Three Ways Facebook Chatbots Might Trip up Retailers

At its annual developer’s conference, Facebook announced it would add Chatbots to its messenger app. These bots are designed to mimic human behaviour and some of them will be able to assist users with purchasing goods using the Facebook Messenger app. Retailers need to be aware that users cannot pay using a chatbot yet, although that functionality will likely be added soon. Currently, the bots function as search engines and are able to add interactivity but lack flexibility in regards to input. There is also the potential for bot overload – although the bots are user initiated for now, if chat bots take off, the possibility for as many bots as apps is very real, and sifting through them could become tiresome for users.