Conversion Optimization

Conversational Commerce: 21 Amazing Real-World Examples (eCommerce Brands)

January 4, 2024
written by humans
Conversational Commerce: 21 Amazing Real-World Examples (eCommerce Brands)

It’s a truth universally acknowledged—conversations happen across all stages of the funnel.

However, in 2024, conversational commerce is more than simply adding a live chat on your homepage.

So, if you are looking for inspiration to build your own out-of-the-box conversational eCommerce strategy—you are in the right place.

21 Amazing Examples of Conversational Commerce

1. Frank & Oak – “What’s My Size” Quiz

Frank & Oak offers a “What’s my size” quiz on their product page instead of a live chat.

frank and oak conversational commerce example
Frank and Oak quiz flow for conversational commerce

Why We Love This:

  • Conversational commerce is about moving towards conversions by improving the experience—letting users select their size does exactly that
  • Furthermore, it also reduces returns due to the wrong size
  • 68% of consumers want a tailored experience based on their tastes and preferences
  • Thus, the subtle personalization on offer leads to frictionless micro-conversions
  • Moreover, the first-party-data collection is completely gamified

Takeaway: This exact strategy works best for brands in the fashion space—it's worth noting that 46% of consumers return products due to the wrong size.

2. Charlotte Tilbury – Build a Virtual Store

During their partnership with Disney, Charlotte Tilbury manufactured an entire store—virtually.

Users can stroll through a map filled with individual quests and limited-edition products. Additionally, users can also:

  • Customize their avatars
  • Invite others to join
  • Hold voice chat among friends
  • Determine their favorite lipstick shade
charlotte tilbury conversational virtual store

Why We Love This:

  • The experience of shopping in luxury is brought in virtually
  • Builds the interactivity between the brand and the consumer
  • Guest checkout is enabled in-game, and thus enables the conversational commerce aspect
  • Virtual stores lead to a 67% increase in new customers
  • Virtualization and gamification drive the conversational marketing factor—note how Lacoste does it
Lacoste virtual store gamification

Takeaway:  There should always be an option to seek in-store support within the virtual stores—however, it may drive up the cost factor.

3. Liquid Death – Build a Game 

Liquid Death, a quirky beverage manufacturer, developed a custom map for the cult classic multiplayer video game—Fortnite.

Players who play Fortnite can download the map and unlock a quest to survive ‘Murder Mountain.’

liquid death game that sparks conversation
Watch this video here

Why We Love This: 

  • Works as a perfect example of conversational marketing
  • This strategy directly doesn't spark sales—instead, it opens up the brand to a user base of 400 million users
  • The branding is in sync with the user base of the brand—Gen Z and Millennials
  • It breaks out the nostalgia and makes it instantly news-worthy
  • Moreover, users can hold in-game conversations
  • Merchandise and in-game sales are just a part of the perks—awareness and re-engagement take the cake
  • The effectiveness of this strategy is apparent in the comments left by some users on the game trailer
liquid death strategy effectivity

Takeaway: This strategy works with an engaged user base with a specific shared sentiment, especially on the right platform—like Fortnite does for Gen Z and millennials.

4. Bloomingdales – Go 1:1 with Personalized Recommendations

By bringing in a sticky “Chat with a style expert” chat widget, Bloomingdales takes the conversation on luxury products to a new level.

bloomingdales chat widget

On clicking the ‘Chat with a style expert’ widget, a user can:

  • Get support on orders
  • Directly book a private 1:1 video call shopping experience 
  • Hold a live chat with an expert within their location
  • Or choose a “Style Expert of their choice and location
bloomingdales nconversational commerce example

Why We Love This:

  • The amount of hyper-localization and hyper-personalization on offer
  • Offering a localized experience makes a brand more likely to be bought from by 80%
  • Meanwhile, 85% of shoppers love the in-store experience
  • Long-term relationships are kept intact by letting users select their “Style Expert” they may know
  • Additionally, it’s worth noting how the widget changes by the type of product viewed
bloomingdales widget change by product
  • Every “Style Expert” is allocated an individual page on a microsite
bloomingdales style expert microsite

Takeaway: This conversational commerce strategy works best for high-ticket or luxury customers. Since 32% of all online luxury shoppers in the US seek discounts/deals/offers, keep em' coming.

5. Target – Offer voice search for instant product results

Target offers voice search and a standard site search

Here’s why this fits into the conversational side of commerce↓

This strategy literally lets a user skip the hassle of typing and jump straight to the products.

