Chatbots are the hot topic of conversation among developers and investors alike right now. Advances in natural language processing (NLP) and wide adoption of a few messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger, Slack, Snapchat and Whatsapp have presented developers with a unique opportunity. Would you rather navigate to, say, Nordstrom’s website, find the shoe section, figure out the categories, search, choose a pair, add them to a cart, etc., or would you rather message the Nordstrom’s bot: “I need a pair of brown dress shoes, size 10 1/2, leather, and I like Johnson and Murphy” and have it respond with a selection which you can order from simply by tapping? Yeah, thought so. Me too.
Chatbots have a number of advantages. The chat platform (FB for example) knows who you are so that whole create account/auth business can be dispensed with. You can save your personal details like shipping address and payment methods once, and have them shared with companies whose bots you interact with. You don’t have to learn the organization of a new website with a unique information flow. You don’t even have to remember their domain name, and there are still plenty of opportunities for branding and positive customer interactions.