Media
AI chatbot becomes Very’s largest customer service channel
June 1, 2021
Very Assistant, Very.co.uk’s artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, has become the online-only retailer’s largest customer service channel.
Previously only available via the app, today the chatbot answers over a quarter of a million (268,000*) customer queries a month, having been launched on the Very website in September 2020.
Very Assistant, which uses artificial intelligence to recognise and understand natural language, helps customers with queries including tracking orders, changing account details, and reminding the customer of their next account payment date.
As a result of the success of the chatbot – as well as its focus on increasing online tools for customers to self-serve, Very has seen inbound customer service contact reduce by almost a quarter year-on-year (23%).
Mark Billingham, customer care director at The Very Group, which operates Very, said: “Our customers love the convenience of the chatbot. It’s always accessible, helpful for a wide range of service queries, and means many of our customers don’t need to contact us.
“With more customer service questions being answered by our chatbot, our advisors are focusing on dealing with the more complex queries over the phone. This has helped us as we’ve seen customer numbers grow over the last 12 months.
“Because the chatbot is powered by artificial intelligence, it learns and becomes more effective every time it interacts with our customers. It’s one of the ways we’re investing to improve the digital experience for our 4.5m customers.”
*Monthly average December 2020 – May 2021
