AI-Powered Customer Service: The IKEA Success Story

The chatbot, available at www.IKEA.pl/kontakt, answers customer questions on 400 topics about ordering, delivery, payment, complaints, returns, promotions or stores.

Unlike first-generation chatbots, the robotic consultant at IKEA correctly answers most customer questions in natural language, forgives typos, keeps context, gives parameterized answers, and handles long questions. As a result, it is able to significantly relieve the burden on the IKEA hotline, involving the consultant only in difficult conversations.

Results

The IKEA chatbot already handles 5000 calls a day. It resolves more than half of the incidents correctly and automatically. At peak times, it speaks with up to 60 people at once. It is already doing the work of dozens of consultants, and as we train it with new knowledge, its effectiveness increases.

Chatbot helped reduce the load on the IKEA hotline, which increased significantly after the IKEA stationary stores were closed due to the epidemic. Thanks to that, we are able to answer customers’ questions immediately 24/7.
– comments Marcin Liszewski, Business Leader IKEA Polska

The IKEA chatbot does not require selecting an answer from a list, but answers open-ended questions asked in a way that is comfortable for the customer and from a wide range of topics. It helps in a way as close as possible to human assistance. The results show that conversational artificial intelligence working in such a way really relieves consultants.
– comments Mikołaj Machowczyk, CTO of PerfectBot

Artificial intelligence from Google

To create a truly conversational AI for IKEA PerfectBot team integrated two global technologies – Google Dialogflow natural language engine and Genesys PureCloud contact center solution. This is the first integration of its kind in the world.

IKEA consultants handle conversations scaled by the chatbot in the Genesys PureCloud console when the chatbot doesn’t understand a question the second time around, at the customer’s request, or after detecting an issue that requires human assistance such as cancelling an order.

The PerfectBot team ensures that the chatbot is constantly trained so that it responds to customer issues in a way that is as close to the assistance of a real consultant as possible.