Consumers prefer intelligent virtual assistants over chatbots: Kore.ai report

Consumers highly rated their experiences with IVAs (Intelligent Virtual Assistants) across all industries, with banking receiving the highest rating (75%) and retail the lowest (64%).

Wednesday October 18, 2023 , 3 min Read

If given a choice between IVAs (Intelligent Virtual Assistants) and basic chatbots, consumers prefer the former, especially if they have complex requests, revealed Kore.ai's Customer Experience (CX) Benchmark Report 2023.

As per the report, which sheds light on how AI-powered automation transforms customer interactions, the preference for IVAs cuts across all key industry sectors and all popular engagement modes. Banking received the highest rating (75%) of consumers' experience with IVAs while retail had the lowest (64%).

According to the survey, there is only a 7% difference between the rolled-up total expected performance ratings for IVA (70%) and all Live Agent modes (77%), showing that the consumer preference for IVAs is growing for both simple and complex interactions.

Regardless of industry and across all age groups, consumers are “very interested” or “interested” in all automated assistant use cases and showed preference for qualities like speed, convenience, and the ability to handle multiple requests. Repeating their situation or problem is seen by 79% of consumers as their “biggest customer service frustration.”

“Many of today’s consumers are often keen to switch brands after only a few bad experiences. Intelligent virtual assistants improve the overall customer experience by providing personalized service journeys and immediate answers to customer questions and inquiries,” said Raj Koneru, Founder and CEO, Kore.ai, in a statement.

Kore.ai partnered with strategic insight provider, Farrell Insight, to deliver three major national studies in 2023 to benchmark data and insights to monitor current customer experience sentiment across customer service and contact center interactions.

The Customer Experience (CX) Benchmark Report 2023 was conducted with a sample size of 1000 American consumers aged 18-68, who had direct experiences with customer service within the past year. The sample represented a balanced demographic across four key generations: GenZ, Millennials, GenX, and Baby Boomers.

The survey results provided insights into the key factors for businesses to gain insights on consumer preferences and continuously adapt to this changing landscape.

It also assessed interactions within five key industries: banking, health, retail, travel, and cable/media/telecom.

In today's landscape, where automation and chatbots are on the rise, understanding consumer preferences and expectations is crucial for predicting future trends and adapting to the evolving needs of customers.