Feli’s chatbot will help you buy presents this Holiday season

We all know that it often can be difficult to find the right gift for friends and family. Sometimes we do not have inspiration, or we just can’t find the time for it. Feli wants to help us find the right gift with the option to order it directly as well. Not only will it save desperate giftseekers a lot of time, they also finally might find a suitable and personal gift for their friends. The App was launched last year, and turned out to be successful. In corporation with startup Botboys, Feli therefore added a new feature to it: a chatbot.

Feli as a personal assistant

Where to start looking for the perfect gift? When you enter a store, you can ask assistance from the persons who work there. They will advise you, based on what you are looking for. In a webshop this is usually not the case. There is no one to assist you or to guide you through the store. The idea of the Feli chatbot is to offer such assistance online. Instead of browsing without knowing where to start, Feli will personally assist you, simply by chatting on Facebook Messenger.

Trial period

Feli launched its chatbot last week, and is now undergoing a trial period. CEO Marja Silvertant: “We use Facebook Messenger, because it already has the entire structure of a chatbot in it. With Messenger chat it also feels as if you are talking with an actual person”. During this trial period Feli wants to find out what is the best way to easily help people make choices online. The startup wants to investigate what customers need, what they like, and what they don’t like. With the results Feli will improve its chatbot further.

Broader audience

Feli hopes to generate more customers with the chatbot. Silvertant also explains this new functionality is not a replacement, but an addition to the App. Customers however do not need to download the App for it. They do need to have the Facebook Messenger App, which may turn out to be a bit of a limitation. This may change in the future: “We hope to have our own channel in the future, but for testing and experimenting, Facebook Messenger is perfectly fine”.

Creativity killer?

So how does this thing work? it’s pretty easy. You just open Facebook Messenger, and ask a programmed computer what you should buy for your best friend. You tell the robot your friend likes sport, cooking, and traveling, and the robot Feli tells you what your friend probably likes. No need to ponder anymore about what you think would make a nice gift for your friend. No creative thinking is required, as the robot will do it for you. Of course, it can be a very nice way if you need some ideas. But if you really want a personal and original gift for your friend, you will probably still need some of your own creativity.