We’ve been consistently lukewarm about retail bots--are consumers really willing to browse and purchase in a chat bubble (especially with women’s fashion)? But we have to hand it to ASOS for this attempt. It’s a pretty straightforward replica of their App experience, but we applaud this attempt to reduce friction. Image recognition appears to be the most popular feature. Sure it’s guided path with no NLP, but as the author points out, “By informing users that there are improvements to come, it also gives people a reason to come back, perhaps helping to counteract another big problem associated with chatbots – user abandonment. “ Let’s see how this progresses when they actually have results to share!
A simple problem with a very complex solution. Definitely worth the read to learn how Amazon is tackling making skills more, well, skillful. And just in time considering Google Home began phasing this in in June. And we thought there was fierce competition in the chatbot provider space! 🥊
Great rundown on challenges facing enterprises looking to bring bots to market. It’s no easy task to turn the Titanic, but remember the mantra: Think big, but start small.
Wow. We’ve been in touch with Zach Johnson, founder of Xandra, for a while and we really have to congratulate him for what he’s built/building. Zach was one of the few, early players in the space who really understood the biggest challenge for Bot creators: the creative part. That’s why he’s “hired playwrights, actors, and musicians — creatives who knew how to tell a story.” Especially critical for the entertainment-type experiences Xandra focused on. Given his background, “he was introduced to conversation theory around 15 years ago while working on an e-learning project for the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence,” it’s no wonder he has big dreams, including how to bridge the gap between entertainment and monetization, and how to evolve as hardware does as well. Bravo, Xandra! 👏