23 Jaw-Dropping Chatbot Statistics You Need to Know in 2024
Published: January 11, 2022
What is chatbot technology? It’s a model based on artificial intelligence that generates a more personalized, efficient text-based conversation for internet users. Chatbots help businesses offer first-class online services on any platform like never before.
The following statistics will help us discover the potential of chatbots, current trends, how effective they are, how they’re being deployed, and what rate of adoption we might be seeing in the coming years. First, let’s roll out some of the highlights of the statistics you’re about to see.
Chatbot Statistics (Editor’s Choice)
- A chatbot can cut customer service costs by more than 30%.
- Chatbots are expected to help reduce business costs by up to $8 billion by the year 2022.
- There was a 67% increase in the adoption of chatbots by organizations between 2018 and 2020.
- 43% of digital banking services users prefer chatbots when talking to the banking provider.
- The global chatbot market size will reach $1.25 billion by 2025.
- There were already more than 300,000 different Facebook chatbots in 2018.
- The first chatbot, ELIZA, was invented in 1966, 17 years before the internet.
- In 2018, 60% of millennials said they had used chatbots.
- 69% of the public prefers to use a chatbot instead of a company’s official app.
- 63% of people trust chatbots with their most sensitive information.
Chatbot Adoption Statistics
Today, the chatbot adoption rate is on the rise. Some of this technology’s advantages are that it doesn’t require any updates, doesn’t need to be downloaded, and doesn’t require additional space on the device from which chatbots are accessed.
There are chatbots for almost anything. For companies, they’re an element that helps notably improve the online user experience, especially when it comes to providing individualized assistance.
Now, let’s get down to business!
1. The use of chatbots can help cut customer service costs by more than 30%.
(Source: IBM)
The advantages of using chatbots are diverse. They include agility, efficiency, and convenience in serving the public 24/7. The savings they deliver in customer service operations and resource optimization allow human agents to interact only in complex cases where this contact is really required.
According to IBM’s facts about bots, they can answer 80% of a user’s routine questions, cutting customer service costs by more than 30%. On top of it all, live chat statistics indicate that more than half of customers are more likely to make a purchase if the site has a live chat feature.
2. 30% of American adults fear that chatbots can make errors.
(Source: Convince & Convert)
With this in mind, it’s essential to have a programming department that can constantly monitor the software. Another element that’s important to get the public to trust the technology completely: educational content.
That’s why brands must consider the current chatbot trends in 2021 and make sure they transmit the appropriate knowledge to their customers.
3. In 2018, 60% of millennials said they had used chatbots.
(Source: ChatBot)
Coincidentally, 70% of them said they found the experience with chatbots positive and 50% of those who haven’t used one yet, intend to at some point in the future.
4. 63% of people are willing to trust chatbots with sensitive information.
(Source: Business Insider)
According to chatbot stats from the UK, Some companies already know the benefits of having chatbots on their websites and social networks. They have excellent engagement and conversion rates, and the 24/7 availability further increases customer satisfaction levels.
In fact, a survey by Mindshare showed that 63% of people would give information to a chatbot to communicate with a company or brand.
5. 69% of the public prefers to use a chatbot instead of a company’s official app.
(Source: Drift)
Chatbots vs apps, the fight has begun! Here’s one of our more interesting chatbot facts: 69% of the public prefers to use a chatbot to get answers to simple questions. This decision is due to the public’s perception of bots’ speed, efficiency, and quality of communication. What’s more, the latest digital marketing trends show that chatbots have a satisfaction rate of 87.58%.
Is it time to say that one technology has outperformed the other? According to these numbers, yes. However, an adequate combination of both means of communication is the best way to go.
6. In 2018, there were already more than 300,000 different chatbots on Facebook Messenger alone.
(Source: Forbes)
How many chatbots are on Messenger? Facebook may seem like it’s just for social interactions between friends and families; however, while the current numbers are not available, there were more than 300,000 chatbots on its Messenger platform alone in 2018.
This software is considered “smart” as its user input improves processes and increases Messenger’s responsiveness and effectiveness. It also allows integrations with different systems, such as CRMs. With over 2.8 billion monthly Facebook users, who can tell who’s talking to who?
7. The first chatbot, ELIZA, was invented in 1966, 17 years before the internet.
(Source: VentureBeat)
When were chatbots created? This technology was first seen in 1966 when MIT researcher Joseph Weizenbaum created ELIZA’s software. In practical terms, chatbots began at this moment: ELIZA, invented to simulate a psychologist, is considered the mother of all bots.
