SOURCE: UpSellit

 

SANTA BARBARA, CA--(Marketwire - June 30, 2009) - The economy is forcing online retailers to change their marketing tactics in order to acquire and retain customers, according to findings from The State of Retailing Online 2009, the 12th annual Shop.org study conducted by Forrester Research Inc. Four out of five retailers think the web is better suited than other channels to withstand the recession, but changes in shoppers' behavior are having an impact on their bottom line.

Customer retention has become critical. SMARTagent, the original artificial intelligence (AI) chat marketing solution, helps online retailers do just that. Companies using the system have saved almost 2.5 million in sales and $178,810,287 in revenue.

How does it work? When a cautious online shopper makes a move to abandon the sales process to look at other sites and compare prices, the SMARTagent chat kicks in and engages the shopper. Utilizing artificial intelligence methodologies and natural language parsing, the technology draws from the company's FAQ and knowledge base to accurately represent the brand's personality and messaging.

"The SMARTagent answers questions and concerns, reassuring the customer," says Tom Kogler, President and CEO of UpSellit, developers of SMARTagent. "It can also offer incentives, such as a discount or free shipping to save the sale." SMARTagent can handle thousands of live and adaptive conversations at once, maintaining interaction and improving customer satisfaction and conversion rates.

PetCareRx, the leading online licensed pet pharmacy in all 50 US States, has seen success using UpSellit's services. "The SMARTagent AI chat technology has been used on segments of traffic in different rotations," says Natalie Bonacasa, Marketing Manager at PetCareRX. "Within the parameters of affected traffic, it has lifted overall conversions from 8% to 10%... resulting in a 25% increase in sales within a 90 day period. This technology has proven so successful in reducing abandonment and increasing sales it is currently being exposed to more and more traffic. UpSellit is also in the process of rolling out a much more advanced chat campaign for PetCareRx, which looks very promising."

For more information about SMARTagent visit http://www.upsellit.com