Flok, provider of a customer engagement platform for local businesses, has launched flok AI chatbot capability. With flok AI, thousands of businesses from the retail, restaurant, wellness, service, and entertainment categories can immediately launch chatbost to interact with their customers.
New businesses joining flok can access chatbot capability as part of the basic pricing package.
"Consumer behavior and the shift toward conversational commerce are changing how the biggest brands and retailers engage their customers. We can't let local businesses get left behind," said Ido Gaver, CEO of flok, in a statement. "We're putting enterprise-grade AI tools into the hands of local businesses, at a fraction of the cost. If you're a business competing with national chains, you now have a customizable marketing solution that will level the playing field in a matter of minutes."
The conversation between customer and bot is tailored by category. In less than five minutes, any business owner can create a bot that will automatically handle the most common customer inquiries in a messaging interface. For questions that the bot doesn't know, business managers can receive a mobile message from the bot and respond to the customer directly.
flok AI can also be proactive, triggering conversations with customers based on criteria like location, time since last store visit, or time of day/day of week. flok businesses are outfitted with beacons that guide the bot's proactive outreach.