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As systems manager at Far East Flora’s Garden Centre, Lionel helms the introduction of new technology, such as GenAI, in the team.

For as long as he can remember, Lionel Phang has always had a soft spot for plants. However, the proud plant parent is also quick to admit that caring for his green brood can be challenging. Each species requires unique care: Some flourish in low light, others indirect light. Some thrive when they are watered just once a week, others once a month.

Lionel used to spend hours searching the Internet for the best plant care tips to nurture his own collection. It was a tedious process – one he was determined to change and simplify for customers at Far East Flora’s Garden Centre.

In 2024, the systems manager succeeded: He discovered IMDA’s initiative which helps SMEs supercharge business performance with Generative AI (GenAI). With grant support, he launched Far East Flora’s first GenAI chatbot.

Cultivating a Stronger Customer Experience with Digital Solutions

Now, customers can type their plant queries into the GenAI chatbot, and they’ll receive a response immediately – no matter what time it is, or where they are.

Far East Flora’s GenAI chatbot smoothens the shopping experience by helping customers with a wide range of questions, including about how to care for different plants.

Getting answers is now much faster than sending a query by email. “The reply could take up to one business day,” Lionel points out.

It’s also more convenient than calling Far East Flora or visiting an outlet in person. Also, as Lionel aptly points out: “if the staff does not know the answer, or the customer doesn’t get the right reply, they won’t have the confidence to make the purchase. We’ll lose the opportunity!”

Excitedly, he shares that delays and problems with staff not knowing the answer are avoided with the GenAI chatbot. If the information is not found within the Far East Flora database, the AI tool can scour the Internet for an answer. So far, the results have been remarkably accurate, he adds.

With the GenAI chatbot in place, Lionel hopes it will become easier for customers to find information on products they’re interested in, ultimately increasing the likelihood of a purchase.

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Business Blooms During Pandemic Thanks to Digital Seeds Sowed

Lionel shares that trialling the AI solutions was a natural step for Far East Flora, as the company has been consistently seeking digital innovations to enhance the customer experience.

For example, back in 2014, Lionel helmed the development of the garden centre’s first website. Over the next decade, the company gradually introduced technology such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to help automate and smoothen their workflow.

With a mobile app, customers can easily check if the products they want are in stock, stack up loyalty points, and even check out faster in store.

A mobile app was developed, self-checkout kiosks were introduced, and customer touchpoints were integrated with Omnichannel Retail Management (OCRM) solutions – all aimed at making shopping with Far East Flora easier and more enticing.
     

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In fact, Lionel points out that the company had actually started exploring the use of regular, non-AI chatbots since 2019.

In the first chatbot, staff had to manually managed the live chat during office hours. The bot was also programmed with pre-set answers to 20 of the most common questions, such as retail outlet locations and operating hours, to respond automatically when staff were unavailable.

It was a useful tool to have, especially when demand boomed during the pandemic, but the team felt more needed to be done.

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“The old chatbot was limited,” Lim Wan Yi, E-commerce Operation Assistant Manager matter-of-factly explains. “It struggled with understanding context and lacked depth and creativity in its responses.”

Because what if a customer wanted to know if they should place the plant indoors or outdoors? Or how to care for a new species they were interested in? With just 20 pre-programmed responses, the chatbot was unable to answer. As a result, many questions still had to be redirected to live agents. In fact, an estimated 21 man-hours per week was spent handling these queries!

Lionel and team are gradually programming the GenAI chatbot to be able to answer a wider variety of queries.

“We kept talking about how nice it would be to have technology help us answer customers,” Lionel reveals. So, when GenAI hit Singapore shores, it was a no-brainer. “We knew it was time for us to come in and adopt it!”

With GenAI’s vast knowledge and faster customer response, “life is easier for all users”, Wan Yi declares.