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Digital Customer Service: What It Is and Why It Matters

Posted on Michael Hartsog

Key Takeaways

  • Digital customer service uses online channels like chat, email, SMS, and social media to provide support, allowing customers to get help on their own schedule without phone calls or hold times.
  • Businesses reduce costs and increase agent productivity through digital channels because agents can handle multiple conversations simultaneously, unlike phone support which requires one-on-one attention.
  • Digital customer service implementations fail when channels operate in silos without shared context, forcing customers to repeat their issues across different touchpoints and creating frustrating experiences.
  • AI enhances digital support by automating routine inquiries, routing conversations intelligently, and providing real-time assistance to human agents, but transparency in AI decision-making remains critical for maintaining trust and control.

What is digital customer service?

Digital customer service refers to the support a company provides through online channels like chat, email, SMS, social media, and self-service portals. Instead of picking up the phone or visiting a store, customers get help through the same digital tools they use to text friends, check social media, or shop online.

This shift reflects how people actually prefer to communicate now. When a billing question pops up at 9 PM, most people would rather send a quick message than wait until morning to call. Digital channels give customers that flexibility while creating written records they can reference later.

Understanding why digital customer service is important starts with recognizing that today’s customers need convenient support on their terms. A strong digital customer service solution meets customers where they are, across every stage of the customer journey.

Digital customer service channels

Not all digital channels serve the same purpose. Each one fits different situations and customer preferences, so understanding the options helps you figure out where to meet your customers. Many digital channels exist today, and choosing the right mix depends on your customer needs and how your service teams operate.

Live chat and messaging apps

Live chat sits directly on your website or app, letting customers ask questions without leaving the page they’re on. Messaging apps like WhatsApp and Apple Messages for Business extend this same idea to platforms people already use every day.

What makes chat and messaging feel natural is the conversational flow. A customer can ask a question, go make coffee, and come back to continue the conversation without starting over.

SMS and text messaging

Text-based support reaches customers on their phones without requiring any app download. SMS works particularly well for appointment reminders, shipping updates, and quick back-and-forth questions.

The asynchronous nature of texting gives customers breathing room. They respond when they can, not when a phone call demands their attention.

Email support

Email remains a go-to channel for detailed inquiries, especially when customers want to attach screenshots or explain complex situations. It creates a paper trail both parties can reference.

While email isn’t the fastest option, it works well for non-urgent matters where thoroughness matters more than speed.

Social media

Customer service on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram operates differently than private channels. Conversations often happen publicly, which means other customers watch how you respond. Social media channels require a particularly consistent and responsive approach, since public exchanges directly affect brand loyalty.

Quick, helpful responses on social media platforms build trust with the person asking and everyone else scrolling by. Slow or dismissive responses do the opposite.

LinkedIn is another powerful platform you can leverage for inbound and outbound. You can check out various tools, such as this Dripify review, to learn how you can get the maximum out of LinkedIn as a communication channel.

Self-service portals and knowledge bases

Self-service includes FAQs, help centers, and searchable documentation that let customers find answers on their own. Many people actually prefer this route because it’s faster than waiting for a response. A well-designed self-service experience, including an online knowledge base accessible from your company website, can resolve the majority of common customer queries without any agent involvement.

A well-organized knowledge base handles common questions at scale, which frees up your agents for situations that genuinely require their attention. Offering self-service options is one of the key advantages of digital support.

Why is digital customer service important?

Customer expectations have shifted because digital convenience has become the norm everywhere else. Banking, shopping, entertainment, food delivery—all of it happens on phones and laptops now. Customer service that doesn’t keep up feels outdated.

Convenience and 24/7 availability meet customer needs

Providing customers help on their schedule, not just during business hours, is now tablestakes. Digital channels, especially when paired with AI, make always-on support possible without staffing a contact center around the clock.

Someone troubleshooting a streaming device at 11 PM shouldn’t have to wait until morning. Providing today’s customers with support through mobile devices and mobile apps means help is always within reach.

Faster response times without hold queues

Hold music is universally despised. Digital channels provide immediate acknowledgment, and agents can handle multiple conversations at once, which typically means faster resolution.

