Concierge
Traditionally a concierge was someone who provided services to people, like giving advice on local attractions or booking reservations. Historically, interacting with a concierge would've required making a phone call or visiting the front desk of an establishment to make an inquiry. With the advent of technologies like chatbots, conversational commerce software, Ai (artificial intelligence), ML (machine learning), and NLP (natural language processing) everything has changed.
An electronic concierge is a platform that enables either 1:1 human interactions or an AI-driven software solution created to provide personalized customer experiences. The goal of an electronic concierge is to create a convenient, automated way for customers to interact with businesses, ask questions, and access services.
This software can be used in almost every industry, but the primary adopters so far have been hospitality, healthcare, travel & tourism, retail, banking, and SaaS (or) technology companies.
Today’s electronic concierge has expanded its role from a simple text box that accessed company FAQs to a powerful customer loyalty resource that includes everything from healthcare recommendations, hospitality support, retail and dining experiences, concert ticket bookings, entertainment organization, shopper support, and many more.
People can use an electronic concierge to find out about the latest movies in their area or what restaurants are nearby with good reviews. They can also ask their virtual concierge (a person using an electronic concierge platform) for help with booking flights, lodging, or other travel plans. Electronic concierges are becoming increasingly integrated into our lives as they get busier and humans are connected globally through the internet.
If you google, "Best Concierge Software," you'll probably end up more confused than when you started, as there are many different types of concierge services available. In fact, G2 lists more than 25 different options for Best Concierge Software and they're all targeted toward completely different use cases. Most of them are aimed at the travel industry supporting hotels and trip advisors, and hospitality, but there are a few that offer front office services and other features.
1. Chatbot-based concierges – These are AI-driven chatbots that use natural language processing (NLP) to understand customer intentions and provide relevant responses. Probably the first real digital concierge solution, chatbots like Drift provided a service online that was a step up from the traditional website FAQ scraper.
2. Human-supported concierges – Human-supported concierge services, like Zendesk, come with a service desk agent who manually assists customers in their inquiries. Primarily used in a customer support capacity, human-supported concierges gained popularity as call center costs increased.
3. Virtual Concierge - This type of concierge service is often used by hotels and resorts to provide guests with personalized recommendations on local attractions, restaurants, and other fun things to do. Virtual concierges are usually supported by an AI-based chatbot coupled with a team of human agents who are available through a website or chat service.
4. Digital Concierge - This type of concierge service is used by retailers and businesses to provide customers with personalized experiences. Digital concierges offer information on products, services, or the company itself and they can be integrated into websites, apps, chatbots, or even physical kiosks.
5. Conversational Commerce - This type of concierge service is the newest and most advanced version of electronic concierges. Platforms like Humankind have put 1:1 human connection back into the shopping experience. By integrating technology and humans, conversational commerce enables customers to have guided shopping experiences. This allows customers to have an excellent shopping experience and make purchases through a conversational interface online and through SMS.
The next time you're looking for a way to make your customers' experience more meaningful and engaging, consider the options available when it comes to electronic concierges. With so many different technologies available today, there's sure to be something that suits your company’s needs.
PwC did a recent study of shoppers and consumers. In the study, they found that more than 82% of shoppers wanted more human interaction throughout their purchase experience. This is where the electronic concierge comes in. With an electronic concierge, like Humankind, you can provide customers with a personalized and meaningful purchase experience that helps build trust between your brand and them.
The benefits of using a Virtual or Electronic Concierge solution to engage customers to include (but are not limited to):
• Increased customer engagement and loyalty. Having a personal touch from a human concierge ensures that customers feel listened to, validated, and valued. Having a product expert guide you through a shopping experience allows you to understand at a deeper level what your customers want and need - which keeps them coming back for more.
• Improved customer experience. By providing quick, personalized assistance throughout their purchase journey, customers are able to find products or services that best suit their needs faster and more easily. At Humankind, we call these "high-consideration decisions" as they're often purchases that require some detailed knowledge or insight.
• Increased CVRs (sales conversions). With the help of a digital concierge, customers can find the exact products or services that they need.
Using Humankind, our customers have experienced 27% higher conversions than before using our platform, which means increased revenue for your business.
But not just CVRs, when you look at the entire customer lifecycle, using virtual concierge software will allow upsell and cross-sell opportunities, increase customer loyalty (which ultimately lowers CAC), increase LTV (lifetime value), and AOV (average order value).
Overall, electronic concierges are an integral part of any online retail business strategy and have the potential to revolutionize customer experiences. It’s time to start thinking about how you can integrate this technology into your existing infrastructure and reap the rewards.
In today's world, customers want seamless interactions and immediate, excellent service when shopping for the products they desire. But as isolation and loneliness have grown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, remote workplaces, and social division, so too has the human need for connection.
Humankind enables you the convenience of a personal shopper with the experience of texting a friend. This concept has revolutionized the way brands like Taylormade Golf interact with their customers.
Capable of handling more than 20 conversations at once, a virtual concierge backed by Humankind's technology can provide expert advice and a fully integrated shopping experience from making product recommendations to dropping items into the cart that a customer can review and purchase.
This is a new level of personalized service for online retailers!
Electronic concierge jobs are some of the fastest-growing remote positions globally. They offer people who are passionate about an industry, brand, or product the opportunity to make a great income from their laptop, anywhere in the world.
If you're considering a virtual concierge role, you can find them on LinkedIn, SimplyHired, Indeed, and many other job boards.
An electronic concierge job description may vary depending on the client, but generally, they will look something like this:
“As a personal concierge, you will be responsible for providing an excellent customer experience while walking shoppers through the buying process. You'll answer questions, provide product recommendations and advice, support shoppers in navigating a website, and much more, including:
• Act as an expert advisor for customers looking to buy products in your specific industry.
• Guide customers through the purchase journey, providing them with tailored product recommendations and advice.
• Establish a relationship with customers, delivering an extraordinary customer experience that will ensure their loyalty and increase conversion rates.
• Monitor customer feedback, responding to inquiries as they come into your dashboard.”
If you’re interested in becoming an online concierge, it’s essential to understand the skillset required. Review the above description and check out the sites I mentioned to see actively hiring brands around the world.
Remember, to be successful as a digital concierge, you need to possess excellent communication and customer service skills. You should also have strong research skills, and the ability to provide helpful advice and suggestions.
To thrive long-term as a virtual concierge, you'll want a genuine curiosity toward people and a foundation for asking great questions.
At Humankind, our concierge software gives online retailers like Gathr Outdoors the opportunity to provide their customers with a truly personalized shopping experience that not only drives more sales but also increases customer engagement and loyalty.
Our personal concierge software can help your business become more efficient, increase the customer lifetime value, increase repeat purchase rates, reduce operational costs, and bring in qualified leads at a lower cost of acquisition. All while allowing you to provide your shoppers with a better customer experience than any of your competitors.
If you're interested in seeing how we do it, book your demo of Humankind today!
