Press and Media

The way shoppers and brands interact has changed fundamentally in recent years, thanks to the rise of online shopping, social media and mobile usage. With the latest round of innovations, brands must literally engage in conversation with consumers — and deliver relevant, instantaneous two-way communication at scale.

Retailers are finally grasping the significance of automated customer-service platforms and are ready to unleash them on the world.

Voice control is the next evolution of human-machine interaction, thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, data collection, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things.

Many business leaders focus on acquiring new customers when trying to grow. Although that’s an important component, it’s even more critical to retain the ones you have and give them a connection to your brand. Yet too many companies neglect this key concept of customer loyalty

Rising consumer expectations and increases in advertising expenses are driving the cost of customer acquisition and conversion through the roof. In fact, one study found an average increase of 65 percent in the past five years. This makes it tougher to compete, as it often means a net loss on the first order, and many customers never return. In order to stand out and strengthen profit-boosting customer loyalty, modern brands are turning to value-added services and automation to create an exceptional customer experience.

In marketing today, artificial intelligence is a valuable assistant. But while AI is a useful tool when it comes to gathering and analyzing data, people are still superior when it comes to outside-the-box ideas. Because creativity is such a major element of marketing, autonomous AI has yet to be fully implemented.

PureFormulas selected the Linc platform for its commerce-specialized natural language understanding, allowing the e-tailer to avoid the expense of developing a custom-built AI solution. Since launching AI-based, automated customer service, PureFormulas has seen increased customer engagement and conversions across more channels, improved customer experience as a result of instant order information and quicker resolution of questions, and heightened engagement from personalized recommendations and better access to customer data.

Still, the Best Buy-Amazon partnership for Smart TV sales brings the companies closer than they had ever been before, according to Luke Starbuck, vice president of marketing at customer care automation platform Linc.

In our digital world, customer centricity, the customer experience and personalization separate the winners from the losers. So it’s not a coincidence that the companies that invest in collecting customer data thrive.