Even when a response takes a few minutes, customers can keep doing other things instead of sitting on hold. Compared to traditional phone-based support, digital channels dramatically reduce wait times and phone support overhead.

Ability to multitask during interactions lowers customer effort

Phone calls demand full attention. Digital conversations don’t.

A customer can message support while commuting, sitting in a meeting, or watching their kids. Getting help becomes far less disruptive to their day.

A consistent customer experience across channels

Here’s where things get tricky for many companies. Customers expect to start a conversation on chat, continue it via SMS, and never repeat themselves. That expectation is reasonable, but delivering on it requires real technical coordination.

The difference between omnichannel and multichannel matters here. Multichannel means offering multiple channels. Omnichannel means those channels actually share context, so the conversation stays connected no matter where it moves. The goal is to deliver consistent, smooth customer experiences across all customer touchpoints.

Benefits of digital customer care for businesses

The business case for digital customer service goes beyond meeting customer expectations. The operational advantages are significant.

BenefitWhat it means
Reduced costsLower cost per contact compared to phone
Increased agent productivityAgents handle multiple conversations at once
Scalable support operationsGrow capacity without proportional headcount increases
Richer customer insightsText-based conversations create searchable, analyzable records
Higher customer satisfactionCustomers get help on their preferred channels

Reduced support costs

Digital interactions typically cost less than phone calls. An agent managing four chat conversations simultaneously handles more volume than one phone call allows. Efficient support at scale is one of the clearest financial arguments for digital transformation.

Increased agent productivity

Agents working digital channels can juggle several conversations at once, which reduces idle time between interactions. This throughput improvement compounds across an entire support operation.

Scalable contact center operations

Digital channels allow capacity expansion through automation and AI without linear increases in staffing. When volume spikes during a product launch or holiday season, you’re not scrambling to hire temporary agents. Customer service operations that embrace digital channels are better positioned to scale without sacrificing quality.

Richer insights from customer data

Text-based interactions create searchable records for analysis, training, and quality assurance. You can identify trending issues, spot training opportunities, and understand customer sentiment across thousands of customer conversations. Analyzing customer data from these interactions also helps surface top contact drivers and understand customer intent more precisely.

Higher customer satisfaction and loyalty

Meeting customers on their preferred channels improves satisfaction scores and retention. When getting help feels easy, customers remember that experience the next time they’re deciding where to spend their money. Higher CSAT is a key driver of long-term brand loyalty.

Why digital customer service fails the customer journey

Not every digital customer service implementation works well. Understanding common failure points helps you avoid them.

Disconnected channels without shared context

When channels operate in silos, customers repeat themselves constantly. They explain their issue on chat, get transferred to email, and start from scratch. Then they call and explain everything a third time.

Context—the history and details of a customer’s issue—gets lost at every handoff. Disconnected systems are one of the most common reasons digital customer service fails to deliver a seamless customer experience. This frustration drives customers away faster than almost anything else.

Inconsistent brand voice across touchpoints

Different tone or messaging across channels creates confusion. If your chatbot sounds robotic while your email team sounds casual, customers wonder if they’re dealing with the same company.

Poor AI implementation and black-box decisions

AI that gives wrong answers or acts unpredictably damages trust quickly. When a chatbot confidently provides incorrect information, customers lose confidence in your entire support operation.

AI transparency—knowing how and why an AI reached a particular conclusion—matters for maintaining control and building trust. Without visibility into AI decisions, problems become hard to diagnose and fix.

No clear path to human agents

When customers can’t reach a person for complex issues, satisfaction drops sharply. Automation works best when it assists rather than traps.

The goal isn’t to prevent human contact. It’s to handle routine customer inquiries efficiently so human agents can focus on situations that genuinely require their expertise.

The role of AI in digital customer support

AI enhances service without replacing human judgment. The key is understanding what AI handles well and where humans still excel. Artificial intelligence is now central to how modern customer service operations scale personalized support across high volumes of interactions.

A digital service agent is an AI-powered assistant that can handle customer inquiries automatically. Agentic AI takes this further by actually taking actions on behalf of customers—processing refunds, updating accounts, scheduling appointments—rather than just answering questions.

