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5 innovative ways to improve your retail business

https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2017/05/15/5-innovative-ways-improve-retail-business-technology/#.tnw_kdrUdkAO

Retail and e-commerce is one of the most competitive industries. Besides some of the more major players such as eBay, Amazon, Walmart, and Target, thousands of smaller eCommerce products have flooded the market. In order to stand out among your competitors, win more customers, and, as a result, increase your revenue, you should keep an eye on the latest technological advancements.

By adopting new technologies within your retail business, you will be able to grow your sales, increase brand awareness and customer loyalty, and improve your customer service. This is only the tip of the iceberg. Technological innovations are at the core of any future-ready, successful business.

Based on our hands-on experience and vast domain knowledge, the following innovative tools and solutions have proven to be the most beneficial in retail.

Consumers prefer chatting with customer service bots for simple tasks, new research finds

89% of global consumers rate their overall perception of bots as "positive" or "neutral"

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/consumers-prefer-chatting-with-customer-service-bots-for-simple-tasks-new-research-finds-300456751.html

Apple Is Bringing Its Popular Messaging App to Businesses

http://fortune.com/2017/06/07/apple-businesses-imessage/

Apple could be following in the footsteps of Facebook, bringing business conversations to its popular mobile messaging app, iMessage.

According to a page set up on Apple's developer portal, the company is offering a new tool for businesses to connect with customers directly from iMessage. The new feature, first spotted by TechCrunch, is meant to let businesses chat with customers, provide answers to questions, and complete other customer service requests. Apple also said that businesses can charge customers for services and products using iMessage, possibly using Apple's mobile payments wallet, Apple Pay, to complete transactions.

The Cupertino-based company said it would be revealing more details about the new service during its annual developer conference, WWDC, which is taking place this week in San Jose.

Westpac looks to bots after customer service upgrade

http://www.afr.com/technology/westpac-looks-to-bots-after-customer-service-upgrade-20170604-gwk977

Westpac has completed a multimillion-dollar upgrade of its customer service platforms, designed to let it follow inquiries across devices and begin to experiment with smart bots to handle some tasks instead of people.

The upgrade means the bank can better handle an estimated 65 million customer interactions each year, and it is hoped this will eliminate the bane of customers' existence; explaining a problem from scratch each time they call up or change channels.

Technology is the answer