How can e-commerce and retail companies grow their business by using messaging? In the following, we'll take a look at how different e-comerce and retail brands use messaging along the customer journey to grow their business.Â
WhatsApp, the Messenger from Meta, and Apple Messages for Business are excellent channels for customer communication. Most businesses are very aware of that. But using messaging as a marketing or sales tool, or to improve customer loyaly and reduce churn? Absolutely! In fact, conversational commerce, the dialogue-based sales strategy on messaging channels, offers many opportunities for e-commerce and retail companies along the customer journey.
That's also the experience of "TRACTA Mode Outlet" a family-run fashion company. They run brick-and-mortar stores, but also talk to their customers on WhatsApp, which has brought them closer to their customers. The messaging app allows them to combine the personal in-store experience with modern e-commerce, says Bastian Fischer, Head of Marketing at TRACTA.
How can you make messaging apps work for your retail or e-commerce business? What opportunities do messaging apps offer? What are other brands doing? We answer all the questions around messaging, e-commerce, and retail.
Why retail and e-commerce companies should use messaging
Regardless whether your store is online, offline, or somewhere in-between: reaching your customers is key for any successful retail or e-commerce business. Nowadays, the best way to interact with your customers is not by phone, not by e-mail, and not even on social media sites; it's on messaging apps.
And that's simply because users love to chat on messaging apps! Messenger services like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger from Meta have become the preferred communication channels for users around the world. Over two billion users in the world use WhatsApp, almost a billion interact via Faceook Messenger, and China's WeChat counts 1.3 billion users. In other words, messaging has become the favorite way of communication for many people around the world.
WhatsApp is installed on more than 99 percent of Brazilian smartphones. In the UK, 72 percent of users chat regularly on Facebook Messenger, and Indians handle almost anything on WhatsApp, from talking to their family, to looking for EVs to shopping.
It's therefore quite simple: if you want to reach your customers, messaging is the way to go! And messaging apps have another advantage, especially in retail and e-commerce: you'll be able to interact with your customers along the entire customer journey.