Discover how conversational commerce can create better user experiences and drive digital revenue. From messaging apps, live chat or chatbots, and voice technology, conversational commerce meets your customers where they are already.
Globally, more people are accessing brands via the internet than ever before. According to Statista, the average internet usage for mobile, PC, and laptop is around 3.5 hours per day. These numbers show that there is a large opportunity for brands to meet customers where they are—online—and establish connections through impactful conversational engagement.
We understand that consumers are migrating toward the online experience to interact not only with each other, but with brands through conversational commerce. But what exactly is conversational commerce and how does it drive brands to better connect with their customers?
At its core, conversational commerce (or “c-commerce”) is the ability for companies to interact with customers through messaging apps, live chat or chatbots, and voice technology. According to Attentive, conversational commerce is defined by people-driven experiences and enhances the entire buying experience of the customer. C-commerce allows for awareness and discovery while enabling customers to ask questions, engage with customer service representatives, and have post-purchase conversations.
For example, if a customer buys a product through a mobile app, API integrations now enable that retailer to reach out to the customer through messaging apps like Whatsapp or Facebook Messenger. They can answer questions, offer discounts on the next purchase, conduct user surveys and more. The ability to converse with customers at any point in the purchase process creates a personalized shopping experience and can greatly increase brand loyalty.
Engaging through conversational commerce. A report by Facebook and Boston Consulting Group revealed that 100 billion messages are exchanged across Facebook products each day. The report also found that 2 in 3 people surveyed globally had messaged a business during the last holiday season. In fact, David’s Bridal reached $30,000 in sales with Apple Business Chat in the first few weeks after launch. This shows that c-commerce is quickly becoming not only a tool to better reach consumers but is becoming a preference by consumers as a method of communication.
Hyper-personalized content, offers, and alerts. To better personalize the shopping experience, brands have started to incorporate valuable user data, including demographics, buying indicators, social data, life events, and relationship graphs into the way they engage consumers. This data allows brands to engage customers on a personal level that customers have now come to expect.
Capture and market to first-party data. First-party data is information based on consumer behavior and is collected directly by an organization or brand. With 63% of consumers expecting personalization as a standard of service, first-party data is an invaluable source for brands to improve their overall user experience. This data can include information on browsing behavior on the desktop or mobile sites, transaction history, feedback from surveys, loyalty program activity, and more. Using this data, brands can create highly targeted journeys, content and delivery methods that fit with their consumers’ behaviors.
There are several tools available to connect with consumers through conversational commerce. One of which is Attentive, a personalized text message service that allows brands to quickly turn SMS into a top revenue source. Attentive enables brands to send text messages to customers at any point before, during, or after purchase to send offers, sales, ask questions about their experience, and more. This personalized SMS engagement service drives an average of 20.5% of online revenue for eCommerce brands.
Bots have also become a helpful c-commerce tool. They are being used to address customer questions and help automate otherwise manual processes. They can build complex quotes, diagnose issues, and make personalized recommendations for products and services.
Tools like these should all integrate into your CRM so you can successfully track and manage customer engagement and plan cross-channel touchpoints.
To remain competitive with conversational commerce, brands should focus on a customer-centric approach. Using behavioral data and insights at hand, conversational commerce should directly reflect your customers’ habits to create a truly personalized experience.
Interested in learning more? Contact the team of experts at Object Edge for a free consultation call.
