2018 State of Chatbots Report

This report is a collaboration between Drift, SurveyMonkey Audience, Salesforce, and myclever. We’ve teamed up to shed some light on how chatbots are changing the way people buy from and communicate with businesses.
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Chatbot Chatbot report State answer consumers communicate
About Techcelerate Ventures

Tech Investment and Growth Advisory for Series A in the UK, operating in £150k to £5m investment market, working with #SaaS #FinTech #HealthTech #MarketPlaces and #PropTech companies.
Chatbot Chatbot report State answer consumers communicate
<p>This report is a collaboration between Drift, SurveyMonkey 
Audience, Salesforce, and myclever. We've teamed up to 
shed some light on how chatbots are changing the way 
people buy from and communicate with businesses.  
The survey referenced throughout this report was conducted 
using SurveyMonkey Audience from October 30 through 
November 6, 2017 in the United States with a sample of 1,051 
adults ages 18-64. The sample was balanced by age and 
gender according to the US Census and is representative of 
the adult online population.
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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 00   Introduction: Rise of the Chatbots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 01    The Problems With Traditional Online Experiences . . . . . . . 

 02   Chatbots: Predicted Uses and Potential Benefits  . . . . . . . .

 03   Blockers to Using Chatbots  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 04   Chatbots vs. Other Communication Channels . . . . . . . . . . . 
05   Conclusion & Key Takeaways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Table of Contents
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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00
Introduction: Rise of the Chatbots
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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The way people communicate with 
businesses has been evolving at a 
rapid pace.  
For years, in-person meetings and 
phone calls were the dominant 
means of communication. Then, with 
the rise of the internet, a multitude of 
new options became available, from 
email, to social media, to mobile apps, 
to filling out a form on a website and 
waiting for a follow-up. 
More recently, the rise of real-time 
messaging has led to a fundamental 
shift in how people prefer to connect 
with businesses. 
Drift's State of Conversational 
Marketing report, for example, found 
that people from all 195 countries are 
using online chat to start 
conversations on business websites. 
And that includes people who work at 
companies of every size, sector, and 
nearly every industry, as well as key 
decision-makers (41% of people 
starting online chat conversations 
with businesses are executives).
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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59%
41%
What all of these communication 
channels have had in common, 
including online chat, is that they've 
traditionally relied on humans to do 
the communicating.  
But now that chatbots have arrived on 
the scene, this dynamic is starting to 
change.  
Chatbot | noun. 
A computer program designed to 
simulate conversation with human 
users, especially over the internet.
Many chatbots rely on artificial 
intelligence (AI) in order to simulate 
how humans communicate. More 
specifically, intelligent chatbots often 
rely on machine learning, which is 
when a computer program can 
automatically improve with 
experience, as well as natural 
language processing (NLP), which is 
when machine learning is applied to 
the problem of simulating human-
produced text and language. 
And while chatbots have been in 
development since the 1950s, only in 
recent years have businesses started 
using them for communicating with 
customers and potential customers.
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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    2018 State of Chatbots Report
0.6
Telephone
EmailWebsite
Face-to-face
Online chatMobile app
Social mediaChatbots
Other
2%
15%
28%
30%
38%
39%
54%
60%
60%
Business Communication Channels
How have you communicated with businesses in the past 12 months?
7
In our survey, we found that 15% of consumers have used 
chatbots to communicate with businesses in the past 12 
months.  
While that's one quarter of the amount who've used phone 
and email to communicate with businesses over the same 
time period, it's still a significant number. And in the months 
and years to come, we expect that number to grow 
considerably.  
Keep reading to find out why.
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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01
The Problems With Traditional 
Online Experiences
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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Just like any emerging technology, chatbots will only become 
widely adopted if it's shown that they can solve real 
problems. Otherwise, the novelty will eventually wear off.  
So in order to better understand where the opportunity lies 
for chatbots, we asked our 1,000+ survey participants to think 
about the online services they use today, such as search 
engines, product/service websites, and mobile apps. Then 
we asked them: 
What frustrations have you experienced with these online 
services in the past month?
