The shift to online shopping has prompted many brands to enhance the online shopping experience for customers. Businesses are increasingly adopting conversational commerce solutions to facilitate seamless interactions between consumers and businesses through chat or voice assistance.

Conversational commerce is gaining popularity in Southeast Asia, where 70 million more people have transitioned to digital consumption since the COVID-19 pandemic started.

Recent META consumer research indicates that nearly half of holiday shoppers are more likely to make a purchase if they can communicate with a business through messaging.

Now is the ideal time for brands to incorporate messaging options into their communication strategy. To assist those starting out in this area, we’re sharing success stories of businesses that have leveraged chat to streamline customer communications, simplify the customer journey, and drive sales.

Conversational commerce aids in communicating at scale

One success story is Snigdha Dalal, founder of Bihu Collection, which focuses on traditional textiles and weaves to address gender disparities. When Dalal had to close her physical store due to the pandemic, she transitioned to an online model, relying on WhatsApp to connect with customers beyond her geographical reach.

With WhatsApp, Dalal maintained contact with loyal customers and expanded her reach to international audiences with timely responses using the platform’s “auto-replies” feature.

WhatsApp facilitated 99% of customer interactions, leading to an 80% increase in sales conversion rates for inquiries via the platform.

Also Read: Lazada co-founders’ new e-commerce enabler CREA locks in US$25M from SuperOrdinary

Businesses are adopting messaging solutions like Messenger, Instagram Direct, and WhatsApp Business to engage with customers on familiar platforms, especially beneficial for small businesses looking to build connections at scale.

Conversational commerce simplifies the purchase journey

As brands prepare for the competitive year-end shopping season, they are utilizing conversational commerce channels to eliminate friction in the customer journey and enhance customer experiences.

Alyn Tapis, founded by Novita Ria in Indonesia, sells handmade souvenirs and modern fashion products made from traditional Indonesian fabric. By incorporating a WhatsApp button on the website, Novita streamlined the shopping experience for customers, resulting in a significant increase in sales and repeat orders.

Also Read: DDoS is a serious threat to e-commerce. Here’s how to tackle it

About 85% of customer interactions occurred through WhatsApp, with a remarkable 55% sales conversion rate on inquiries.

Conversational commerce drives sales for businesses

Conversational commerce enables instant online interactions similar to in-store experiences, aiding shoppers in making real-time purchase decisions.

In the Philippines, Niño of Cool Breeze Transient shifted his business model to short-term rentals during the pandemic, leveraging Facebook to connect with customers and achieve a 50% conversion rate from inquiries received via Messenger.

Also Read: E-commerce brand aggregator Hypefast to take on Una Brands, Rainforest with US$19.5M Series A financing

Flow Athletic in Australia expanded from a local to international brand by using Messenger for personal training sessions during the pandemic. As a result, 40% of their sales are now generated through Messenger and other Meta products.

Conversational commerce enhances customer connections, builds trust, simplifies the customer journey, and drives sales, providing a mutually beneficial solution for shoppers and businesses, especially SMBs.

This approach creates a magical holiday shopping experience for both customers and businesses.

–

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image credit: marchmeena

This article was first published on November 30, 2021

The post How SMBs can use conversational commerce to boost year-end sales appeared first on e27.