As it was designed to imitate human conversations, mainly by drawing on a set of predefined instructions and answers, this conversation robot could recognize about 250 types of phrases. This invention was a significant breakthrough, paving the way for today’s chatbots, as we can see in these chatbot stats for 2021.
8. There was a 67% increase in the adoption of chatbots by various organizations between 2018 and 2020.
(Source: Landbot)
The COVID-19 crisis forced organizations to rely more on chatbots’ AI intelligence when faults in their technical and workflow processes were exposed. These organizations’ adoption of chatbots grew 67% within only two years. It was only 23% in 2018 and increased to 38% in 2020, as the available chatbot statistics show.
9. When used for customer-business interactions, live chat has an 82% satisfaction rate.
(Source: SuperOffice)
Virtually everyone who uses the internet has probably used a live chat system. Many businesses use them to deliver quick responses to customers. And now, users have begun indicating that this software is an effective way to manage customer relations—with an 82% satisfaction rate, as per the latest B2B chatbot stats.
10. 50% of users prefer to interact with humans rather than with chatbots.
(Source: Entrepreneur)
Although the public relies much more on chatbots than before, there is still a percentage of users, 50% of them to be precise, who prefer to deal with a human element instead of a chatbot because they think that chatbots make it harder to resolve an issue, recent chatbot facts show.
We know that chatbots can handle completely predictable situations. But what about when there is more than one way to ask the same thing? Or when the user tries to search for something that’s not in the program’s algorithm? Effectively covering all the ways that the same question can be asked in the same configuration is virtually unlikely.
Usage-Related Chatbot Statistics for 2022
11. Every month, there are over 5 billion people who use messaging platforms.
(Source: Statista / HubSpot)
As of 2020, WhatsApp alone had more than 2 billion monthly active users, while there were 218 billion app downloads in 2020. It puts it in the first position among the nine most important messaging and chat applications in the world (excluding Apple’s iMessage). In second and third place are Facebook Messenger (1.3 billion users monthly) and WeChat (1.04 billion monthly active users).
12. 37% of the public would use a chatbot when they need an immediate answer in an emergency.
(Source: Convince & Convert)
According to Convince and Convert’s chatbot reporting, 37% of American internet users would use a chatbot in case of an emergency, which speaks to the importance of investing in this type of technology. However, the remaining reasons they’d use a chatbot are also very interesting:
- To resolve a problem: 35%
- Get detailed answers: 35%
- Find a human assistant: 34%
- Make a reservation: 33%
- Pay an invoice: 29%
13. Customer service statistics show that 55% of people like chatbots because they provide quick answers.
(Source: Convince & Convert)
According to eCommerce statistics, 92% of consumers abandon a brand due to a poor customer experience, which can be corrected by incorporating chatbots into their customer service strategy. Also, 51% like chatbots because they’re an easy way to communicate with a company.
14. 64% of the public like chatbots because they deliver a 24-hour service, seven days a week.
(Source: Convince & Convert)
As chatbot engagement statistics show that 64% of the public want nonstop service, it’s precisely here that chatbot technology plays an important role: briefly replacing human labor. In financial terms, this means juicy sales and a tremendous impact on digital marketing.
15. 32% of users want friendly and warm responses during chats.
(Source: Convince & Convert)
According to the most recent customer service statistics, 32% of users say they would like to have a friendly and warm response, something that’s sometimes difficult to combine with smart technology.
That’s why companies must work to ensure that their programs meet all these characteristics: speed, constant service, and a programmed language that makes the customer feel at home. We have to keep in mind that an intentional user experience can generate as much as a 400% conversion rate.
16. Baby boomers are 24% more likely than millennials to expect good performance from chatbots.
(Source: Medium)
A study about chatbots online revealed that bots are almost equally popular among baby boomers and millennials. For this purpose, both groups of users use this service to communicate at any time of the day to obtain fast and efficient responses and get expert information.
17. 43% of those who use digital banking services prefer using chatbots or live chat to address their problems.
(Source: eMarketer)
According to the chatbots statistics from a study in the United States conducted by eMarketer, live chat software or chatbots are the preferred channel for resolving service-related issues. Obviously, this is more convenient than visiting the institution’s branch in person.
However, some 35% like going in any way—and another 35% typically search through the website. So while a large number of digital banking users still prefer humans to handle their issues, they can find the answers they want online as well.
