The Future Of Chatbots Is Not Even Messenger

There has been quite a buzz around chatbots and bot platforms since late last year. And this is going to be the trend for the whole of this year as well.

For those who have been aloof to the whole hype around this, I’ll give a quick sense on what’s been happening.

There are a few ways how people are looking at bots :

  1. Chat-based assistants: You need to download an app (or could be an invisible app) where you can chat about a specific purpose or it can be a generic bot. This can be a completely automated bot like Luka (to find restaurants around you) or Digit (to manage your personal finance). Or it can be a hybrid of human operators and machine intelligence like Magic, Operator etc.
  2. Bot platforms: Slack, Line, Kik, Telegram and now Facebook have opened up their chatbot platforms.
    In a way, most of the messaging platforms are fighting amongst each other to be the bot platform of the future. This is primarily because most users prefer text to communicate and they are spending a lot of time on these messaging apps already. And nobody wants to miss out on this opportunity.
  3. Bots-as-a-Service: As Sarah mentions in this post, if bots are the next big thing, then whatever makes bot-building easy and cross-platform will be huge. With all the messaging platforms opening up their interface, it’s still not simple for someone like me, who can’t code, to build a bot and deploy it right away.
    There is a huge opportunity here to bridge this gap and allow anyone to have business logic running over an automated chat interface. Again, it will be a mix of rule based approach (think of having multiple if-else statements) and then NLP piece would come in.

What are we still missing?

gp1
Yes, there is a browser too!

Among all this noise, what we seem to forget is one of the widely used app on our mobile device: our very own mobile browser. And the fact that it is possible to chat within a browser as well. All the 2 billion smartphones have one browser or the other.

Imagine this — you are looking to order medicines and you land up on this CareOnGo convBot through a google search.

Or you might want to book a beauty service and MyGlamm bot chats with you and takes your order. Or you can interact with a potential employer over a bot, like how Pipemonk is doing it.

The difference being, that you are landing up on convBots instead of the traditional websites.

There are a couple of interesting points, which make a strong case for mobile browser being the bot platform:

  • No change in user behaviour : If you are new in town and need a haircut, you won’t go on Messenger or Telegram, you’d just do a google search. Switching to a messaging app altogether for this can be a huge shift in user behaviour.
  • Huge Reach : According to a Morgan Stanley report, US mobile browser audiences are 2X larger than app audiences across the top 50 mobile web properties and have grown 1.2X faster over the past 3 years.

Mobile web experience is frustrating. Why don’t we try and fix it then instead of just abandoning such a huge platform altogether and leaving it to God’s mercy.

convBots on mobile web is the first step in this directions.

Note: The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views held by Inc42, its creators or employees. Inc42 is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by guest bloggers.

You have reached your limit of free stories
Become An Inc42 Plus Member

Become a Startup Insider in 2024 with Inc42 Plus. Join our exclusive community of 10,000+ founders, investors & operators and stay ahead in India’s startup & business economy.

2 YEAR PLAN
₹19999
₹7999
₹333/Month
Unlock 60% OFF
Cancel Anytime
1 YEAR PLAN
₹9999
₹4999
₹416/Month
Unlock 50% OFF
Cancel Anytime
Already A Member?
Discover Startups & Business Models

Unleash your potential by exploring unlimited articles, trackers, and playbooks. Identify the hottest startup deals, supercharge your innovation projects, and stay updated with expert curation.

The Future Of Chatbots Is Not Even Messenger-Inc42 Media
How-To’s on Starting & Scaling Up

Empower yourself with comprehensive playbooks, expert analysis, and invaluable insights. Learn to validate ideas, acquire customers, secure funding, and navigate the journey to startup success.

The Future Of Chatbots Is Not Even Messenger-Inc42 Media
Identify Trends & New Markets

Access 75+ in-depth reports on frontier industries. Gain exclusive market intelligence, understand market landscapes, and decode emerging trends to make informed decisions.

The Future Of Chatbots Is Not Even Messenger-Inc42 Media
Track & Decode the Investment Landscape

Stay ahead with startup and funding trackers. Analyse investment strategies, profile successful investors, and keep track of upcoming funds, accelerators, and more.

The Future Of Chatbots Is Not Even Messenger-Inc42 Media
The Future Of Chatbots Is Not Even Messenger-Inc42 Media
You’re in Good company