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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    2018 State of Chatbots Report
10%
16%
18%
22%
23%
24%
26%
27%
28%
31%
34%
Problems With Traditional Online Experiences
What frustrations have you experienced in the past month?
Sites hard to navigate 
Can't get answers to simple questions 
Basic details about a business are hard to find 
Takes too long to find services 
Poorly designed smartphone apps 
Search options on a brand's website not useful 
Services not accessible on mobile devices 
Poor quality online forms 
Services feel impersonal
Brand is unresponsive on Twitter
No service outside normal operating hours
11
The most common frustrations reported by consumers 
included websites being hard to navigate (34%), not being 
able to get answers to simple questions (31%), and basic 
details about a business -- like address, hours of operations, 
and phone number -- being hard to find (28%). 
The takeaway: The online experiences businesses are 
providing no longer match the way people prefer to buy.
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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In the on-demand, real-time world we live in, where 
everything seems to be just one click away, consumers 
expect to be able to find the information they're looking for 
quickly and easily. 
When they can't, they get frustrated, and could end up 
turning to competitors who are providing the type of online 
experience they're looking for. 
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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02
Chatbots: Predicted Uses and 
Potential Benefits
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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Now that we understand the main problems consumers have 
with traditional online experiences, let's look at if (and how) 
chatbots can actually solve these problems.  
Predicted Uses 
In our survey, we provided a brief description of how 
chatbots work and the types of tasks brands and businesses 
use them for. Then we asked our participants: 
What do you predict you would use a chatbot for?
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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    2018 State of Chatbots Report
Getting a quick answer in an emergency
Resolving a complaint or problem
Getting detailed answers or explanations
Finding a human customer service assistant
Making a reservation (e.g. restaurant or hotel)
Paying a bill
Buying a basic item
Getting ideas and inspiration for purchases
Adding yourself to a mailing list or news service
Communicating with multiple brands using one program
(none of these things)
Buying an expensive item
0.4
13%
14%
18%
22%
22%
27%
29%
33%
34%
35%
35%
37%
Predicted Use Cases for Chatbots
What do you predict you would use a chatbot for?
16
The most common predicted uses for chatbots that 
consumers reported included getting quick answers to 
questions in an emergency (37%), resolving a complaint or 
problem (35%), and getting detailed answers or explanations 
(35%).  
It's also worth noting that 34% of consumers predicted that 
they'd use chatbots as a means for getting connected with a 
human.
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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The takeaway: There's alignment between consumers' 
frustrations and their predicted use cases for chatbots. 
Consumers want to be able to use chatbots to surface 
information and get answers quickly and easily.  
And if a chatbot doesn't have all the answers, consumers 
would like that chatbot to be able to connect them with a 
human.
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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Potential Benefits 
Beyond how consumers predict they'll use chatbots, we also 
wanted to know about the specific benefits they think 
chatbots will be able to provide. So we asked our survey 
participants the following question: 
If chatbots were available (and working effectively) for the 
online services that you use, which of these benefits would 
you expect to enjoy?
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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    2018 State of Chatbots Report
8%
32%
35%
37%
43%
43%
51%
55%
55%
64%
Potential Benefits of Chatbots
If chatbots were available (and working effectively) for the online services that 
you use, which of these benefits would you expect to enjoy?
24 hour service 
Getting an instant response 
Answers to simple questions 
Easy communication 
Complaints resolved quickly 
A good customer experience 
Detailed / expert answers 
Answers to complex questions 
Friendliness and approachability 
(none of these)
(none of these)
20
By far, the most common potential benefit of chatbots that 
consumers pointed to was the ability to get 24-hour service 
(64%). That was followed by getting instant responses to 
inquiries (55%), and getting answers to simple questions 
(55%). 
The takeaway: It's clear that consumers see chatbots as 
being able to provide that real-time, on-demand experience 
that they've been craving. 
