Furniture retailer MFI has splashed out on intelligent Web services from Cambridge University spin-off Transversal.
The system is used to cut down on the number of customer queries presented to staff by enabling shoppers to access information easily on the Web site. Because the retailer is able to answer more stock queries online, staff are free to tackle the more uncommon questions about MFI's products.
MFI has taken on the technology, called Megafaq, to enable staff to help customers who are browsing the kitchen range online.
'We've changed our ranges dramatically in the past two years. Our product range is now quite complicated. No two kitchens are ever the same,' said MFI customer services manager David Chase.
'The need to get the right service was a challenge, because the training time for salespeople is quite long.'
The intelligent system is able to learn the answer to questions by accessing a stored base of knowledge.
Only questions that have never been asked before have to be forwarded to a member of staff.
'It's self-fulfiling. If we ask the system something and it doesn't know the answer, by the next morning, it will,' said Chase.
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