Automated resolution of routine inquiries

AI handles FAQs, order status checks, password resets, and similar straightforward requests. Customers often prefer the speed of automated resolution for simple issues, and these interactions don’t require human nuance.

Intelligent routing and triage

AI identifies customer intent and urgency to route conversations to the right team. A billing dispute goes to billing. A technical issue goes to technical support. An upset customer gets prioritized. Understanding contact drivers helps AI route more accurately and reduce customer effort.

Agent assist and real-time guidance

AI provides suggestions, knowledge retrieval, and next-best-action recommendations to human agents during conversations. The support agent stays in control while AI handles research and information gathering in the background.

Personalization at scale

AI uses customer data to tailor responses and recommendations across high volumes of interactions. What would take a human agent minutes to research, AI can surface instantly, enabling deliver personalized support at a scale that was previously impossible.

Proactive engagement

Beyond reactive support, AI enables proactive communication—reaching out to customers before they encounter a problem. Proactive engagement based on behavioral signals and customer data can prevent issues from escalating and reduce inbound volume significantly.

Implementing digital customer service

Successfully implementing digital customer service requires more than selecting the right tools. It demands a clear understanding of your customer needs, your existing communication channels, and how your service teams will adapt. Start by mapping the customer journey to identify where customers prefer to engage and where friction currently exists. Then prioritize the digital channels that align with how customers prefer to interact with your brand.

Best practices for a digital customer service strategy

Building effective digital customer service requires intentional design. A few practices consistently separate successful implementations from frustrating ones.

1. Unify channels under one platform

Consolidate digital touchpoints into a single system to maintain conversation history and context. When everything lives in one place, nothing gets lost between channels.

2. Maintain context across every interaction

Customer history follows them across channels and between AI and human agents. Customers shouldn’t repeat themselves—ever.

3. Balancing automation with human availability

Use AI for efficiency, but always provide a clear path to human agents for complex or sensitive issues. The best implementations make escalation feel natural, not like a failure. Striking a balance between automation and genuine human availability is exactly that—a design choice, not an afterthought.

4. Ensure AI transparency and governance

Know how your AI makes decisions. Implement guardrails—configurable boundaries that control AI behavior—and maintain audit trails. When something goes wrong, you want to understand why.

5. Measure and continuously optimize

Track key metrics and use insights to improve. What gets measured gets managed.

How to measure digital customer service success

Measurement proves ROI and identifies improvement areas. A few metrics matter most.

Customer satisfaction score

CSAT captures post-interaction ratings, reflecting immediate customer sentiment. It’s the most direct measure of whether customers feel helped.

First contact resolution rate

FCR measures the percentage of issues resolved in the first interaction. Higher FCR means less customer effort and lower costs.

Automated resolution rate

This metric—sometimes called containment rate—tracks the percentage of inquiries fully resolved by AI without human intervention. It directly measures AI effectiveness.

Cost per contact

Total support cost divided by number of interactions. Digital channels typically lower this metric significantly compared to phone support.

Customer engagement across the digital journey

Effective customer engagement doesn’t end when a ticket closes. Every interaction is an opportunity to strengthen the relationship. When you offer digital customer service that is proactive, personalized, and consistent, you build the kind of trust that turns one-time buyers into loyal advocates. Great customer service is ultimately about making customers feel heard and valued at every step.

Building a digital customer service strategy that scales

The right digital customer service software makes a real difference. Look for one that maintains continuous context across channels, provides visibility into AI decisions, and scales your brand voice rather than replacing it with generic responses.

The distinction between a vendor and a partner matters here. A vendor sells you software. A partner helps you succeed with it, offering the kind of collaboration that makes implementation smoother and results more predictable.

Digital customer service FAQs

What is a digital customer service representative?

A digital customer service representative assists customers through digital channels like chat, email, SMS, and social media rather than calls. Some organizations also use this term to describe AI-powered digital service agents that handle customer inquiries automatically.

What is a digital call center?

A digital call or contact center is a customer support operation that primarily uses digital channels—chat, messaging, email, and social media—instead of or alongside traditional phone-based support. Digital call centers often incorporate AI and automation to handle high volumes efficiently.

How is digital customer service different from traditional customer service?

