Originally published by Deena Amato-McCoy on Chain Store Age.
Upscale brands are grabbing the attention of holiday procrastinators.
Three in 10 shoppers are still scrambling to finish holiday shopping, according to the National Retail Federation, and many are jumping online in search of their perfect, albeit “last minute” holiday gifts.
Luxury brands see these harried shoppers as an opportunity to move the needle on holiday revenue, and they are using digital disruptors to ease their pain. For example, Nordstrom launched its first-ever, limited edition chatbot, a computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users. Nordstrom’s bot, which is supported by a mobile messaging platform from Snaps, conducts these “conversations” via Facebook Messenger and Kik.
“We know this technology has recently become more widely used, and we were excited to discover a relevant way to integrate it into our offering to help us achieve our goal of delivering great experiences and products to our customers,” Jessica Canfield, spokesperson for Nordstrom told Chain Store Age.
As Nordstrom’s shoppers access the bot through either messaging app, they are asked several questions about who they are shopping for, such as where the recipient spends their weekends, their main interest when eating out, even vacation preferences. Based on their answers, the bot serves up tailored gift ideas.