These days, it’s hard not to encounter a chatbot on the web. Whether it’s a government or eCommerce website, you’ve probably messaged website chatbots to pose a query, or had them greet you first. If you’re wondering whether to use a chatbot in Malaysia for your business and want to know what all the hype is, you’re in the right place.

In this article, we explain to you what a chatbot is, key trends and statistics on usage, why you can consider using one, and examples of chatbots in Malaysia.

In a nutshell, a chatbot is a computer programme that can simulate and process human conversation, either spoken or written.

Communicating with a chatbot allows you to feel like you’re speaking with an actual customer service representative. This can take place on websites, message apps, mobile apps, and over the phone.

1) Task-oriented chatbots

These are the most commonly used chatbots today. Such chatbots are focused on performing only a single function. Communication with these chatbots are very structured and specific.

Task-oriented chatbots are usually deployed for service and support functions, handling common questions like business hours queries or more straightforward questions. You can think of these chatbots as an interactive FAQ platform of sorts.

2) Data-driven and predictive chatbots

These chatbots are sometimes referred to as virtual or digital assistants, and they’re a lot more complex and personalised than task-oriented chatbots.

Using predictive intelligence and analytics, they can perform personalised interactions based on a user’s profile and past behaviour. These digital assistants are clever enough to learn your preference over time, and even predict your needs. Examples of predictive chatbots today include Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri.

More advanced versions of digital assistants can combine different single-purpose chatbots, extract distinct information from each of them, and then merge the information to perform a task.

Now that you have a basic understanding of chatbots, let’s move on to take a look at the current chatbot market and the forecasts for it.

The global chatbot market is estimated to grow from US$2.6 billion to US$9.4 billion from 2019 to 2024. That’s more than triple in size within five years.

Here in Asia Pacific, the chatbot market is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9%. In North America, the market is growing at a CAGR of 31.2%, while Europe is seeing a CAGR of 30.4%.

Notably, chatbot use in the customer service segment is projected to be the fastest growing market segment, with an estimated CAGR of almost 32% from 2019 to 2026. This isn’t surprising, since consumers today expect 24/7 service in sectors such as banking and finance.

We now know that chatbot use is expected to see enormous growth worldwide. But should you hop on the bandwagon?

What does the data out there say about the use of chatbots? Here are some eye-opening statistics that we’ve found:

• By 2022, 70% of white-collar workers will communicate with conversational platforms daily

• By 2021, over 50% of enterprises will spend more each year on bots and creating chatbots than on traditional mobile app development

• By 2021, 70% of organisations will augment their employees’ productivity through the integration of AI in the workplace

• In 2021, artificial intelligence (AI) will create $2.9 trillion in business value.

• 80% of consumers who have interacted with a chatbot found the customer experience to be positive

• 47% of consumers would be comfortable making a purchase from a chatbot

• By 2021, 15% of all customer interactions worldwide will be fully handled by AI, a 400% increase from 2017

Based on January 2020 data, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are the 2nd and 5th most-used social media platforms respectively in Malaysia.

Most-Used Social Media in Malaysia (Source: We Are Social)

According to a 2017 report, Malaysians are the world's biggest users of WhatsApp. Also, the number of Facebook users in Malaysia in 2020 is expected to hit 24.85 million, up from 20.65 million in 2017. In 2025, this figure is expected to reach 27.34 million.

With the growing number of Malaysian users on Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp, having a chatbot can help your business to scale up effectively to meet this growing demand.

That aside, how exactly can your business stand to gain from a chatbot? Let’s dive in.

Your brand’s customer service can be greatly augmented by chatbots.

This is because chatbots can immediately provide automated answers to common customer queries. For more complex enquiries, chatbots can forward them to a human agent.

What this means is that instant service can be provided for simple issues, with actual customer service staff devoting more time and energy to more complicated cases. This translates to time savings and lower costs for your business.

Your business will also be able to handle more customer service tasks in a given amount of time, making it easier for you to scale out to new markets. It’s a win-win for both businesses and customers.

Furthermore, having a chatbot allows for proactive interaction with customers. In a competitive business landscape, proactively engaging a customer instead of passively waiting for queries can set your business apart. This can improve customer perceptions of your brand.

In this day and age, people want information at the snap of a finger. Not only can chatbots respond to customers immediately, they can also do so round the clock.

A chatbot can also make it easier for customers to perform a purchase or set an appointment without involving an actual customer service staff. This translates to higher customer satisfaction and potentially a better conversion rate.

Chatbots are a new avenue for your brand to interact with customers. When a chatbot addresses a customer query immediately through live chat support, customers feel more satisfied with the brand.

Additionally, more advanced chatbots are able to analyse user profiles and behaviour in order to interact accordingly. This allows for greater personalisation when communicating with customers, which in turn enhances customers’ overall engagement rate.

Having a chatbot for your business can also help you earn more leads and convert leads. How so?

Chatbots can send personalised messages to your customers, guiding them along the “buyer’s journey”. As a form of conversational marketing or conversational commerce, these messages can be recommendations to aid decision making. This can include offers, discount coupons, and personalised product recommendations.