Chatbot Stats for 2022 and Beyond
18. By 2022, 66% of customer support operations will make use of IT.
(Source: Gartner)
In 2017, approximately half of customer support operations made use of informational technologies, including chatbots.
Since digital channels used in customer support since then have only been getting more convenient and accurate, the chatbot trends that Gartner Inc. expects for the future seem like a perfectly realistic prediction.
19. 33% of consumers in the US would consider leaving a brand after a single instance of bad customer service.
(Source: HubType)
As 85% of businesses in 2021 continue to focus on providing first-rate customer service, more and more of them are beginning to realize how efficient chatbots are in this aspect. What they lack in accuracy, they make up by being constantly available to consumers in search of quick answers or assistance.
20. Chatbot trends in 2021 indicate that the global chatbot market size will reach $1.25 billion by 2025.
(Source: Cognizant)
The rise of messaging apps, the innovations in AI technologies, and the boom in the app ecosystem are just some of the factors driving the chatbots’ growth. Since it is growing at a massive CAGR of 24.3%, the global chatbot market will be worth $1.25 billion by 2025.
21. 50% of companies will spend more of their budgets on chatbots than on traditional mobile apps.
(Source: Information Week)
According to chatbot statistics for 2021, 50% of companies will spend their budgets more on chatbots than on traditional mobile app development this year. As the application market becomes more saturated, it makes sense for larger organizations to focus on creating AI-based workflows for their business strategy.
22. Most companies will adopt conversational user experiences (CUXs) by 2021.
(Source: Impact)
The current chatbot trends in 2021 are already giving us a view of the future. A new variation of user experience (UX) design, CUX, is likely to be adopted by most companies in the near future.
An efficient CUX ensures that users can solve their problems, ask questions, and achieve their goals via chatbot, all in the shortest time possible. CUX can help in developing a brand persona, guiding conversations, and personalizing content.
23. Chatbots are expected to help reduce business costs by up to $8 billion by the year 2022.
(Source: Juniper Research)
One of the many facts about bots is that they have tons of potential applications in customer service. According to Juniper Research, by the year 2022, chatbots might be able to help reduce business costs by up to $8 billion. It’s anticipated that B2C, B2B, and B2E relationships, such as in CRMs, a company intranet, and IT help desks, will further use chatbots.
Conclusion
AI is finally letting businesses use various technologies to improve the customer experience, generate leads, and obtain more conversions, as the chatbot statistics have shown. Brands can achieve this by doing the right job of educating their public, implementing the correct system, and monitoring it to verify the results. Of course, there are cases where a personal, human touch is irreplaceable, so they must maintain a channel for such situations.
Finally, the CUX is something to keep in mind as companies begin to implement this strategy. Any organization that can’t keep up with these trends risks falling behind in search, relevancy, and sales.
FAQ
What is a chatbot?
A chatbot is a program that simulates human conversations via text chats, responding to them as scheduled, thus allowing the automation of bureaucratic and repetitive processes. It’s there when you ask a mobile operator a question or inquire about an online product. Chatbots are commonly used on company websites in the support section.
This model, along with virtual customer assistants (VCAs), is based on rules with specific commands, obeying a clear, structured navigation flow that directs the user during the conversation. Apple’s Siri, Google chatbot, Amazon’s Alexa, IBM’s Ross, and Microsoft’s Zo and Kensho are good examples of virtual assistants or chatbots.
Chatbots are now available to answer questions that range from the simplest to the most complex. With the continuous development of artificial intelligence and the increasingly wide-ranging skills they possess, chatbots are improving at levels well above those seen a few years ago.
Is Siri a chatbot?
Well, terminologically speaking, it would be more accurate to call Siri a virtual assistant than a chatbot. However, both “chatbot” and “virtual assistant” can be general terms used to refer to a conversational agent. According to Google Trends, “chatbot” is currently the most popular term among searches related to this technology.
Is there a difference between chatbots and virtual assistants?
The lines separating chatbots and virtual assistants are increasingly becoming blurred as technology evolves and new techniques are used to build these agents. Generally speaking, chatbots online primarily interact through a messaging application.
There are arguments that assistants like Siri or Cortana can’t be considered chatbots because they exist outside of these messaging channels.
There are already chatbots built with robust natural language processing (NLP) algorithms that can understand each message’s meaning beyond simply finding keywords. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case with most bots available on the market, and that’s why bots are still viewed as inferior to virtual assistants. However, as chatbot statistics clearly illustrate, thanks to advances in machine learning, chatbots are only going to be growing better and smarter in the coming years.