Images October 2019 Digital Edition

www.images-magazine.com OCTOBER 2019 images 25 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ■ Simple to build There are many providers out there who make it easy to build bots. Of course, there is a bespoke option, but, with bots in their infancy, now is the time to explore the most cost-effective options available. ■ Grow your brand image A chatbot represents your business and its values. Using a bot is a great way of brand building and helping to convey what your business is all about. ■ Simplify customer service They remove the human aspect of dealing with an enquiry, stripping it back to its simplest form, and provide users with short, concise, clear information leading to greater customer satisfaction. ■ Cost effective The cost of developing a chatbot is minimal compared to the cost of having someone dealing with online enquiries and issues. With the potential lead generation they can also provide using AI, the bot could become one of your most affordable sales tools. Andrew Langridge is from ETrader, one of the industry’s leading suppliers of websites to garment decorators across the UK. www.etraderwebsites.co.uk T he management of raw materials is a profound challenge across the fashion industry and one that those of us in the garment decoration sector cannot ignore. We need to be asking our suppliers what they are doing, but we also need to be examining our own businesses. The reason for change is inevitable, the legislation in the future is indubitable and the changes in brand purchasing are undeniable. The new generation of consumers coming through are more focused on accountability and more interested in knowing where their goods are coming from. They’re buying well and they’re asking questions – and that’s something we all need to be doing. We need to decide whether we’re going to stay reactive, or if we’re going to stake out our claim and say, “We’re better” and make that the selling point. My view is that print and embroidery companies need to look at how they can qualify their business practice. This is not greenwashing. This is taking a long, hard look at your business and understanding how you can change its consumption of energy and materials. It’s saying, “I want to work with an energy provider that’s investing in wind, solar, renewable and hydro energy, and I’m prepared to pay 3% more to support that.” It’s changing a factory’s lighting from sodium to LED. It’s about making a holistic audit of what we do. Y ou might be tempted to think of chatbots as a new, revolutionary marketing tool, but this isn’t the case — chatbots have existed for decades. Nevertheless, businesses have only recently decided to exploit them and the opportunities that come with implementing a bot on their commercial websites. A well-optimised chatbot is a great way to boost conversion rates and generate more online leads and sales. Bots were initially built primarily to deal with customer service issues, and were aimed at improving efficiency in resolving problems and queries from customers. But they have since been developed further to become more sales- and marketing-based. There are two main types of bots – the intelligent bot and the scripted one. The scripted bot uses pre-defined points and responds in an automated manner. The intelligent bot is continuously developing, analysing customer text and learning from conversation and experience using AI. Facebook is largely responsible for the development and growth of the chatbot, as it allowed bots to be integrated into its platform via its Messenger app. With over four billion users (as of September 2019) using the Messenger app, the potential for businesses using bots is huge. There are several reasons why you should use chatbots for your online business including: ■ Massive potential In marketing terms, bots are still in their infancy. They will continue to develop and grow and will soon be at the forefront of most website’s service efforts. Dawn of the chatbots FESPA: TIME FORCHANGE Why sustainability needs to be on all of our agendas Graeme Richardson-Locke is technical support manager at Fespa, a global federation of national associations for the screen printing, digital printing and textile printing community. If you have a question for Fespa, please email editorial@images-magazine.com with ‘Fespa’ in the subject line. www.fespa.com I’ve been in this business long enough to know that there will be owners of plants I’ve visited over the years saying, “Well, that’s easy for you to say.” But we can constantly find reasons not to do stuff. Surely we want to be getting ahead of the tipping point, before people start saying, “Actually, I’m not going to be dealing with you because you’ve spent no time doing anything. You have made yourselves insupportable as a supplier.” The time to start making these changes is now.