Initial conversion jumps from 1% to 3% in e-commerce to 80% when involving conversational commerce
Brazilians love to chat. From your home port, bars and street corners, gossip now runs rampant on the internet, lavishing a cultural trait immortalized by Jair Rodrigues in the song let it go. Is it bad to have a nice chat with someone?, asks the song, which in 1964 was already talking about a habit that almost 60 years later would become the basis for one of the most promising businesses for selling products and services in the mobile environment.
Chatting with someone has never been so lucrative. Conversation became business, and in Brazil he has the chance to dominate the wheel. Investment in conversational commerce on OTT (over the top) channels, including WhatsApp or the Chinese app WeChat, is expected to jump from US$ 13.3 billion in 2022 to US$ 25.1 billion by the end of this year globally, an increase of 89% leveraged mainly by retail and e-commerce players, who increasingly improve the customer experience.
Both sectors should represent 35% of the efforts in 2023, reaching the figure of US$ 9 billion, according to the study carried out by Juniper Research in November 2022. Integrate each messaging application individually, respect for regulations, support and security for the use of different means of payment are the main guidelines indicated by the survey.
Regarded as the third wave of retail, conversational commerce allows users to make purchases or transfer money in messaging applications, allowing them to offer an omnichannel experience, from payments in OTT applications, chatbots and voicebots to RCS (Rich Communications Service) commercial messages, successor to SMS.
mass network
In April, WhatsApp launched a small business people payments feature right in the app. Users can pay for purchases or services with debit or credit cards, without leaving the conversation. Available to all consumers, the tool will be extended to small businesses that use WhatsApp Business over the next few months. To receive payments, companies need to connect an acquirer or payment processor, such as Cielo, Mercado Pago or Rede. Soon, other partners will be enabled.
Videos and tutorials published on the WhatsApp Help Center teach entrepreneurs how to handle the new feature. There is also information in the WhatsApp Business application, in addition to campaigns and communications carried out by acquirers to their base. The expectation that payments on WhatsApp will reduce the loss of sales.
During the testing period, WhatsApp was surprised by the acceptance of business from different segments. The positive receptivity of shopkeepers, candy stores, clothing and accessories companies, toys and service providers proves a common pain. The consumer withdraws from the purchase when he needs to open other applications and websites to make the payment or when he cannot use his card. Payment on WhatsApp promises to solve this break.
We are living what we call the conversational era, which in addition to being a new moment in customer engagement, is also a new frontier in the digital transformation of companies, announces Guilherme Horn, head of WhatsApp for Latin America. The most current user volume data in Brazil is from 2017, when the platform had 120 million fans in the country. WhatsApp’s reach points to latent business opportunities. There are more than five million active accounts on WhatsApp Business and more than 175 million people exchange messages daily.
More than 13 million access a business catalog on the app every month, and Brazilian companies already have more than 1.75 million catalogs available on the platform. Bot developers also roll up their sleeves. Botmaker has just hired Rodrigo Corts Arango as global director of small and medium-sized companies. It will be an interesting challenge to work in the messaging market in Brazil and Latin America, which has enormous conditions for growth, says Corts.
efficiency
WhatsApp has two app versions. One of them is WhatsApp Messenger, for general users, and the other solution is the free WhatsApp Business app, which offers specific features for small businesses. Medium and large companies, on the other hand, rely on the WhatsApp Business platform, an API (Application Programming Interface) in the cloud, which integrates WhatsApp with the companies’ own systems, such as CRM, marketing and logistics, to deliver personalized and scaled experiences to consumers. You can send notifications for order confirmation and shipping updates, and share appointment availability and other reminders with customers.
In the marketing and promotions area, the company is able to generate upsell and cross-sell opportunities, and re-engage customers after cart abandonment, in addition to maximizing the results of marketing investments with personalized promotions.
The ease of navigation to choose products and place orders favors sales, while customer service gains more efficiency by deploying automated conversation flows to handle a high number of support requests, implementing intelligent conversation routing when human support is needed, and integrate back-end systems such as CRM and marketing automation platforms.
The number of companies using the WhatsApp Business platform (API) has doubled during the pandemic in Brazil. According to WhatsApp data based on the Kantar BrandZ ranking, 60% of the most valuable companies in the country use the solution. Alelo, Banco do Brasil, Banco BMG, Banco Pan, Caixa Econmica, Globo, iFood, Ita, Latam Airlines, Magazine Luiza, Natura and Avon, PicPay, Porto Seguro, Quinto Andar, Renner and Serasa are some of the companies that already connect with your customers through the WhatsApp Business API.
More than 40% of Brazilian advertisers use click-to-message ads, which reached US$ 10 billion in revenue in the last quarter of 2022. The click-to-whats-app format grows more than 80% year on year throughout the world.
big people talk
Brazil does not stop talking. A survey commissioned by Meta, owner of WhatsApp, Kantar in April 2022, reveals that the country is among those that most see value in using messages sent by companies to talk to customers. The online survey was applied in 11 countries to understand opinions about commercial messages. In all aspects surveyed, Brazil was above the global average.
About 70% of online adults message a business at least once a week (66% global average); 82% want to have the option of talking to a company the same way they communicate with friends and family, through messaging (global average of 71%); 75% are more likely to do business and purchases from a company accessible via messaging (global average 66%); and 60% prefer to buy via message rather than going to a store, while the worldwide index stands at 55%.
If you think about WhatsApp’s reach in Brazil, it’s easy to understand the size of the opportunity. Companies have the possibility of communicating directly with whatever their public may be, in a channel where they already spend a good part of their time, warns Horn. From acquisition to sale, the journey guarantees efficiency and reach for companies and increases convenience for the consumer, rescuing the human aspect, which has remained alien to commercial technological evolution in recent years.
Adeso
According to WhatsApp, Grupo Boticrio has been using the WhatsApp API since 2019 to work on several business messaging fronts in a scalable way. Service and purchase journey are increasingly personalized. Currently, the company registers almost all of its digital service through WhatsApp, support for consultants in its own stores and franchises in Brazil. This channel expands its presence in digital sales and opens up a new means of contact, which strengthens ties with customers.
The support of the financial industry is also visible. According to WhatsApp, the main Brazilian banks already carry out transactions on the platform, such as opening accounts, taking out loans, confirming suspicious purchases with a credit card and adopting Open Finance, among other services.
The supermarket chain Oxxo repeats the strategy. The retailer has just launched its service through WhatsApp. The new customer relationship channel anchors the brand’s growth plan. With this service, we provide a more personalized service for our consumers, bringing even more agility, technology and quality to operations, says Roberto Barbera, commercial and marketing director of Grupo Ns, the result of a joint venture between Razen, the brand’s licensee. Shell, and Fomento Econmico Mexicano (Femsa Comercio), known for being the largest Coca-Cola bottler in the world.
Read the full story in the May 15 print edition.