Traditional customer service relies primarily on calls and in-person customer interactions. Digital customer service uses channels like chat, SMS, email, and self-service portals. Digital channels offer asynchronous communication, written records, and the ability to serve multiple customers simultaneously. Traditional channels often require customers to wait, while digital channels let customers prefer to engage on their own schedule.

What is digital customer success?

Digital customer success refers to proactive strategies that use digital tools and data to help customers achieve their goals with your product or service. While digital customer service is reactive—responding to issues—digital customer success focuses on preventing problems and driving value before customers reach out to your contact center.

What Is Conversational Commerce?

Posted on Max Fortis

Key Takeaways

  • Conversational commerce bridges chat and shopping — allowing customers to browse, ask questions, and complete purchases directly through messaging apps, AI agents, or voice assistants.
  • It meets customers where they already are — creating a faster, more convenient buying experience.
  • Personalization drives engagement — real-time, two-way conversations help brands tailor recommendations and build stronger customer relationships.
  • Automation improves efficiency — Agentic AI and integrations reduce manual workloads while ensuring round-the-clock support.
  • Getting started is simple — brands can launch conversational commerce by choosing familiar messaging channels and connecting them to existing systems like CRM or inventory tools for seamless experiences.

You’ve probably heard the term conversational commerce floating around — it’s catchy, sure, but what does it actually mean, and why is it getting so much attention? 

Here are a few conversational commerce examples in real life:

  • Consumers are shopping and completing transactions within a messaging conversation.
  • Brands help consumers shop by finding a store location or online promotions and deals.
  • Customer experience agents interact with customers to reschedule an appointment or a delivery.

These are just a few ways messaging has greased the conversational commerce wheel, making it easier and faster for businesses to get things done. In this article, we’ll take a close look at conversational commerce and what companies need to do to fully leverage its benefits.

Conversational Commerce Definition

Conversational commerce is the use of messaging apps, AI agents, or voice assistants to facilitate online shopping experiences – allowing customers to browse, ask questions, receive personalized recommendations, and make purchases through natural, real-time conversations. Conversational commerce bridges the gap between e-commerce and direct customer interaction to create a more seamless and personalized buying journey.

How Does Conversational Commerce Work?

Consider the smartphone — the device that rarely leaves anyone’s hands — and think about how much searching, browsing, buying, and texting happens on it every single day. Even before lockdowns accelerated digital habits, consumers were already drawn to the ease, convenience, and speed of shopping right from their phones.

Recently, we’ve seen a surge in use as more consumers have looked to online shopping, delivery, and curbside pickup to get through their days.

According to comScore, more than half of consumers (85%) spend their smartphone time using only 5 apps, which tend to be either social media or messenger, apps. It makes sense that businesses would marry the power of messaging with consumers’ preferences.

Conversational commerce works by integrating chat, messaging, or voice technology into the shopping experience, allowing customers to interact with brands in real time. Through AI-powered agents, messaging apps, or voice assistants, users can ask questions, get personalized recommendations, and complete purchases — all within a single, natural conversation rather than navigating multiple web pages or forms.

What Are the Different Types of Conversational Commerce?

AI Agents and Agentic AI

AI agents powered by agentic AI are transforming conversational commerce by going beyond simple, rule-based chatbots. These intelligent systems can understand context with natural language processing, make decisions, and take autonomous actions — from recommending products and managing orders to integrating with CRM or inventory systems. Unlike static chatbots, agentic AI incorporates machine learning and gets better from each interaction.

Voice Assistants

Voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant have brought conversational commerce into people’s homes and daily routines. By using simple voice commands, customers can reorder products, check delivery statuses, or discover new items without ever touching a screen.

For brands, this channel offers an opportunity to build more natural, hands-free shopping experiences — especially for routine purchases or multitasking consumers who value convenience.

Messaging Apps

Messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and SMS are the heart of conversational commerce. These channels allow brands to connect directly with customers through personalized messages, automated chat flows, and instant checkout options — all within the same conversation.

For brands looking to scale conversational SMS specifically, tools like TxtCart help turn text messaging into a revenue-driving channel by enabling real-time, two-way conversations, automated cart recovery, and personalized follow-ups. This approach not only improves response rates but also creates a more natural shopping experience within the same SMS thread customers already use daily.

