What: Conversational commerce may be proving brands better ways of connecting with their clients.

Why is it important: Messaging apps and shopping may be the sweet spot known as conversational commerce that is already being exploited in regions such as Africa,Pacific Asia and South America.

Brazilian brand, Triya, grew annual sales fivefold on Whatsapp after its presence on the platform and South American brand calls WhatsApp their favourite messaging tool to handle customer requests, send order information, receipts and tracking numbers. Wechat, Apple Business Chat and Facebook Messenger are all players in the chat commerce sector, along with traditional email and phone marketing.

A few examples of known brands who have tested the waters of conversation commers include:

•    Estee Lauder, using chatbots to scale its Whatsapp presence

•    Louis Vuitton’s ‘Client Advisors’ using Whatsapp to assist customers

•    L'Occitane using it for skincare consultations with clients

However, they are behind brands and retailers who are going beyond digital clienteling and use the messaging platform to conduct business on a mass scale.

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, total daily conversations between users and businesses on Facebook Messenger and Instagram platforms grew by more than 40% as consumers and brands used it as a key communication tool.The option to converse one-to-one with a brand easily and directly has a global appeal. Whatsapp has provided an entry point for small- to medium-sized businesses that cannot afford the costs of running a website or a physical store.

Customers can interact with brands in a way that feels colloquial and non-transactional, and companies say the financial impact is encouraging.

Will conversational commerce catch on?