Digital Humans in eCommerce: 5 Use Cases
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What are Digital Humans?
Digital Humans are virtual human-like AI characters, which can be implemented in any industry to improve the customer experience. Similar to chatbots, digital humans are experts at handling essentially any administrative task they are given, however, they are more technologically advanced than the chatbot. Their main difference from chatbots is the physical appearance of digital humans, but they are also able to interpret the body language of customers, judging their tone and attitude, and adjusting their virtual appearance accordingly. This added benefit of body language detection and expression gives digital humans the ability to create closer relationships with customers, which can help increase your turnover rate for online, and in-store purchases. While they are not an attempt to replace human contact within customer service, digital humans are the next step in the evolution of AI technology.
Benefits of Digital Humans
Digital humans include all the benefits of chatbots, while offering several advantages. Just like chatbots, they can handle around-the-clock customer inquiries, increasing customer satisfaction without increasing wages. They also have incredible scalability and can be customized by any business to work most efficiently for them. Managers can change the tasks digital humans deal with depending on what they need at the time, making them a multi-use technology with endless possibilities. Digital humans are not just for customer communication, they are also highly capable of executing tasks like drafting and sending emails, cold calling, and recalling past customer information.
Digital humans come with the added benefit of a human appearance, which gives them a significant advantage when compared to the chatbot. This feature can help ease any hesitations certain people may have to interact with AI, which is an apprehension many people still have. On the other hand, the appearance of a digital human can offer all the comfort of talking to a real person, without having to actually speak to a real person. Additionally, digital humans can create a safer environment for some customers who do not feel comfortable sharing some information with a real human. In retail, this can be useful when discussing potentially sensitive information like clothing size or personal preferences. For example, a woman shopping for clothing may feel more comfortable “speak[ing] to a female-presenting digital person about bra fittings” (The Verge). This kind of customization being available to customers allows them to curate their own experience and feel as comfortable as possible working with digital humans.
Use Cases for Digital Humans in eCommerce
In general, when a customer seeks to return a product, you encounter one of two situations: they either aim for a refund or wish to exchange the item.
1. Human-like Interaction
Many people have an apprehension to using AI technology, and the transactional interactions offered by chatbots and voicebots do not foster a comfortable or trustworthy feeling in their responses. Digital humans differ in that they use visual AI to mimic human body language and respond to vocal and physical cues appropriately. Combined with the benefits of any virtual assistant – recommendations, payment assistance, shipping and handling help – digital humans help build brand loyalty and customer trust. Being able to offer natural flowing conversations around the clock is a large advantage for e-commerce companies and is available with the implementation of digital humans.
2. Sales Advising
Serving as the face and voice of the brand, the Digital Sales Agent excels in providing personalized product recommendations, aiding in purchase decisions and alternative evaluations, supporting ongoing campaigns and product upsells. Its unique ability to create an emotional connection fosters customer loyalty, making the digital sales experience not just transactional but also engaging and memorable.
Moreover, the virtual agent isn’t confined to your website; it can extend its guidance to assist customers in your physical shops as well. Crossing the divide between eCommerce and physical retail, digital humans can now be found in kiosks at brick-and-mortar stores, providing easy access to all the information and assistance typically available online. Kiosks featuring digital human assistants are becoming more and more popular for many businesses in an effort to offer more high-tech and interactive solutions to customer interactions.
3. Creating Brand Image
Since their appearance is infinitely customizable, digital humans can act as a familiar face for companies that successfully market their own digital humans. Many companies have found a mascot for their business, whether it be GEICO or Michelin Tires, which fosters brand recognition and familiarity in customers; when they see the mascot, they are instinctually reminded of the products associated with it, and therefore become more likely to buy their particular brand. Companies can take advantage of digital humans flexibility and use it to promote themselves across different media streams. With higher exposure, recognition will increase, which drives customer traffic up.
4. Product Demonstrations
Digital humans are able to showcase a product and it’s unique features in an engaging and interactive way, which increases the likelihood of purchases and effectively decreases cart abandonment rate. Offering customers a view of what a product would look like used or worn by an actual human, visual AI aids revolutionize the shopping process and can help increase the trust customers have in their purchases.
5. Personal Shopping
Thanks to their human-like movement and appearance, digital humans are more capable at forming relationships with customers. A benefit of forming this relationships is an added trust between business and customer. Digital humans are able to store information about individual customers to better understand their purchase history and preferences. Digital humans can use this information to monitor new releases or restocks and notify customers of purchase opportunities.
Future of Digital Humans in eCommerce
Since digital humans are already the successor of the chatbot, it is no secret that AI technologies are being developed faster than ever before. New technologies being available to business create opportunities that were previously impossible. Digital humans are also able to leverage their human-like appearance to gain followings for their customized personality. Having a recognizable physical and digital appearance allows digital humans to gain fan-like followings, which can then be used to promote certain products through methods like brand partnerships.
Why Born Digital?
Born Digital specializes in AI technology that can be used by businesses to maximize their operations. We sell our products with the hopes that our clients can simply implement them, design them to fit their unique needs, and start enjoying the benefits of virtual assistants as soon as possible. We focus on bridging the gap between customers and businesses by implementing the most specifically designed, customer focussed services. Using the strengths of modern technology and human interaction, Born Digital digital humans are cutting edge assistants businesses can trust to handle customer facing interactions.
We believe in a future where humanity and technology seamlessly come together. Our solution uniquely combines the latest in AI to enable your business to automate an infinite number of active operations while providing unparalleled customer engagement.