Because customers already use these apps daily, conversational experiences here feel natural and convenient, helping businesses increase engagement, reduce friction, and boost conversion rates.

Why Invest In a Conversational Commerce Strategy?

Consumer expectations of speed and convenience have birthed new innovations that are opening up seamless communication between brands and customers. Gone are the days when customers were satisfied with dialing an 800 number or having to write an email to get help.

Consumers will choose brands that go that extra mile to make their experience personalized and efficient. Needless to say, businesses are investing to make that happen.

Consider these statistics by Gartner:

  • At least 60% of companies will use artificial intelligence to support digital conversational commerce.
  • 30% of digital commerce revenue growth will be attributable to artificial intelligence technologies, such as those that power conversational commerce.
  • 5% of all digital commerce transactions will come from a bot, such as those that power conversational commerce.

All of the major trends in conversational commerce over the past couple of decades have been in moving to where customers are. Rather than forcing customers to come to you, you go to where they are. The next generation of that is conversational commerce.

The Benefits of Conversational Commerce for Your Customer Journey

Investing in conversational commerce also unlocks tangible business benefits that can elevate your customer experience and bottom line:

Improved Customer Experience

With AI and data-driven insights, conversational commerce allows brands to deliver more personalized interactions. These tools can understand customer preferences and intent, allowing for contextually relevant responses that feel tailored to the individual.

Whether it’s personalized product recommendations via a chat widget, a voice assistant helping narrow down options, or live customer support through messaging apps, these conversational commerce examples help deepen engagement and drive loyalty. The interactions feel more natural and human, making the customer feel seen, heard, and supported throughout the buying journey.

Customer Satisfaction, Loyalty and Retention

Conversational commerce strengthens CSAT and loyalty by delivering personalized, real-time interactions that make customers feel valued and understood. Through AI-powered tools, brands can offer tailored recommendations, instant support, and seamless shopping experiences, creating a sense of trust and reliability. When customers receive quick answers and solutions, they are more likely to return, fostering long-term loyalty and higher retention rates.

24/7 Availability

Conversational commerce strengthens customer loyalty by creating more personal, responsive interactions throughout the buying journey. When customers can get immediate answers, personalized recommendations, and real-time support through chat or voice, they feel valued and understood — increasing trust and satisfaction. Over time, these seamless experiences encourage repeat purchases, boost lifetime value, and turn casual buyers into loyal brand advocates who keep coming back.

AI-powered systems and AI agents enable brands to offer round-the-clock support, meeting rising expectations for always-on service. This is especially valuable for global brands, allowing them to deliver consistent, timely assistance across time zones—without the overhead of a 24-hour support team.

Cost Reduction

Conversational commerce solutions are designed not only to improve customer satisfaction but also to reduce operational costs. By automating routine tasks and frequently asked questions, businesses can scale without heavily increasing headcount. Human agents are freed up to handle higher-impact conversations, improving overall efficiency and productivity.

Set Your Business Apart

Conversational commerce gives your brand a competitive edge by delivering personalized, real-time interactions that traditional e-commerce can’t match. By meeting customers where they already are — in chat apps, messaging platforms, or through voice assistants — your business creates a more seamless, human buying experience. This not only enhances convenience but also helps your brand stand out as innovative, approachable, and customer-first in a crowded digital marketplace.

Conversational Commerce Use Cases

Conversational commerce is transforming the way businesses interact with customers by integrating real-time, personalized communication into the shopping journey. Here are some practical use cases that showcase its versatility and impact:

Streamlined Customer Support

Brands can use conversational commerce to provide immediate answers to common questions, such as product availability, shipping updates, or return policies. AI-powered agents and messaging apps ensure customers receive timely support, reducing frustration and improving satisfaction.

Personalized Shopping Assistance

Through AI agents and messaging platforms, businesses can offer tailored product recommendations based on returning customer preferences, browsing history, or past purchase history. This level of personalization not only enhances the shopping experience but also increases the likelihood of increasing sales.