All you need to do is tap on the microphone button and speak.

target voice search conversational commerce example

Why We Love This:

  • Nearly 55% of all internet traffic comes from mobile, and nearly 50% have used voice search to research products
  • Moreover, 71% of consumers would rather speak than type
  • Thousands of products can be fetched by one voice command
  • AI powers the search bar
  • It shortens the conversion path and removes all distractions
  • Past searches are saved on the search bar

Takeaway: The purpose of conversational commerce is convenience and engagement. Alternatively, you can provide visual search to match products visually like Pretty Little Thing does:

prettylittlething visual search

6. Wahoo Fitness – Use the Conversation

Wahoo Fitness uses a Live Chat paired with what seems like a run-of-the-mill chatbot. 

However, what’s notable is that a Conversational AI powers the chatbot.

Wahoo Fitness A..I conversational commerce example.

Why We Love This:

  • This AI-powered conversational commerce example oozes conversation in every bit—note how the widget welcomes a user
wahoo fitness chat widget launcher
  • Live Agents being unavailable isn’t a deterrent
  • The focus remains on offering support instead of sales
  • The chatbot asks the right questions based on user input
  • Live agents are involved when the chatbot isn’t able to satisfy the user’s query
  • Natural Language Processing (NLP) drives relevant responses–—in complete human-like language
  • Works towards delivering a perfect post-purchase experience and customer retention
Wahoo Fitness A.I. Conversation

Takeaway: This strategy works best for brands that sell high-end items and encounter major volume of after-sale support queries—ensure that your Chatbot is connected to your CRM.

7. Anthropologie – Get Your Store on Social Media

Anthropologie has built an entirely shoppable version of its feed on Instagram.

Users can now:

  • Buy products from within the platform feed itself
  • Comment on the products 
  • Send DMs to the brand itself
anthropologie example conversational commerce

What’s of note is that Anthropologie has a chatbot ready to handle the user's questions.

Anthropologie conversational bot on instagram

Why We Love This:

  • This strategy works because it reaches exactly where the conversation happens
  • The need for conversational technology is bypassed
  • Gaining trust becomes incredibly easy (if done right)
  • The capability to reach untapped audiences comes as a part and parcel
  • Cross-selling opportunities galore (DUH)
  • The ability to provide a chatbot without integrating expensive software

Takeaway: This strategy works best when the brand has an active following on social media platforms.

8. Dior Beauty – Remain Available on WhatsApp

Dior Beauty also goes above and beyond by offering a chat experience on WhatsApp. 

What’s notable here is that Dior doesn’t launch the conversation. 

The user does—Dior’s next steps are to welcome and confirm what the user wants.

Dior Beauty conversational commerce example WhatsApp

Why We Love This:

  • Using a messaging app for messaging is nothing new
  • What makes this strategy different from all other strategies is the delivery itself
  • Dior intelligently removes choice paralysis by taking control of the conversation

Takeaway: Being available on WhatsApp opens you up worldwide—thus, it’s better to ensure that your teams are prepared adequately.

9. Sephora – Foster Communication in Your Community

Apart from having an Instagram or TikTok account, you can take ownership of the conversation, as Sephora does.

The community at Sephora extends not only on their website but across all social media. 

As of 2023, the total number of conversations in the Sephora community is over 3 million.

Sephora Community Conversations

Why We Love This:

  • The community platforms act as a mini-social media platform
  • The community is an all-around UGC generation platform
  • Brand ambassadors come together for your brand and help with customer retention
  • Moreover, 54% of consumers feel more loyal to a brand when they are connected to a community
  • Furthermore, only a 5% increase in customer loyalty/retention leads to an increase in profitability by 25 to 95%
  • The problem of finding efficient promotions is solved with quizzes, giveaways, and more
  • Users can shop while logged in to the community platform

Takeaway: This strategy’s biggest risk is that it may take time to take off, and will require a substantial amount of budget and manpower.

10. Free People – Use Live-Streaming For Sales Previews

Free People offers exclusive Live Streams on their website.

conversational commerce example

Why We Love This:

  • Works directly in sync with a community
  • Live streaming can rake in conversion rates as high as 40%
  • Moderators on hand to answer community questions
  • The option to shop directly from the live stream while interacting with other users

Takeaway: This conversational commerce strategy works only when you have a community on-site. 

