For the second year in a row, Saks Fifth Avenue launched a Holiday Gift Guide chatbot on Facebook Messenger. The Saks team brought back the feature after last year’s success — 55% of users who took the quiz clicked back to the retailer’s e-Commerce site, with many of them purchasing the gifts that were suggested by the AI-powered guide.
“We want to reach customers wherever they are and be a resource,” said Emily Essner, SVP of Marketing and Digital at Saks Fifth Avenue in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “1.2 billion people actively use Messenger to communicate, so it’s a no-brainer to have an active presence. We decided to work with Headliner Labs to build a fluid, conversational recommendation experience in Messenger because it resonates with customers and translates into clickthrough traffic back to Saks.”
Headliner Labs developed the chatbots from beginning to implementation, leveraging consumer data collected by Facebook.
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To activate the chatbot, users can click the “Send a Message” button on the right-hand side of the page. From there, they can take a quiz to see recommended gifts “For Him,” “For Her” or “For Kids.” The bot asks users four questions about the person they’re looking to buy for, including favorite drinks and vacation spots, and based on the user’s responses the bot suggests relevant gifts from Saks.com. Additionally, the bot tracks conversions and clicks over time, and will adjust future gift suggestions based on what users have purchased or browsed.
“The conversations for this chatbot happen entirely on Facebook Messenger,” said Essner. “However, clients can pick up and leave off between a web browser and the app on your phone. There are Click-to-Messenger ads that send people directly to the bot. We also have the ability to follow up with people in Messenger after they have completed the gift guide for a seamless customer service experience.”