Appointment Scheduling and Reminders

Conversational commerce simplifies appointment management by letting customers to schedule, reschedule, or cancel appointments directly through messaging apps. Automated reminders ensure customers stay informed, reducing no-shows and improving operational efficiency.

Order Management and Tracking

Customers find and easily track their orders, make changes, or request updates through conversational channels. This eliminates the need to navigate multiple web pages and try to use a search bar on mobile devices, creating a more seamless and convenient purchase journey.

Loyalty Program Integration

Messaging apps and AI agents can integrate with loyalty programs to provide customers with real-time updates on points, rewards, and exclusive offers. This keeps customers engaged and incentivized to continue shopping with the brand.

Voice-Activated Commerce

Personal shopping assistants on voice, like Alexa and Google Assistant, enable hands-free shopping experiences, allowing customers to reorder products, check delivery statuses, or discover new items with simple voice commands. This is particularly useful for multitasking consumers who value convenience.

From these use cases alone, it’s clear how conversational commerce can meet customer expectations, enhance engagement, streamline operations, and drive customer satisfaction levels up across various touchpoints.

Pitfalls of Conversational Commerce and Strategies to Avoid Them

Conversational commerce has the power to transform customer engagement by making shopping more seamless, personalized, and efficient. However, if implemented carelessly, it can lead to frustration, lost sales, and diminished trust. Below are some common pitfalls and practical strategies to avoid them.

1. Not enough empathy in customer support

Customers expect understanding, not canned responses. When you implement conversational commerce with AI technology, make sure your virtual assistants can engage in personalized conversations. Always have an escalation path in your existing tech stack to a human, too.

Strategy: Blend automation with a human touch and Agentic AI. Use AI to manage simple requests, but make it easy for users to connect with a live representative when situations become complex or emotional. This balance maintains efficiency while preserving empathy.

2. Disconnected systems and inconsistent experiences

An AI agent that isn’t connected to tools like CRM, order tracking, or inventory systems can’t deliver accurate, helpful, or truly personalized responses. Integrating these systems with a modern B2B commerce platform ensures that conversational agents can handle complex business logic and automated workflows seamlessly.

Strategy: Integrate your conversational commerce tools with backend systems. This ensures every interaction reflects real-time data from order status to personalized product discovery, for a consistent and streamlined shopping experience.

3. Data privacy and security gaps

Because conversational platforms handle sensitive information, even small lapses in data security can damage brand credibility. Implementing guardrails and reviewing real-world AI data security examples can help teams proactively identify where sensitive PII might be at risk during AI interactions.

Strategy: Clearly communicate data usage policies, use encryption, and stay compliant with regulations like GDPR and CCPA. Transparency builds trust.

4. Lack of continuous optimization

Launching an AI agent for an interactive shopping experience is just the beginning. Without regular updates, responses can become outdated or inaccurate.

Strategy: Continuously analyze conversations, review customer feedback, and retrain AI models to keep the experience of your online stores relevant and effective.

When executed thoughtfully, conversational commerce becomes more than a convenience — it’s a long-term strategy that deepens trust, strengthens relationships, and drives sustainable growth.

How Does Agentic AI Fit Into Conversational Commerce?

Agentic AI marks the next evolution of conversational commerce for online retailers — shifting from simple, rule-based, conversational AI chatbots to intelligent systems that can reason, act, and learn autonomously.

Instead of relying on preprogrammed responses, agentic AI understands context, intent, and customer goals, enabling it to manage more complex interactions from start to finish.

From reactive to proactive interactions

In practice, this means agentic AI can do much more than just generate automated answers. It can anticipate customer needs, recommend relevant products, manage returns, or adjust an order before it ships.

For example, with an agentic AI agent, you can engage shoppers based on their browsing behavior, guiding customers and suggesting relevant products based on what you already know about them.

These systems continuously learn from each interaction, refining their understanding to deliver more natural, human-like conversations over time.

Deep integration across business systems

Agentic AI also connects seamlessly with backend platforms like CRM, inventory, and marketing automation tools. This allows it to pull real-time data into every conversation, letting customers know when an item will restock, applying loyalty rewards automatically, or sending follow-up care tips after a purchase.

