Customers love immediate attention and even more so when it comes to e-commerce. It is not the same to wait 10 minutes to be attended by an advisor in a call center to receive a response in less than five seconds. This is something conversational commerce can do, and it is expected to grow up to 300% by the end of 2022.
Marco Olivera, director of business messaging alliances for Latin America at Meta, mentions that conversational commerce began with the relevance that messages have acquired in the lives of users, also considering that eight out of 10 users in Mexico have WhatsApp or Facebook. Messenger.
For this reason, the fact that a customer can communicate with a company through messaging channels can help to multiply, on average, up to four times their digital sales. We tell you a little more about conversational commerce:
What is conversational commerce?
Conversational commerce, or c-commerce , allows customers to connect with brands or stores through a messaging channel or voice assistant, in order to promote the purchase of the good or service. For example, they can ask from service hours to the characteristics of a product and a chatbot answers immediately.
But c-commerce is not just answering messages quickly and effectively. Oliveira mentions that it is a way to provide customers with a less complicated way to acquire a product or service.
On the other hand, the Mexican Association of Online Sales (AMVO) mentions that conversational commerce is not just a chat through a messaging app, but goes further, with the aim of “creating a bond with the buyer”.
Why is c-commerce effective?
Customers like conversational commerce. According to Oliveira, there are three main reasons:
- Digital expertise is not required: By having communication in such an accessible and daily channel for consumers, it is a tool that allows them to have contact without the need to acquire new digital skills.
- They communicate through channels they already use: When a business requests that new applications be downloaded or that the user has to learn to use new tools, it is a demotivator to continue the purchase. C-commerce is done through traditional messaging channels that users are already familiar with and that increases interaction.
- Greater interaction with the company: Auronix revealed that 58% of users worldwide have sent and received messages from their preferred brands and businesses and that messaging channels such as Whatsapp are six times more effective than SMS. This increased interaction becomes valuable for companies.
Reasons to implement conversational commerce in your company
The fact that there is now a chatbot answering questions to customers does not mean that it will eliminate jobs or that it harms the image of the company, quite the opposite.
Such is the case of Hotel Taselotzin, a small lodging and craft gift shop in Puebla that has come to life thanks to the efforts of 120 indigenous women. To connect with guests and make reservations, they manually answered phone calls and emails.
However, once they implemented conversational commerce, they found that now 10% of all bookings are confirmed on WhatsApp Business and more than half of all lead inquiries are answered through the instant messaging app. This reflects the following benefits, according to Auronix:
– A hybrid care model
A person can only handle one call at a time while these channels can handle multiple customers simultaneously. However, there will be clients who will always require more personalized attention. Through these channels, you can filter customers with simple questions and thus offer better service to customers who need to speak with an advisor.
– Efficient resources within the company
Using automation in messaging allows advisors’ time to be focused on solving more complex problems that require a much more strategic capacity, entrusting the bot with the simplest and most frequent responses.
– Offer a better customer experience
Auronix notes that customers want to wait 10 minutes maximum when they have a query. With c-commerce it is possible to attend to the client in this period, unlike telephone calls that have a response time between 40 minutes and two hours.
– A more positive costumer journey
It is not enough to only offer low prices, but also good service. C-commerce makes it more personal, positive and easy.
