Did you know you can use ChatGPT as a chatbot on your eCommerce store? Peter Roberts was curious about this subject, too. He owns an eCommerce fashion brand. He has great products and loyal customers. But he’s looking for ways to stay ahead of the curve.

He’s heard of ChatGPT. (If you haven’t, do you even live on this planet?!) Now, he’s working on how to use ChatGPT to improve conversions.

For the few uninitiated, ChatGPT is a language model “which interacts in a conversational way”. It was developed by OpenAI. It uses advanced natural language processing (NLP). Users can ‘talk’ to ChatGPT on all kinds of subjects.

There are two ways in which ChatGPT can help you with your eCommerce experience.

  • It can be integrated with your website as a chatbot and personalization tool
  • You can engage with ChatGPT at https://chat.openai.com/

Here’s a look at ways ChatGPT can help improve your eCommerce conversions.

Integrated with the website: ChatGPT as a chatbot

ChatGPT for customer support

Peter understands that top-quality customer service is a key differentiator. However, he has a very small team and limited funds. His customers wait for a long time for responses from his support team. He has used conventional chatbots. However, he found them unrealistic and frustrating to use.

He is now trying to use ChatGPT as a chatbot on his eCommerce website. It provides personalized support to customers in real time. This is one of the biggest benefits of using ChatGPT for eCommerce. ChatGPT can answer customer queries and provide product recommendations. This helps guide users toward a purchase. Such personalized 24×7 support leads to increased satisfaction, loyalty, and conversions.

Using the OpenAI API, his website can communicate with the ChatGPT model. He has also integrated his website inventory management system with the ChatGPT API. It then makes recommendations based on real-time stock, product details, purchase history and interests.

Based on this data, the bot can answer queries and assist with buying. Of course, the data needs to be up-to-date and of high quality.

ChatGPT also supports customer service requests like returns or exchanges.

ChatGPT stands apart from other chatbots as it is much more conversational. Its advanced NLP tech makes it less frustrating to engage with ChatGPT. It provides 24×7 support even when human customer service reps are not on call. It can also handle multiple queries in parallel. This makes ChatGPT faster and more efficient than traditional channels.

You can also sign up for an OpenAI API key and follow the guidelines to integrate the API into your website.

Personalized product recommendations

Once integrated, ChatGPT can access Peter’s customers’ browsing and purchase history. Using this, it can generate personalized product recommendations. Let’s say the customer has bought a red linen shirt in size XL. ChatGPT can suggest other red shirts, linen shirts, or pants that match. All suggestions would be in the same size. This improves relevance, engagement, and, thus, on-site experience and conversions.

You can also personalize product recommendations with a product recommendation engine. Read more here and here.

AI analytics and insights

Peter is a little disappointed to find that ChatGPT does not analyze data. It’s an AI tool focusing on language processing, not data analytics. However, it integrates with other tools to share insights.

Let’s say Peter’s customers have been interacting with his chatbot. It can analyze data from these engagements to pull patterns of customer behavior. It can also access real-time sales and traffic data from these users. The tool can thus generate insights and recommend actions.

ChatGPT acts as a front-end to query the tool and present insights.

These AI-powered analytics are presented in a natural style. Business owners like Peter – and you – can thus understand their businesses better. This helps optimize campaigns and offers. This further helps increase conversions.

Implementing ChatGPT on your website

Peter finds that setting up ChatGPT on-site is quite user-friendly. Just follow these steps:

  • Create a ChatGPT API Key from OpenAI’s website
  • Integrate the API Key using a chatbot plugin or custom code
  • Write chatbot responses for common queries, and test them
  • Prepare a complete list of FAQs
  • Run through the entire customer journey yourself
  • Customize chatbot design to suit your branding
  • Train ChatGPT with accurate, relevant product information
    • The more information it has, the better answers it will provide
  • Measure performance and track against pre-defined KPIs
  • Make changes based on feedback
  • Keep training ChatGPT with new product information

Based on the need, integration costs can vary from several hundred dollars to tens of thousands. That’s in addition to the licensing cost. OpenAI already has pricing plans listed for its other language models. ChatGPT costs will likely vary based on usecase and volume of API requests. You can contact their sales team for more information.

Using ChatGPT on the OpenAI website

Improving website content

Peter is using ChatGPT on his website in these ways to improve his store performance. He is also using ChatGPT on the OpenAI site for the same goal. For example, ChatGPT is creating strong product descriptions for his website. He feeds the bot the product highlights, and it creates action-oriented product content.

The technical aspects are covered in all versions, which vary based on tone and style. You can keep asking for fresh versions until you’re happy with the language and story.

Creating marketing content

Peter has found that ChatGPT is also effective when creating engaging marketing content. That includes social media, emailers, and more. It’s often used for social media post copy, as below:

ChatGPT doesn’t just write content. It also gives tips and guidelines. ChatGPT can be asked to create a post with precise specifications. For example, you can request a social media post that suits this requirement:

  • Timing: Product launch
  • Purpose: Promotional
  • CTA: Buy Now
  • Tone: Funny

The success of conversationality

We can’t stress this enough! The major benefit of ChatGPT over competitors is its very natural conversational style. Using simple ChatGPT prompts, Peter’s customers have been interacting with the system instantly and clearly. He’s using prompts to up-sell, provide order status or share stock levels.

Let’s say a customer asks if a product is available. ChatGPT can respond with an answer like:

“Yes, it’s available in your size. We have five pieces left in stock. If you place your order today, it will reach you in three working days. Would you like me to add this product to your cart?”

“No, unfortunately, it isn’t available in your size. However, I see a similar product is available and will reach you tomorrow (assuming you order right now). Would you like to check it out?”

That’s the kind of non-intrusive suggestion that will likely result in a purchase!

Peter has been delighted with the results he’s seeing. He is seeing a 32% increase in conversions. His customers are expressing their happiness that high-quality 24×7 support is available.

He’s found that the secret is to keep conversations realistic. Be specific and keep it simple. Don’t ask too many questions. Let the conversation flow naturally. Peter can now spend more time on his business than on customer queries. At the same time, customer satisfaction has increased.

ChatGPT is a great way to provide personalized support. It reduces response time. This improves the customer experience, thus increasing conversions. Integrate ChatGPT into your website and keep it up-to-date. Train it with relevant information. This will drive business sales and revenue.

If you’re like Peter and you’d like to increase online purchases, ChatGPT is a great option. It’s a must-have for an eCommerce business looking to stay ahead of the curve. If you’re interested in integrating ChatGPT into your eCommerce store, contact our experts at Ziffity today.