Global Retail Spend On Chatbots Will Grow To $72 Bn By 2028: Report

Global retail spending on chatbots is expected to grow at 470 per cent from USD 12 billion in 2023 to USD 72 billion by 2028, according to a recent report.

Open language models are acquired through limited human supervision and consist mostly of neural networks trained on substantial amounts of online data. Their integration into chatbots aims to automate various functions, such as customer support, marketing, and payment processing.

Additionally, the report highlights that the Asia Pacific region will contribute to 85 per cent of the global retail spending growth among small and medium retailers who were previously unable to invest in chatbots.

The report also emphasises that messaging applications, including WeChat, Line, and Kakao, have formed strong partnerships with a wide range of online retailers, instilling a high level of confidence in chatbots as a retail channel.

According to the research, the development of open language models is expected to be a significant driver for retail spending growth among small and medium retailers that previously lacked the means to invest in chatbots.

Commenting on the findings, Frederick Savage, the research author, stated that chatbots historically held a lower priority in omnichannel strategies due to the high cost of AI-based training algorithms. However, this trend has been significantly disrupted by the generative bot, which has substantially reduced implementation costs for smaller retailers.