In this busy period of Christmas shopping on the web, Botnation, the French platform for creating scalable chatbots, wanted to know on which types of e-commerce sites consumers most wanted or needed support via chatbots.
A survey of 3,859 people reveals the importance of conversation to online shoppers and the best places and times to start these discussions.
The 3 types of sites where the French want more chatbots:
71%: Reservations for accommodation, stays (Airbnb, Booking, etc.)
65%: Generalist marketplaces (Amazon, Target, AliExpress, etc.)
62%: Fashion, clothing, apparel (Veepee, Vinted, etc.)
For 27% of consumers, the most important time to use a chatbot is: At the end of the purchase process for delivery and receipt
47% of French people prefer a site with a chatbot to one without
62% ofFrenchpeople still don’t have enough conversational tools on their websites
“Users are always evolving the tools. The same is true for chatbots. With this survey, we see that the conversation is important at all moments of the customer journey and perhaps more at the end, when the customer needs to be reassured and get a clearer follow-up of his purchases. Botnation has been established for more than 5 years on the French market of conversational agents and has collaborated with hundreds of companies and organizations. The observation is simple: the chatbot considerably increases the accessibility of sites and services by answering users and prospects 24/7, but also by identifying new user needs by detecting questions that were not previously considered (questions without answers). It is a real winning duo with the marketing and customer service teams for the company but especially for its users “commented Emmanuel FRANÇOISE, founder of Botnation.
Where do the French want more chatbots?
In order to accompany them during their purchases on the Internet, the French clearly have preferences for sites where they would like to be able to access conversational tools like chatbots. Thus, it is the accommodation and stay booking sites (such as Airbnb, Booking, etc.) that come out on top with 71% of votes. Generalist marketplaces (Amazon, Target, AliExpress, etc.) are in second place with %.. Finally, on the third step of the podium with 62% are the sites dedicated to fashion and clothing (Veepee, Vinted, etc.) that are favored by the French.
What are the three types of sites for which you like or would like to have the support of a Chatbot?
| Ranking | Answers | Percentages |
| N°1 | Reservations for accommodation, stays (Airbnb, Booking, etc.) | 71 % |
| N°2 | Generalist marketplaces (Amazon, Target, AliExpress, etc.) | 65 % |
| N°3 | Fashion, clothing, etc. (Veepee, Vinted, etc.) | 62 % |
| N°4 | Online ticketing (Ticket Master, Billet Réduc, etc.) | 57 % |
| N°5 | Beauty, health, care (Yves Rocher, Sephora, etc.) | 52 % |
| N°6 | Furniture & decoration (Ikea, Gifi, etc.) | 51 % |
| N°7 | Electronic products and household appliances (Cdiscount, Darty, etc.) | 51 % |
| N°8 | Cultural products (Fnac, Cultura, etc.) | 42 % |
| N°9 | Food & FMCG (E.Leclerc, Carrefour, Auchan, etc.) | 28 % |
| N°10 | Games and Toys (Oxybul, JoueClub, etc.) | 22 % |
| N°11 | Other | 3 % |
When do the French want the help of chatbots?
If the French need automated support, they do not want it at any time. In fact, 27% of respondents prefer to use a chatbot at the end of their shopping experience to get more information and insight into the delivery of their product and how to receive it. Technical problems and after-sales service came in second place with 25% of the votes, just ahead of the need for information on certain products chosen before purchase. Then, more than 13% of French people would like to be accompanied by a chatbot during the whole customer journey.
When would you like to have the most support with a chatbot?
| Answers | Percentages |
| At the end of my purchase for delivery and reception terms | 27 % |
| For my technical problems, after sales service, etc. | 25 % |
| For information on selected products | 24 % |
| During the entire customer journey | 13 % |
| At the time of payment | 5 % |
| At the very beginning of my research | 3 % |
| To discuss new offers, developments, etc. | 1 % |
| I do not know | 1 % |
| Other | 1 % |
The French = chatbot in love!
During their research and browsing, French Internet users clearly prefer sites that now offer chatbots. More than 47% of those surveyed said so. For 28% it doesn’t matter and only 25% don’t like these tools.
To choose between two sites, you prefer :
| Answers | Percentages |
| The one who has a chatbot | 47 % |
| The one that doesn’t have a chatbot | 25 % |
| No matter what | 28 % |
More conversations with a chatbot!
For 62% of the French, the sites do not yet offer enough tools to communicate and converse with their customers. The conversation is therefore very important and needs to be further improved and diversified to meet all needs. 23% feel there are enough conversational tools and 15% feel there are too many.
In your opinion:
| Answers | Percentages |
| The sites do not offer enough tools to communicate and converse with their customers | 62 % |
| The sites offer enough tools to communicate and converse with their customers | 23 % |
| Sites offer too many tools to communicate and converse with their customers | 15 % |
* Methodology: survey of 3,859 people throughout France aged 18 and over, conducted online, on the BuzzPress France proprietary panel, using the quota method, during the period from December 3 to 9, 2021.
All the information put forward by the respondents is declarative.
About BotNation
Founded in 2017 by Emmanuel FRANCOISE, Botnation is a chatbot creation platform based on a proprietary AI. Botnation offers a freemium, ergonomic and “nocode” offer including tutorials and free templates. The platform makes it easy to create chatbot for all websites, WordPress, Facebook Messenger, Instagram and Whatsapp.
The platform can be used live by companies, agencies and even students who want to discover the power of artificial intelligence developed by Botnation.
Botnation’s team is composed of 10 people divided between Paris and Rennes. The company already has several hundred customers, including large accounts such as Cdiscount, Enedis, Keolis, Société Générale, Facebook and hundreds of SMEs.
In just a few years, Botnation has generated tens of millions of conversations and billions of messages exchanged.
