Chatbots are simpler and they offer a better customer experience through personaliasation and machine learning

During his keynote speech at a conference, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took the developers and brands by storm when he said, “Bots are the new apps.” Well, he wasn’t humouring his audience. The latest report released by Grand View Research, Inc. states that the global chatbot market is expected to reach USD 1.25 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 24.3%.

While a report by market researcher App Annie mentions that the mobile app market to grow 270% to USD 189 billion by 2020, the fact is that chatbot economy is growing much faster than that of app economy. In its Top Strategic Predictions for 2018 and Beyond report, Gartner predicts that more than 50% of enterprises will spend more per annum on chatbot and bots creation than traditional mobile app development by 2021. These statistics alone indicate that it wouldn’t be long before chatbots take over the mobile apps.

Apple’s Siri and IBM Watson are taking apps to a higher level of personal interaction and efficiency. The shift from apps to chatbots is what is going to characterize our future technology and software.

Here are four primary reasons why chatbots are strongly contending with apps in stores:

App Fatigue

Although there are hundreds of thousands of apps available in stores online, the general public is suffering from app fatigue. Simply put, the number and variety of apps has grown far beyond usability and people don’t use as many apps nowadays. These days, most people download just one new app every month. This is in part because the gap left by most apps and software is being filled in by chatbots within already existing apps. Chatbots provide more positive interaction than apps. Take the entertainment bot Insomno for example. It gives pure entertainment to people who are night owls. You can chat anything and everything under the sun with this bot.

Hence, chatbots are definitely at an advantage when it comes to customer experience. Traditional apps which a mobile user downloads from an app store will become one of many options for customers.

Simple to Use

In comparison to apps, chatbots are simpler to use. To elaborate, when you download a new app, you need to first find the right app for your purpose. Then, you either have to sign up or sign in using an existing account. The next step is to learn how to use the app properly and finally you have to remember using the app on a regular basis. Half the apps you download will be forgotten because they serve a limited function and will take up valuable space on your devices.

Also read: Here are 5 myths about chatbots that people are getting completely wrong

Chatbots are simple to use as they can be integrated within existing apps like Messenger and WhatsApp and can guide people with varying queries towards the right answers and solutions.

Personalisation Power

Apps have a limitation on how far they can be personalised. But a chatbot can adapt to the user during the interaction itself. So the user experience is faster, more focused.

When using an app, the user has to find the functionalities he wishes to use and this fact is becoming a big hurdle in app development. Just as you cannot read all the great books of the world, it is not possible to use all the great apps currently in existence. Chatbots solve this conundrum. The almost human-like experience is more organic.

For instance, Poncho weather bot gives elaborate climate reports in a personalized way with a dash of humour every morning.

Chatbots Dominate Over Apps in Certain Areas

Whether it is retail, customer service or social networks, the presence of chatbots is taking over. Without the memory and data services load incurred by an app, a chatbot can help your retail shopping by quickly finding if the products you require are available and reserving them for you. Calls to a customer service center are often tedious and the waiting times can be much longer than the actual time needed for the solution. You can open up a chat with a chatbot and quickly find out the exact problem and how to solve it. Also, you and your friends can call up a chatbot and start a group conversation, exploring movie timings and ticket availabilities and booking them immediately along with your group of friends.

In the next few years, chatbots will be a service comparable to that of phone calls or software. One of the few things standing in the way of chatbots is the currently unavailability of bots in online stores. To keep up with chatbots, apps need to grow at a rate which is impossible given the current state of technology. Hence, chatbots become the next rational evolution in the online space, thus marking the eventual demise of apps.

Chatbots are the future.

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