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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However, that doesn't mean chatbots are poised to replace 
humans. Because when it comes to getting expert answers, 
answers to detailed questions, and overall friendliness/
approachability, chatbots ranked much lower. Those are 
areas where humans will continue to shine. 
Potential Benefits: Millennials vs.  
Baby Boomers 
Here's something that might surprise you: The benefits of 
chatbots that consumers expect to enjoy don't vary too 
widely between age groups. More specifically, it isn't just 
young people who see the potential benefits of chatbots.
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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    2018 State of Chatbots Report
24 hour service
Getting an instant response
Answers to simple questions
Easy communication
Complaints resolved quickly
A good customer experience
Detailed / expert answers
Answers to complex questions
Friendliness and approachability
(none of these)
0.7
13%
29%
38%
36%
38%
46%
52%
64%
61%
58%
5%
33%
33%
37%
45%
38%
48%
52%
51%
66%
Millennials
Baby Boomers
Potential Benefits of Chatbots
Millennials vs. Baby Boomers
23
When we compared responses from Millennials (age 18-34) 
and Baby Boomers (age 55+), we found that Baby Boomers 
were 24% more likely to to expect benefits from chatbots in 
five of the nine categories we looked at.  
The takeaway: Chatbots aren't just for Millennials. This a 
technology that has the potential to improve online 
experiences for all consumers, regardless of age. 
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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03
Blockers to Using Chatbots
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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Despite the many uses and benefits that consumers predict 
chatbots will be able to provide, the mass adoption of 
chatbots isn't a foregone conclusion.  
Especially when you consider how new the technology is, it''s 
understandable that consumers would have some concerns. 
So, we felt it was important for us to ask our survey 
participants the following question:  
What would stop you from using a chatbot?
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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    2018 State of Chatbots Report
3%
15%
24%
26%
27%
30%
43%
I'd prefer to deal with a real-life assistant 
 I'd worry about it making a mistake 
If I could only access it through Facebook 
I'd prefer to use a normal website 
If it wasn't able to 'chat' in a friendly manner 
Nothing would stop me from using a chatbot 
Other
Nothing would stop me from using a chatbot
Other
Potential Blockers to Using Chatbots
What would stop you from using a chatbot?
27
The most common potential blockers to using chatbots that 
consumers reported included preferring to deal with a human 
instead (43%), worrying about the chatbot making a mistake, 
such as during a purchase or while making a reservation 
(30%), and being locked into using chatbots only through 
Facebook (27%). 
However, it's also worth noting that 15% of consumers said 
nothing would stop them from using chatbots. And that figure 
was consistent across all age groups. 
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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The takeaway: Not all consumers are ready to abandon 
human-to-human interactions entirely, and some aren't sure 
they trust the technology to perform certain tasks without 
making mistakes.  
Also, if consumers could only access a chatbot through a 
specific social network, that could be a deterrent to adoption. 
But here's the thing: As a business, it doesn't have to be 
either/or
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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You can use chatbots where they make sense (e.g., for 
providing quick answers to simple questions) and then have 
humans step in when they're needed.  
What's more, you don't have to rely on a specific social 
network like Facebook in order to provide customers and 
potential customers with access to a chatbot. These days, 
you can have chatbots operating directly on your website, 
and you can use hyperlinks to make it easy for people to 
trigger chatbot conversations from any social network.
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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04
Chatbots vs. Other  
Communication Channels
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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While not all consumers are ready to trust chatbots entirely, 
most still acknowledge that chatbots are poised to provide 
several benefits that can enhance their online experiences. 
And it's clear that one of the major benefits consumers see 
when it comes to using chatbots is speed:  
They believe that chatbots will be able to respond to their 
inquiries more quickly.
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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From a business perspective, there's a massive upside to 
providing speedy response times. As research from 
InsideSales.com and the Harvard Business Review shows, 
even if you wait just five minutes to respond after a lead first 
reaches out, there's a 10x decrease in your odds of actually 
getting in touch with that lead.  
