. On the other hand, the majority of respondents find chatting with bots a positive experience that is convenient and efficient.
Oh, and if you would like to test the chatbots yourself, you can use our free tool.
Learn how to use AI chatbots to boost your sales
Sources:
Methodology:
The research was carried out in 2022. For this study about chatbot trends, we collected answers from 1,541 respondents. We used Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, Reddit, and a survey displayed in the main panel of our dashboard.
Respondents from the consumer segment were 50.3% males and 49.6% females. The sample’s average age was 38 with a standard deviation of 13. Over 95% of respondents were from the US. Considering such age and gender makeup, the study’s findings can be extrapolated to the general US population.
Respondents had to answer about 20 questions the majority of which were scale-based or multiple choice. The survey had an attention check question.
Fair Use Statement:
Has our research helped you learn more about chatbots and current trends in conversational AI? Feel free to share chatbot statistics from this study. Just remember to mention the source and include a link to this page. Thank you!
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As a PR and Content Specialist, Maryia loves exploring hot topics in business and tech to further share them with the world.
