Alexa, what do we know about conversational commerce? Insights from a systematic literature review

Conversational agents are systems with human-like features that can be deployed in service settings and are fast emerging as the future of online commerce. Considering the importance and proliferation of conversational commerce, it is opportune to take stock of the field's research from a bird's eye view to guide understanding of its current and future progress. In this regard, the goal of this study is to review the performance and intellectual structure of conversational commerce. To do so, this study conducts a comprehensive and systematic review of 722 publications on conversational commerce using the Scientific Procedures and Rationales for Systematic Literature Reviews protocol and a collection of bibliometric analysis techniques consisting of performance analysis and science mapping (e.g., content analysis, keyword co-occurrence analysis, and bibliographic coupling). In doing so, this study reveals the performance (e.g., publication and citation trends, and top sources, publications, and authors) and the major theories and themes in the intellectual structure of the field. The study concludes with a conceptual framework depicting the constructs (e.g., antecedents, mediators, moderators, consequences, and enablers) of employing conversational agents for commerce and service delivery, as well as suggestions for its future research.