11. Dolce Vita – Wheel Back Browse Abandoners Through Omnichannel Re-Engagement

If you have sent out cart abandonment emails, you already know how wildly effective they are.

Dolce Vita takes it to the next level by sending SMS messages to cart abandoners and browse abandoners.

conversational commerce example
Source

Why We Love This:

  • All messaging is on-brand, with product images
  • The flow is delivered by using behavioral targeting
  • There is a proper gap of time between browse abandonment and cart abandonment
  • Works completely in sync with your email flow
  • Discounts are not always needed to convert

Takeaway: Omnichannel re-engagement works well, provided you have the consent. However, it may be expensive in terms of costs and technical feasibility.

12. Best Buy – Send Push Notifications For Accessibility/Promotions

Best Buy masters make sure their shoppers can reach their support whenever needed. 

Note how their widget shows precisely that.

conversational commerce examples

Why We Love This:

  • This strategy is a perfect example of conversational marketing
  • The widget uses employees’ images rather than a logo 
  • Is in tune with behavioral targeting
  • Works great for nudging your users toward conversions
  • The copy is tuned to the service and can be worked for seasonality, too—like MAC Cosmetics
conversational commerce examples

Takeaway: Tune your copy to provide the right nudge—note how MAC Cosmetics stays tuned with the Holiday Season with their chat widget.

13. Laura Mercier – Create Multilingual Capacity In Your Live Chat

Imagine walking into a store in Paris and being greeted with “Hello” instead of “Bonjour!”

Laura Mercier does something similar by offering their Live Chat in French.

conversational commerce examples

Why We Love This:

  • 90% of all online shoppers prefer using their native language on a website
  • The language of the entire site changes along with the chat
  • The notification bar is used to change the language

Takeaway: Ensure that you only provide support in other languages with the help of a multilingual chatbot, if you have that capability available—here's how Tiffany’s does it:

conversational commerce example

14. Uniqlo – Introduce In-App Feedback Surveys

Uniqlo, like Rudsak, offers an option to chat within Facebook Messenger. 

However, what’s unique about this conversational commerce example is that it includes post-chat surveys.

conversational commerce examples

Why We Love This:

  • Post-chat surveys are as crucial as post-purchase emails
  • The questions avoid survey fatigue by making them concise
  • The language is jargon-free and neutral in terms of tone
  • Helps the brand generate a positive NPS score

Takeaway: Set up notifications for users who answer any open-ended questions. Reach out to those users within 24 hours and ask if they would like to participate in writing a review. (in exchange for some rewards)

15. Walmart – Use an AI Assistant

We have already covered why voice search is the next thing for eCommerce brands.

However, in this particular example, Walmart connects itself to Google Assistant. 

Users can simply connect their Google and Walmart accounts and shop however they like (without ever setting step on the website)

conversational commerce examples
Source

Why We Love This:

  • This strategy is a perfect example of conversational shopping, i.e. shopping with conversations
  • Nearly 35% of Americans own some form of smart device
  • Additionally, nearly 44% of all US shoppers feel voice commerce is a faster way of shopping
  • Purchase of daily essentials (like Grocery) can be handled in-chat itself

Takeaway: This strategy is nothing short of genius—however, a fair bit of tech integration is required.

16. MAC Cosmetics – Augment Their Experience

Delivering an augmented reality experience does not always take VR glasses. 

Note how MAC Cosmetics does it with their Virtual Try-On within their product page.

conversational commerce examples

Why We Love This:

  • This strategy isn’t strictly conversational—however, this ‘Try-On’ feature leads to a chat trigger
conversational commerce examples
  • Widgets launch on relevant triggers—like trying out multiple shades
  • The chat widget is activated only on product and category pages
  • Announcements are made visually in category pages, too
conversational commerce examples

Takeaway: If you are using AR and VR for your brand, ensure that users can use them to share their creations across social media.

17. Rudsak – Embed a chat widget on social channels

Facebook Messenger is an extremely popular messaging platform among 25-34-year-olds.

Rudsak offers exactly that by embedding a Facebook Messenger widget on their homepage.

conversational commerce examples

Why We Love This:

  • This relatively low-cost technique seamlessly integrates the conversation across platforms
  • Cart-abandonment messages can be directly sent to the customer’s inbox
  • Direct access to users’ social media profiles is the bigger incentive here

Takeaway: Instead of scrambling for data collection, you simply offer them the biggest motivators: trust and convenience.

