Chatbot Tracker: Pizza, Fashion & Cloud Computing

Dare you. Nay, double dare you to find an industry without a bot. It’s true: bots have squeezed their way in and they’re changing the way companies interact with consumers online.

Recently, PYMNTS’ Karen Webster discussed if it’s time to jump on the “Bot Bandwagon” this week, and perhaps it is.

Over the past week, bots are joining the fashion industry at runway events, delivering pizza without hopping off Facebook and peeking through in cloud technology. They might even save your marriage — wink, wink.

And consumers like kitschy names for things, even chatbots. Wondering what a “fashbot” is?

Tommy Hilfiger teamed up with Facebook’s Creative Shop and bot maker msg.ai to tailor a chatbot that TechCrunch deemed “worthy to point to.”

Pointing to the cloud, Larry Ellison, Oracle’s former chief executive and current chief technology officer, presented a shiny, new platform for building and running chatbots. His presentation at the Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco included a demonstration of a Messenger chatbot for an iPhone, built using with Oracle software. These bots can be made to function with a slew of messaging apps, like Facebook Messenger, Slack and Kik, and don’t require writing Java, PHP or even JavaScript. Ellison said it’s all about dragging and dropping.

Ellison’s bot was named Oracle Mobile Procurement — not the snazziest of names — and showed how one could place an order for new business cards. The bot noticed that Ellison’s title changed and asked if the updated title should be printed on the cards. Ellison, who stepped down from CEO to CTO in 2014, said yes, those new cards were clearly overdue and then had the bot ship them to a set address.

Speaking of address. Hungry for a pizza delivery?

Domino’s pizza is rolling out a new way to order pizza: via Facebook Messenger chatbot. Domino’s has been known for its strong digital ordering initiatives, but this one may make ordering even easier, especially for millennials.

Users who already have a Domino’s account can choose between a recent or favorite order and then track their order once it’s been placed.

The Michigan-headquartered pizza chain has already been allowing customers to order through more than 15 platforms, including Amazon Echo, Ford Sync, Samsung TV, Apple Watch and — don’t overlook — the language of emoji.

The chatbot offers customers more of a one-stop shop, to order pizza without leaving an app that they already spend a ton of time on and possibly eliminate the need to make a profile in a separate platform.

The emphasis Domino’s has placed on technology has shown that it’s working, pulling in an estimated $4.7 billion annually in global digital sales.

Experts say chatbots prove that we’ve reached a stage in engagement between AI and human interaction that is prime for allowing businesses to leverage technology in an inexpensive way to reach more consumers.

So, if you’re looking to explore this crazy chatbot world, there are resources, including basic tips for marketing through chatbots, as well as what not to do for your business.

Happy botting!