The Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), a retail entity catering to American military personnel and their families, has expanded its technological capabilities through a partnership with Manhattan Associates. This collaboration now incorporates Manhattan Associates' AI-driven customer service chatbot, referred to as Manhattan Active Maven.
AAFES has been utilising Manhattan Active Omni for order fulfilment since 2019. The recent deployment of Manhattan Active Maven aims to enhance support for human customer service representatives by leveraging generative AI technology. The newly integrated solution not only includes a chatbot designed for end-users but also features contact centre agent capabilities that are seamlessly connected to the customer data within Manhattan Active Omni.
The Maven chatbot is designed to address a wide array of customer inquiries, encompassing complex issues such as tracking shipping statuses, making order changes, cancellations, and managing returns and exchanges. Additionally, Maven serves to automate various manual customer service tasks, including conversation summarisation and post-interaction documentation, thereby alleviating the administrative burden on human agents.
Early results post-integration indicate a significant reduction in the volume of inquiries requiring direct handling by customer service agents. Bill Reynolds, Vice President of Ecommerce Merchandise and Operations at AAFES, expressed enthusiasm about the deployment, stating, “We are thrilled to use Manhattan’s gen AI-powered chatbot to offer our customers better and faster service.” He further added, “Manhattan Active Omni has been an integral part of getting orders to our customers as fast and efficiently as possible. Manhattan Active Maven is a natural extension of that solution that provides equally fast and efficient responses to our customers’ needs.”
This move reflects growing trends in the retail sector towards automation and the integration of artificial intelligence to streamline operations and enhance customer experiences. As businesses continue to explore emerging technologies, the role of AI in transforming customer service dynamics is expected to expand further.
Source: Noah Wire Services