WhatsApp and WeChat are two of the most popular messaging apps in the world with respectively 2.2 billion and 1.2 billion monthly active users. They both allow users to chat with businesses as well as with their friends and family.
WeChat has been particularly successful in China, where it has been called the "app for everything" – you can use it to book a taxi, order food, pay your bills, and more.
WhatsApp, on the other hand, is more popular in Europe and North and South America. And, like WeChat, it's also a platform for businesses to interact with their customers with its second and third versions: WhatsApp Business and WhatsApp Business API.
So, what does this mean for the future of shopping? It's simple: the future of shopping is conversational.
With messaging apps like WhatsApp and WeChat, businesses can reach out to their customers directly – and customers can reach out to businesses, too. This new form of communication is known as conversational commerce.
Conversational commerce is still in its early stages. But, it's growing quickly. And, there are already a number of businesses that are using it to great success.
Take Sephora, for example. The beauty retailer launched a chatbot on WhatsApp in 2016. Since then, it's been used by millions of people worldwide. Thanks to the chatbot, Sephora has been able to provide its customers with personalized recommendations, advice, and tips.
Or take H&M. The fashion retailer launched a chatbot on WeChat in 2017. The chatbot allows H&M's customers to browse its latest collections, get style advice, and even buy clothes directly from the app.
These are just two examples of how businesses are using conversational commerce to revolutionize the way we shop. There are many more businesses doing similar things – and there are sure to be many more in the future.
So, what does this mean for you? If you're a business owner, it's time to start thinking about how you can use conversational commerce to reach your customers. If you're a customer, it's time to start thinking about how you'd like to shop in the future – because the future of shopping is definitely conversational!
Benefits of Conversational Commerce
Conversational commerce is one of the hottest trends in ecommerce right now. And for good reason – it offers a whole host of benefits for both businesses and consumers.
For businesses, conversational commerce can help to increase sales and conversions, while reducing customer support costs. It can also help to build brand awareness and loyalty.
And for consumers, conversational commerce offers a more convenient and personal shopping experience. It’s also a great way to find out more about products and services before making a purchase.
So, what are the benefits of conversational commerce? Let’s take a look.
Benefits of Conversational Commerce for Businesses
1. Increase Sales and Conversions
Conversational commerce can help to increase sales and conversions by making it easier for customers to buy products and services.
With conversational commerce, businesses can provide a more personalised shopping experience that is tailored to the individual needs of each customer. This can help to increase sales and conversions, as customers are more likely to buy from a business that offers a personalised shopping experience.
2. Reduce Customer Support Costs
Another benefit of conversational commerce for businesses is that it can help to reduce customer support costs.
This is because businesses can use conversational commerce to provide customers with answers to their questions in real-time with Artificial intelligence, without the need for human intervention. This can save businesses a significant amount of money on customer support costs.
3. Build Brand Awareness and Loyalty
Conversational commerce can also help businesses to build brand awareness and loyalty.
By providing a personalised shopping experience, businesses can create a strong relationship with their customers. Once the customer writes a business on Whatsapp he/she will continue to do so in the future because it’s very convenient. This relationship can then be used to build brand awareness and loyalty over time.
Benefits of Conversational Commerce for Consumers
1. More Convenient Shopping Experience
One of the main benefits of conversational commerce for consumers is that it offers a more convenient shopping experience.
With conversational commerce, consumers can shop online without having to leave their chat application. This is much more convenient than having to open up a web browser and search for a product or service.
2. More Personal Shopping Experience
Another benefit of conversational commerce for consumers is that it offers a more personal shopping experience.
As conversational commerce is based on chat applications, businesses can provide a more personalised shopping experience that is tailored to the individual needs that each customer communicates. This is much more personal than the traditional online shopping experience.
3. Find Out More About Products and Services
Conversational commerce also provides consumers with a great way to find out more about products and services before making a purchase.
With conversational commerce, businesses can provide customers with more information about their products and services in real-time. This is a great way for consumers to learn more about a product or service before making a purchase.
How WhatsApp and WeChat are Changing Shopping
WhatsApp and WeChat are two of the most popular messaging apps in the world. They are also two of the most popular shopping apps.
WhatsApp allows businesses to create a profile and add their products. Customers can message the businesses to ask questions or make orders. WhatsApp also has a payment feature, so businesses can accept payments through the app, but it’s only available in a few country worldwide - India and Brazil.
WeChat is similar to WhatsApp, but it also has a built-in payment feature. WeChat also has a feature called "conversational shopping" which allows businesses to sell products through chatbots.
Both WhatsApp and WeChat are changing the way people shop. With these apps, businesses can reach a larger audience than they could before. Customers can shop from anywhere, and they don't have to visit a store or wait in line.
What's more, WhatsApp and WeChat are just two of many messaging apps that are being used for shopping. In the future, we can expect to see even more businesses using messaging apps to sell their products.
Enhancing the Shopping Experience with AI
Advanced technology has enhanced the shopping experience in many ways. In the past, if you wanted to purchase an item, you had to physically go to the store and purchase it. This was time-consuming and often required you to travel to the store. With the advent of the internet, you can now purchase items from the comfort of your own home. This has made shopping much more convenient and efficient.
Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are now enhancing the shopping experience even further. AI is being used in a variety of ways to make shopping more convenient, efficient, and personalized.
Let's take a look at some of the ways AI is being used to enhance the shopping experience.
Conversational shopping
One way AI is being used to enhance the shopping experience is through conversational shopping. This is where you can use natural language to search for and purchase items. This is made possible by chatbots that are powered by AI. Chatbots are able to understand human conversation and respond accordingly. This makes shopping much more convenient as you don't have to type in specific keywords to find what you're looking for. You can simply ask for it. Exaclty like you would do in a physical store. TextYess AI Shopping Assistant works exactly like this - you can try it for free.
Personalization
Another way AI is being used to enhance the shopping experience is through personalization. AI is being used to personalize the shopping experience by recommending products that are tailored to the individual shopper. This is possible by tracking the shopper's behavior and understanding their preferences. Based on this data, AI can recommend snd show products that the shopper is more likely to be interested in. This makes shopping more efficient as you're not wasting time looking at products that you're not interested in.
Security
Finally, AI is also being used to enhance the shopping experience by making it more secure. AI is being used to help detect fraud and prevent it from happening. This is done by analyzing data to look for patterns that indicate fraudulent behavior. AI can also be used to verify the identity of shoppers. This helps to prevent identity theft and makes the shopping experience more secure.
Overall, AI is enhancing the shopping experience in a number of ways. It is making shopping more convenient, efficient, and personalized. It is also making shopping more secure. If you're looking for a more convenient, efficient, and personalized shopping experience, then you should look for a store that is using AI and also Whatsapp or Wechat to get the best customer experience.
The future of shopping is conversational
In the past decade, we have seen a paradigm shift in how we shop. The rise of e-commerce has completely disrupted the traditional brick-and-mortar business model, and changed the way we think about shopping. In recent years, we have seen even more disruptive technologies enter the market, “Mega Apps” like Whatsapp and Wechat building the infrastructure of conversational commerce, and generative AI that is revolutionizing the way we look for and analyze information, increasing the power of these Mega Apps as well.
Conversational commerce is a new way of shopping that takes advantage of the natural way we communicate. By using messaging platforms like WhatsApp and WeChat, businesses can provide a more personal shopping experience that is convenient and easy to use.
There are many other benefits of conversational commerce that we highlighted above, and it is clear that this new way of shopping is here to stay.
Therefore, don’t be late and join the pioneers adding Whatsapp or Wechat to your store.