As a marketing automation tool, these chatbots can steer consumers towards a path that results in higher conversion rates, helping you meet or exceed your marketing KPIs.

A chatbot can also ask relevant questions, then direct a potential customer to the most suitable sales team to secure a conversion. Such questionnaires can be prepared in advance by sales experts.

Chatbots are great for fielding customer queries. However, the reverse can also happen, where chatbots can seek out information from customers that could improve your business.

For example, maybe your business has spent lots of time and effort on a landing page aimed to convert visitors. However, conversion rates remain low despite your best efforts.

In such a scenario, a chatbot can be programmed to politely ask users why they’re leaving the landing page. With enough responses, you’ll have valuable insights on how to tweak the page for better results.

Additionally, businesses can analyse customer commands and responses with a chatbot, then programme the chatbot to provide more fitting responses for improved business outcomes.

For example, you run an apparel company, and more and more customers are asking your site’s chatbot about sportswear.

This is important information which could help you consider whether your brand should branch into sportswear, or perhaps what product alternatives can be suggested to users.

Human error is inevitable, whether in customer service or any other business function. Even with lots of good customer service software, mistakes like gathering or providing the wrong information can still be made.

Since chatbots are programmed with all the required information, their chances of them making errors are zero. This means less hiccups that could potentially result in customer frustration.

Let’s now look at examples of Enterprises in Malaysia that have implemented chatbots to give a leg up to their business.

Ask Maya is an award-winning pharmaceutical chatbot that empowers women to make educated contraception decisions through interactive chats.

AskMaya Chatbot (Source: howuknow.com)

Positioned as every lady’s BFF, women can get answers to common and important questions surrounding contraception. This ranges from what the different contraception options are, to what you should do if you miss a pill dose.

Maya can even give users reminders on when to take their contraceptive pills and when to replenish them. Users can also register for consultations and trials for contraceptive products through Ask Maya.

Here are some key achievements of Ask Maya.

User acquisition growth

Enquiries handled by chatbot

Messages processed per month

816%

88%

60,800

Furthermore, within 3 months, Maya served almost 13,000 users, and engaged users effectively with a high retention rate of 14.3%.

Ask Maya also attained a 75.9% average open rate and an average CTR of 17.3% through chatbot message blast.

AiChat also created a hospitality chatbot for Hatten Hotel Malacca's website.

The chatbot provides customer service support, facilitates hotel bookings, and broadcasts messages. Users can even take part in promotion contests in the form of questions posed by the chatbot.

These are some key performance statistics for Hatten Hotel’s chatbot.

Average engagement rate

Enquiries handled by chatbot

Campaign participation rate

3:28mins

75%

48.6%

Yet another chatbot in Malaysia developed by AiChat is Tesco Malaysia’s e-catalogue and engagement chatbot.

The overall intent was for Tesco Malaysia to build sustainability by leveraging automated online solutions. Through Talia the chatbot, Tesco Malaysia could distribute downloadable digital catalogues, as well as allow customers to obtain updates.

What’s more, customers could make enquiries on aspects such as store location information, resulting in greater customer service efficiency for Tesco Malaysia. Notably, there was a significant decrease in call centre enquiries, since Talia was also able to address customer questions.

Here are the impressive results generated by Tesco Malaysia’s chatbot.

Percentage of people who viewed and downloaded e-catalogue

Increase in e-catalogue views

Enquiries handled by chatbot

Reduction in response handling by call centre

54%

4x

85%

13%

AiChat also created MYDIN Malaysia’s retail supermarket chatbot — one of the first chatbots with Bahasa Melayu support.

MYDIN Malaysia Supermarket Chatbot

The chatbot provides customer service support in the form of automated responses, and invites users to sign up for promotion subscriptions.

MYDIN Malaysia’s chatbot increased e-Flyer views by almost three times.

Percentage of people who viewed and downloaded e-Flyer

Enquiries handled by chatbot

Increase in e-Flyer views

85.4%

72%

2.9x

Petron Malaysia’s loyalty rewards chatbot is another chatbot in Malaysia that was developed by AiChat.

Petron Malaysia Chatbot

The chatbot is capable of accomplishing these tasks:

• Promote membership sign-ups

• Recommend products and rewards

• Do user profiling and segmentation

• Locate nearby stations

• Provide customer service support

One impressive achievement is that membership sign-up conversions grew by 2.2 times via Chatbot Vs website.

Membership sign-ups conversion

Enquiries handled by chatbot

Customer satisfaction rate

2.2x

91%

83%

AiChat developed a contact lens retail chatbot for Coopervision Malaysia. Apart from pushing out educational content to users, users can also sign up for contact lens trials through the chatbot.

Furthermore, the bot can perform customer profiling and segmentation, as well as drive more business to merchants.

These are some key highlights of Coopervision Malaysia’s chatbot.

User Registered for Trial Program

Enquiries handled by chatbot

Follow Up Message Open-Rate

25.4%

91%

63%

As you can see, chatbots have helped businesses in different sectors to better engage their customers. Whatever business you’re running, it pays off to give your customers great service, and to take advantage of cutting-edge technologies. A chatbot can help you do all that.

Talk to us to learn how you can take your business to the next level through powerful chatbot technology.