After 10 minutes, there's a 400% decrease in your odds of 
qualifying that lead.
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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So as part of our survey, we wanted to see how expected 
response times for chatbots compared to expected response 
times for other communication channels. The question we 
asked: 
How soon would you expect to get a response on each of 
these communication channels?
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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    2018 State of Chatbots Report
Response Time by Communication Channel
How soon would you expect to get a response on each of these channels?
0.8
Online chatChatbotsFace-to-face
Telephone
Apps
Social mediaWeb form
Email
Letter
16%
27%
34%
40%
55%
64%
73%
75%
77%
Instant Response
35
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
Response Time by Communication Channel
How soon would you expect to get a response on each of these channels?
0.7
Online chatChatbotsFace-to-face
Telephone
Apps
Social mediaWeb form
Email
Letter
24%
62%
52%
50%
37%
31%
20%
19%
18%
Within 24 hours
36
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
Response Time by Communication Channel
How soon would you expect to get a response on each of these channels?
0.6
Online chatChatbotsFace-to-face
Telephone
Apps
Social mediaWeb form
Email
Letter
60%
12%
14%
9%
8%
5%
7%
7%
5%
After 24 hours
37
Ultimately, consumers expect to get instant responses from 
online chat more than any other channel (77%), but chatbots 
came in a close second (75%), and were followed by face-to-
face meetings (73%).  
Meanwhile, email (62%), web forms (52%), and social media 
(50%), were the top channels when it came to expecting 
responses within 24 hours, and letters were far and away the 
number one channel when it came to expecting responses 
after 24 hours (60%).
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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The takeaway: Online chat is the channel that most 
consumers expect a real-time response from. However, 
chatbots came in a close second -- higher than face-to-face, 
telephone, or apps. 
And here's something to consider: As a business, by using 
online chat in combination with chatbots, you can deliver 
response times and resolve issues faster than ever before.  
When employees are online, they can take the lead in 
responding to incoming chats. But if chat volume gets too 
high, or if there are no employees online at the moment, 
chatbots can step in to assist so your response times don't 
suffer.
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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In addition to looking at response times, we also wanted to 
see how chatbots compared to more traditional business 
communication channels in terms of perceived benefits. 
Specifically, we wanted to hone in on how chatbots 
compared to apps, email, and phone calls. 
So we asked our survey participants:  
Which of these benefits do you most associate with 
communicating with businesses and organizations?
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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    2018 State of Chatbots Report
Quick answers to simple questions
Getting 24 hour service
Convenience for you
Quick answers to complex questions
Ease of communication
Ability to easily register a complaint
Getting detailed / expert answers
A good customer experience
Friendliness and approachability
Having a complaint resolved quickly
None of these
0.7
7%
18%
22%
30%
27%
24%
41%
28%
57%
54%
51%
6%
15%
22%
28%
28%
33%
35%
38%
53%
62%
69%
Chatbots
Apps
Chatbots vs. Apps
Which of these benefits do you most associate 
with communicating with businesses?
41
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
Quick answers to simple questions
Getting 24 hour service
Convenience for you
Quick answers to complex questions
Ease of communication
Ability to easily register a complaint
Getting detailed / expert answers
A good customer experience
Friendliness and approachability
Having a complaint resolved quickly
None of these
0.7
5%
27%
19%
25%
41%
36%
49%
29%
51%
38%
33%
6%
15%
22%
28%
28%
33%
35%
38%
53%
62%
69%
Chatbots
Email
Chatbots vs. Email Which of these benefits do you most associate 
with communicating with businesses?
42
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
Quick answers to simple questions
Getting 24 hour service
Convenience for you
Quick answers to complex questions
Ease of communication
Ability to easily register a complaint
Getting detailed / expert answers
A good customer experience
Friendliness and approachability
Having a complaint resolved quickly
None of these
0.7
3%
35%
40%
43%
51%
35%
52%
56%
47%
31%
63%
6%
15%
22%
28%
28%
33%
35%
38%
53%
62%
69%
Chatbots
Phone
Chatbots vs. Phone Which of these benefits do you most associate 
with communicating with businesses?
