The Levi's chatbot website widget by Mode.ai Levi’s has teamed up with tech company Mode.ai to launch a chatbot on Facebook Messenger focused on helping customers find the perfect pair of jeans. The Levi’s Virtual Stylist, as it’s called, assists shoppers with fit, rise and stretch for its denim line, all the while aiming to reduce returns by also providing sizing recommendations. Users can search through the entire catalog of the brand, get inspiration by seeing the items worn by others in a section called ‘See it Styled’, then opt to either view more items like the ones they’re looking at or indeed click through to the product page. All of the results are synced with real-time inventory data, so they don’t see out of stock items. As a plus point, the bot understands real language – meaning it parses text input to deduce exactly what the user is looking for. When I typed “Looking for white jeans for women”, for instance, it then did indeed surface white jeans for women. The Levi's chatbot website widget by Mode.ai Eitan Sharon, CEO of Mode.ai, which refers to itself as an AI-powered visual chatbot, or a visual shopping bot for retailers, said: “The Levi's Virtual Stylist is a tool for customer engagement with the brand, but also for driving sales of products. Our unique visual AI technology is a real game changer, as there are many limitations [that] pure text-based search cannot address.” What’s perhaps most interesting is that Levi’s has also worked with Mode.ai to create a separate version of the chatbot as a widget on its website – both for desktop and mobile. Part of the challenge with Facebook Messenger’s bots so far is driving the discoverability piece. This is something Facebook itself is focusing on improving, but by being embedded straight in its e-commerce site, Levi’s can push greater uptake of the technology too. Live chat isn’t a new feature on retail sites, rather one that has been steadily increasing over the past few years. According to the National Retail Federation’s 2017 Omnichannel Retail Index, at least 54% of retailers currently offer it on their websites. A study from Idealo meanwhile found that customers who'd worked with a live chat representative found the highest level of service satisfaction at 73%, compared to 61% by email and 44% by phone. In those instances, what we’re talking about is human-powered chat. In Levi’s case, the benefit lies in the fact an AI chatbot is infinitely more scalable, not to mention available 24 hours a day. Sharon further adds there is a benefit in having AI continuing to learn while the customer shops; improving the algorithms as it goes. He also says it’s the customer’s entry experience to the bot that is key to its success. “Once a user is engaged and 'conversing' with the bot, the customer experience is very positive. If a user arrives and only clicks on one button, [they don’t] get to access the full potential of what the bot can offer. We worked hard with Levi's (and will continue to do so) to improve the initial experience upon entry to the bot. For example, since the AI-powered chatbot experience is new, we take the customer through a series of guided questions with a set of quick reply (QR) buttons that help them navigate through the bot experience and see the functionality available.” Long term the technology is only going to improve in all forms, he adds. The Mode.ai team is seeing a lot of interest in how to integrate its technology with voice assistants as well as virtual try-on, for instance, which it is currently developing.
Levi 's Virtual Stylist website allows customers to have more interaction with the brand and also helps sell jeans by using AI tools to communicate with customers . The Facebook Messenger chatbot from clothing company Mode.ai gives shoppers a series of questions , offering responses via the quick reply buttons that create a positive user experience and also allows them to see the other functions that the bot offers .