What 7-Eleven’s Chatbot Means for C-Stores
What 7-Eleven’s Chatbot Means for C-Stores
By Jackson Lewis on Nov. 15, 2017IRVING, Texas -- With the launch of its chatbot, 7-Eleven Inc. is paving a new way for consumers to interact with convenience stores.
Chatbots are online programs that use machine learning and artificial intelligence to communicate with customers and provide services to them through an online chat platform such as Facebook Messenger, which 7-Eleven has tapped for its chatbot.
In other words, chatbots are similar to the chat bar that appears on some websites that online visitors can use to communicate directly with an employee when they need help; however, instead of an employee typing responses on the other end, users are communicating with a computer program.
Irving, Texas-based 7-Eleven follows a wide range of companies across industries that have already launched chatbot programs, including Taco Bell, Domino’s, CNN and Fandango, just to name a few.
Click through for more information on chatbots and what this launch means for 7-Eleven and the c-store industry …
What does it do?
For now, 7-Eleven’s chatbot can help users sign up for the chain’s 7Rewards loyalty program, find a store location near them, learn about recent discounts and offers and more, but it’s possible that 7-Eleven could expand the chatbot’s capabilities in the future. The press release announcing the chatbot’s launch stated that the chatbot is “just the beginning of 7-Eleven’s digital innovation.”
What else is out there?
Existing restaurant chatbot capabilities tend to center around mobile ordering. For example, Dom, the chatbot from Domino’s Pizza, allows users to order from the restaurant’s full menu using the chatbot without creating an online profile. Like 7-Eleven’s bot, Dom also works through Facebook Messenger.
The pizza chain has been experimenting with chatbot capabilities since spring 2015 when it launched a way to order pizza via Twitter. Since then, Domino’s has expanded its chatbot ordering platforms to cover a slew of devices, including Apple TV, Ford Sync, smartwatches, Amazon Echo and more.
Why Facebook Messenger?
According to Hey Mojo, a chatbot provider for hotels and restaurants, nearly 30% of Americans are on Facebook Messenger, giving any company hoping to launch a similar program a ready-made platform to reach a wide consumer base.
Launching the chatbot on Facebook Messenger also opens the possibility of communicating with the bot directly through the business’ Facebook page.
Who can launch chatbots?
Chatbots aren’t just reserved for America’s largest c-store and restaurant chains. Smaller businesses also have access to the technology.
Hey Mojo’s blog goes in-depth about one of its customers, Long Beach, Calif.-based Nitro Cafe, a traveling drink cart, that launched a chatbot to alleviate the customer-service demands of the cart’s two-man team running the business.
Nitro Cafe uses the chatbot to inform customers of Nitro’s travel schedule, new drinks and offers. It also offers online ordering and allows visitors to book the cart for an event. Click here to interact with Nitro Cafe’s chatbot directly on its Facebook page.