43
The takeaway: Chatbots are the new apps, but they've yet to 
completely replace the need for phone and email when it 
comes to communicating with businesses.  
Consumers preferred chatbots over apps in five of the ten 
benefit categories we looked at, which included not only 
getting quick answers to simple questions and 24-hour 
service, but also getting quick answers to complex questions 
and getting detailed/expert answers.
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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When it came to email, consumers once again preferred 
chatbots in the categories related to speedy response times 
(re: quick answers, 24-hour service). However, email had a 
definitive edge when it came to getting detailed/expert 
answers.  
It's a similar story when we look at chatbots vs. phone calls, 
although in this case it's notable that consumers also 
preferred using the phone for getting quick answers to 
complex questions. Email and phone were also considered 
superior when it came to ease of communication, as well as 
registering complaints and getting them resolved in a timely 
fashion.
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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One way businesses can make up for these perceived 
limitations of chatbots: Have chatbots give consumers the 
option of being able to send an email or schedule a call if 
that's how they'd prefer to communicate. Because especially 
when dealing with complex technical issues, hopping on the 
phone with an engineer is likely going to be the better option.  
While chatbots have a lot to offer in terms improving online 
experiences, they can't replace the human touch.  
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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05
Conclusion & Key Takeaways
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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These days, consumers expect to be 
able to find the information they're 
looking for online quickly and easily. 
And when a business can't provide 
that type of experience, they become 
frustrated. 
Chatbots are poised to ease these 
frustrations by providing the real-time, 
on-demand approach that consumers 
are seeking out.  
The top three potential benefits of 
chatbots that consumers reported in 
our survey: 
1.  24-hour service (64%) 
2. instant responses (55%) 
3. answers to simple questions (55%) 
And that's true across all age groups. 
It's not just Millennials who see the 
potential benefits of chatbots.  
In fact, Baby Boomers were 24% 
more likely to to expect benefits from 
chatbots in five of the nine categories 
we looked at compared to their 
Millennial counterparts. 
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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However, chatbots -- like all 
technologies -- aren't without their 
limitations: 43% of consumers said 
they prefer dealing with an actual 
person (that was the number one 
potential barrier to using chatbots).  
That being said, 34% of consumers 
also predicted that they would use 
chatbots for getting connected with a 
human. So it doesn't have to be 
either/or.  
As a business, you can use chatbots 
to supplement your human workforce 
(not replace them).
Compared to other business 
communication channels, chatbots 
scored the second-highest when it 
came to consumers expecting instant 
responses, only losing out to online 
chat.  
But by using chatbots in combination 
with online chat, businesses can 
deliver a level of real-time service that 
they'd be unable to achieve using 
either technology on its own. 
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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And while chatbots can't replace 
phone or email when it comes to 
providing in-depth answers to 
technical questions (some things will 
always require a human touch), they 
are poised to become the new apps.  
As you saw in the previous section, 
chatbots outperformed apps in the 
following five benefits categories:
1. Quick answers to simple 
questions (Chatbots, 69% | Apps, 
51%)
2. Getting 24-hour service  
(Chatbots, 62% | Apps, 54%)
3. Quick answers to complex 
questions (Chatbots, 38% | Apps, 
28%)
4. Ability to easily register a 
complaint (Chatbots, 38% | Apps, 
28%)
5. Getting detailed / expert 
answers (Chatbots, 28% | Apps, 
27%)
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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There's been a lot of hype around chatbots recently, and we 
hope this report has helped to separate fact from fantasy.  
Ultimately, we see chatbots as a technology that can help 
bridge the gaps between business communication channels, 
and that can help deliver a better, speedier online experience 
to consumers.  
Thanks for reading!
    2018 State of Chatbots Report
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</p>