Webinars
A changing customer journey with Michael Rotstein, Business Development Director at Framna
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This segment, led by Michael Rotstein, Business Development Director at Framna, examines how AI is reshaping the classic awareness-to-conversion funnel and changing where customer journeys begin. With assistants like ChatGPT becoming a primary entry point, many interactions now start before users reach a brand’s app or website.
Michael explains how leading companies are combining ChatGPT Apps, OpenAI’s newest platform releases, and their owned digital channels to create more intelligent and connected customer journeys. He also outlines how this shift influences product strategy, channel planning and the broader digital product ecosystem.
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Thank you, Simon. Okay, so we heard Joakim talk about how OpenAI is repositioning ChatGPT from a consumer product to a platform. And Simon walked us through how apps in ChatGPT works. Now let's take this into perspective and look at how this changes the customer journey for our products and services. So let's start by looking at a traditional customer journey. The user starts with some sort of intent and finds your product or service, finds your brand through, you know, organic search or paid advertising. So through Google, usually. From there, we try to lead the customer, the user into our own channels, our app, our website, you know, to go through a number of steps to purchase something, book something, create an account, whatever it might be within our service. And then after that, we want to retain that customer, create some sort of loyalty habits, maybe through notifications, an email, a follow up, whatever it might be to retain that customer and keep that customer coming back. So the interesting thing here is that you know, over the past many years, this area has been within our own control, within our own digital channels, whether it be the app or website, and with the mobile phone, with the smartphone, the past 18 years, we've seen this part of the customer journey really extend. The smartphone is part of the user's lives constantly, it's always there, always present. So we can extend the customer journey, we can reach them earlier, follow them through, follow them through, you know, the entire journey and follow up with them afterwards. And so the smartphone has become this really important channel for us, right. Now, going forward, this is starting to change. So coming back to the study that Joachim talked about earlier, with ChatGPT users, we see that 24% of all ChatGPT users go to ChatGPT first to search, and 36% of them, have discovered a new product or service, a new brand through ChatGPT. And so we see that the first part of this journey is changing, discovery is changing, whether it be ChatGPT or some other sort of AI assistant. But not only that, but also looking through the noteworthy releases that Joachim mentioned, we have agent mode in ChatGPT, instant checkout, so you can buy things directly, within ChatGPT, the new apps that you can build and create experiences that run within ChatGPT, and the also the web browser where ChatGPT is always present in the sidebar. So if we take this, all of these releases into account, the customer journey starts looking a bit more complex. Might not be the user that comes to your website or your app, but an agent, you know, performing the user's tasks. Or maybe the user will purchase something directly within ChatGPT, or go a bit back and forth between these different channels. So the customer journey becomes more segmented and distributed between different channels. And so I mean, we're all used to talking about omnichannel, but this is a different kind of omnichannel growing up here, emerging here. And that also begs the question, you know, what happens with retention? With building loyalty, depending on, you know, who controls that customer journey. And this is, you know, an area that is moving really, really quickly. So I just want to show you this, because just yesterday, November 24th, both OpenAI and Perplexity launched new features, new agentic commerce features. So we have shopping research from OpenAI, and ChatGPT, personal shopping and Perplexity, and personal shopping and Perplexity, both of these features are meant to help the user find things to purchase. So you're looking for a new TV, guide the user, come up with suggestions, make them purchase that straight within the AI assistant. And Perplexity and PayPal also launched something called Instant Buy, similar to Instant Checkout by OpenAI. So again, everything is moving really quickly. So again, everything is moving really quickly. And this, of course, launched just before the holiday season, some of it only available currently in the US. So all of this taken together means that AI is really redefining the customer journey. And it's time for brands to start re-evaluating their channel strategy. It's time to think about where do we meet the customer? How do we meet the customer? How do we bring them through that journey? And part of the workshops that we're doing together with our partners is looking at different aspects. And these are two, I think, very important aspects to look at. On the one hand, it's control. You know, you're controlling the user experience and your brand and the customer journey. And so which part of the journey is it important for you to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to continue to control and guide user through? And where is it more important with reach? Where do you want to reach as many people as possible to bring them in to your brand? And depending on, you know, where you think about the journey and the features and your offering, you'll end up looking at segmenting that journey into different channels and meeting the customer and the user in different channels. And so, for instance, we can look at Walmart. So, back in October, when OpenAI announced Instant Checkout, Walmart also said that they would integrate with Instant Checkout and offer their entire product catalog within ChatGPT. So, now you can buy things from Walmart in ChatGPT. But that's obviously not the only channel where Walmart will meet their customers. They're also investing in smart features. They're also investing in smart features and AI features within their own channel because that might be a really great way of finding, discovering, comparing products within Walmart's product catalog. So, they also have their own assistant within the Rappen website. Another example, as Simon mentioned, is Praktikertjänst. So, here we're exploring a way for Praktikertjänst to Show which appointments are available close to you directly within ChatGPT through a ChatGPT app. And then when you want to book one of these appointments, they'll bring you over into their own channels. And this is where you, you know, can fill out the forms, give them your personal information, schedule that appointment, and they can, you know, follow up with you, remind you of the appointment and all of that within their own channels. And so, this is what we're seeing, you know, pattern emerging here where you meet the customer where they are. And then you drive the traffic into your own channel. So, reach and discovery, for instance, within ChatGPT, try to identify that handoff point, whether it be booking the appointment, whether it be, you know, playing the playlist in Spotify, whatever it is, or it might be for you, and bring the user into your own channel for fulfillment, and then build loyalty from there. And just to also think about, you know, specifically for apps in ChatGPT, what are the use cases you should be looking at? So, three things here to take into account. One, conversational. Obviously, this should fit in with a ChatGPT conversation. It has to take into account. It has to take into account. You want it to be intelligent, meaning that, you know, it should take into account the context, what we know about the user, what we know about the conversation they're having, all of those things to provide the user with an intelligent experience. And then also simple. Simple meaning it's not about replicating your entire website, your entire app in ChatGPT. It's about finding that concrete, simple experience with a clear start and stop for the user. And then again, you can continue the conversation or continue the journey in your own channels. And so these three things, super important to take into account when you start identifying your use cases. And this is really about opening the door, not replacing your own channels, and bring more users into your brand. So, question then. How do you get started with this? Well, three things that we would recommend that you can start doing. And of course, that we're more than happy to help you do as well. One, start looking at your channel strategy. Find the use cases and the concepts that would make it make a great app for ChatGPT. And so, you know, that's maybe a day, workshops trying to identify those specific use cases. Then start concept and prototyping these use cases. Prototype an app for ChatGPT, prototype that MCP server to get an understanding for agentic and how to share, you know, your brand, your data, your services with agents. Maybe a week or two, depending on, you know, your use cases. And if you want to be ready for the launch of apps in ChatGPT i Europe, then our estimate is that it would take about 4-6 weeks, this is what we see when we do this with our current partners, to build an app and build the MCP server and what you need to be ready and launch when when apps and ChatGPT comes to Europe. So, this will give you an idea of how much time is needed to, you know, explore this and be ready to launch. And it's not a lot, it's not a huge investment to be ready for this. If you want to know more about this, about these steps, you have the QR code in the slide. Follow that QR code. It'll give you more information. And you can also always reach out to us and we'll be happy to talk more about these things together with you.