18. American Eagle – Inform them of Out-of-Stock Products

Unlike most brands, American Eagle lets their customers ask about the availability of products within the chat.

conversational commerce examples

Why We Love This:

  • Defuses the frustration and lets users know what they should do
  • If available, it also displays product availability and restock dates upfront
  • Works towards improving customer experience and retention

Takeaway: Take this opportunity to offer similar alternatives or help them sign up for back-in-stock emails or pre-order campaigns.

19. Briogeo Hair – Employ real-time order support

Briogeo Hair’s live chat focuses mainly on existing customers and removes friction by answering the most common pre-purchase questions.

conversational commerce examples

Why We Love This:

  • Integrating order tracking directly into the chat interface alleviates post-purchase anxiety
  • Note how Briogeo Hair does the same with their Live Chat
  • As always, taking the most asked questions and solving them provides proof that they care
  • Instead of making them wait for an address change or returns, they employ support via chat

Takeaway: Making the complaint process simple and transparent, yet quick is vital to customer experience—83% of consumers feel more connected to a brand after getting their complaints and queries resolved.

20. Bark.Co – Send Exclusive Deals Through Live Chat 

97% of US consumers are geared towards personalized experiences. 

Bark.Co leverages exactly that through their live chat agents.

conversational commerce examples

Why We Love This:

  • Asking the right questions makes the consumer feel part of the conversation and the brand
  • Note how Barkbox has trained their support agents to ask for the names of puppers
  • This strategy instantly breaks the ice, and the promotions that come as a result are hyper-relevant
  • Users feel exclusive with deep discounts
  • All links sent within the chat are trackable and open in new tabs

Takeaway: Ensure the copy for launching the widget is extremely visual and interactive—note how Charlotte Tilbury excels at this with their chat launcher widget:

conversational commerce examples

21. Lacoste – Offer Products Visually By Context

Lacoste is one of those eCommerce brands that excels at building relatability with convenience. Note how their live chat offers exactly that.

conversational commerce examples

Why We Love This:

  • Offering high-quality visuals from a few words lets users skip the search
  • 64% of US consumers feel brands have lost the human touch
  • Thus, the play on humor builds relatability
  • The user can be taken to the product page directly from the chat

Takeaway:  Speed is always of essence—offering intelligent product recommendations in-chat does exactly that.

Questions Often Asked

1. Why Conversational Commerce Is The Future Of eCommerce?

Conversational commerce is about holding personalized, frictionless shopping experiences built on interactive conversations across all channels.

However, what makes it even more potent is the fact that conversational commerce drives:

  • Real-time support without having multiple teams
  • Increased average order value with Instant product recommendations
  • Frictionless in-chat sales

The ultimate proof lies in the enormous projected growth—3550% to be precise.

2. Are Conversational Marketing And Conversational Commerce The Same Thing?

Conversational marketing is a part of conversational commerce. 

It works towards improving the experience and acting as an all-over sales catalyst.

However, conversational marketing is about generating interest and priming for conversational commerce. 

For example, sending a push notification through a chat widget is a perfect example of conversational marketing

However, conversational commerce is all about driving the sale home or offering support.

Conversational marketing seeks to attract and educate, while conversational commerce focuses on the bottom of the funnel.

3. What Are The Most Important Elements For Conversational Commerce In 2024?

  • Personalization and omnichannel availability rules supreme
  • Sparking the conversation is important
  • AI is needed to fill the conversation and reduce in-chat waiting time
  • Inclusive marketing works wonders for conversational commerce
  • AR and VR are set to rule the conversation
  • M-commerce will become intertwined with conversational commerce

4. Is Conversational Commerce Related To mCommerce?

It’s no secret that over half of all online retail sales originate from mobile devices.

M-commerce is about facilitating the eCommerce experience on mobile devices through apps, payment gateways, and more.

Meanwhile, conversational eCommerce/commerce is about facilitating the conversation for conversions. 

Thus, the link between conversational commerce and mCommerce becomes apparent. 

The proof itself lies in the examples we have covered in this post. 

But Conversation ≠ Conversion

In 2024, simply adding a chatbot doesn’t perfect your conversion strategy.

98% of visitors who visit an eCommerce site—drop off without buying anything.

Why: your user experience and personalization do not delight and engage.

And this is the problem Convertcart solves. 

We've helped 500+ eCommerce stores (in the US) improve user experience—and 2X their conversions. 

How we can help you: 

Our conversion experts can audit your site—identify UX issues, and suggest changes to improve conversions. 

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