Scoot Goes Live with MARVIE Transactional Chatbot
Share
APEX Insight: With the launch of MARVIE – Most Awesome and Resourceful Virtual Intern Ever – Scoot becomes the first carrier in Asia with a chatbot that allows transactions and responds to customer queries.
Singapore-based low-cost carrier (LCC) Scoot has launched a transactional chatbot as part of its ongoing efforts to create a mobile-first customer experience. MARVIE, which was developed in conjunction with Barcelona-based technology company Caravelo, operates on the airline’s Facebook page via Facebook Messenger.
Since MARVIE’s soft launch in earlier this month, the chatbot has serviced on average 50 unique users each day and successfully resolved 37.5% of queries. Scoot expects the resolution rate to increase as customers continue to interact with MARVIE and its capabilities improve.
A full launch followed on July 24, with MARVIE now able to help customers search for flights, display the fares and availability reflected on the airline’s website and mobile app, make flight bookings and allow payment by credit card, in addition to handling customer queries in English.
Scoot says to date, customer queries have primarily been related to baggage, the Scoot Insider program, integration with Scoot parent Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer frequent flyer program, flight search and booking.
MARVIE will be further developed to accept promo codes, assist customers to make changes to their bookings, purchase ancillary products such as preferred seats and travel insurance, make interline bookings involving flights by partner airlines and accept more payment methods. Scoot also plans to develop MARVIE to support more languages and platforms, including Scoot’s website.
“Instead of having our customers come to us, we are committed to meeting them where they are.” – Vinod Kannan, Scoot
The launch of MARVIE comes as the LCC celebrates the one-year anniversary of its merger with Tigerair Singapore, which has seen a significant expansion of its operation.
Scoot’s digital strategy is a cornerstone of its efforts to improve the customer experience. The launch of MARVIE follows a recent three-year deal with experience management company Qualtrics, to improve the customer experience through the elimination of existing pain points during the journey using artificial intelligence and machine learning.
“One year on from merging Tigerair into Scoot, Scoot has grown significantly … We have also invested heavily in several initiatives to improve our digital capabilities and the customer experience,” said Vinod Kannan, Scoot’s chief commercial officer. “MARVIE is one of the first of Scoot’s efforts towards this goal; instead of having our customers come to us, we are committed to meeting them where they are, when it’s convenient for them,” he adds.