Smarter, more personal commerce

By combining natural conversation with autonomous decision-making, agentic AI transforms everyday interactions into personalized, value-driven experiences. It helps brands scale customer engagement without losing the human touch — improving satisfaction, efficiency, and ultimately revenue.

The bridge between automation and empathy

In short, agentic AI is what makes conversational commerce truly intelligent. It closes the gap between automation and emotional connection, helping businesses move from reactive service to proactive engagement. For brands competing on experience, it’s not just a technological upgrade — it’s the foundation of the next generation of smarter, more human commerce.

How to Measure Success With Conversational Commerce

Measuring the success of conversational commerce means understanding how well your interactions drive both customer satisfaction and business results. The right mix of quantitative and qualitative metrics will give you a complete picture and valuable insights for optimizing your purchasing process.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) to track include:

  • Conversion rate: How often conversations lead to a sale or completed action, especially across multiple channels.
  • Average order value (AOV): Whether personalized recommendations are leading to incremental revenue gains.
  • Customer satisfaction (CSAT): Customer satisfaction scores show how happy customers are with their conversational experience.

Customer engagement metrics that matter:

  • Response time: How quickly customers receive helpful answers.
  • Session length and repeat interactions: Indicators of meaningful engagement and ongoing value.
  • Retention and re-engagement rates: Show how conversations help build long-term loyalty.

Don’t forget qualitative insights:

  • Gather feedback and analyze sentiment to identify patterns in tone, helpfulness, and personalization.

Create A More Natural Brand-Consumer Relationship With Conversational Commerce

Conversational commerce, much like regular conversations, is meant to build relationships. Conversational commerce is an opportunity to move beyond email blasts, promotional posts on social media platforms, and other communication methods that provide just one-way communication. SMS and other messaging apps enable you to keep your customers informed with updates, and allow them to respond on the same message thread.

A real-time exchange of information? Now that’s a conversation.

Creating engaging experiences on these channels is better and easier if your agents have a single view of your customers. Quiq makes it easy for companies to manage conversations with an intuitive agent desktop and native integrations with Salesforce.com, Zendesk, Shopify, and Oracle Service Cloud.

Quiq is architected with an “API First” strategy, which means we seek to work in harmony with your existing systems. With Quiq’s integration frameworks, you can customize our UI to include data from your internal operations systems or synchronize conversation data into your reporting, customer, and other backend systems.

Get Started with a Conversational Commerce Platform

Getting started with conversational commerce isn’t complicated. Start with one new channel that customers visit every day, such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, and work with a vendor like Quiq to optimize your social commerce and post-purchase support.

If you’re ready to put a conversational commerce platform to work so that your business can thrive, get a demo today to see our Agentic AI solution in action.n action.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is conversational commerce?

Conversational commerce is the integration of chat, messaging, or voice technology into the shopping online experience, allowing customers to interact with brands, ask questions, and make purchases through natural, real-time conversations.

What are the 4-types of eCommerce?

The four main types of eCommerce are B2C (Business-to-Consumer), B2B (Business-to-Business), C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer), and C2B (Consumer-to-Business) — each describing the relationship between buyers and sellers in online transactions.

What is chat commerce?

Chat commerce refers to buying and selling products or services directly through chat-based platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or live website chat — where customers can browse, ask for help, and complete transactions without leaving the conversation.

Are AI agents an example of conversational commerce?

Yes, AI agents or chatbots are key examples of conversational commerce because they enable automated, real-time communication that helps customers discover products with personalized shopping experiences, get support, and make purchases more efficiently.

What are the main benefits of conversational commerce?

It improves customer experience by offering convenience, faster responses, and personalized engagement. For ecommerce businesses especially, it can increase conversions, boost retention, and reduce support costs.

Customer Service in the Travel Industry: How to Do More with Less

Posted on The Quiq Team

Doing more with less is nothing new for the travel industry. It’s been tough out there for the last few years—and while the future is bright, travel and tourism businesses are still facing a labor shortage that’s causing customer satisfaction to plummet.

While HR leaders are facing the labor shortage head-on with recruiting tactics and budget increases, customer service teams need to search for ways to provide the service the industry is known for without the extra body count.

In other words… You need to do more with less.

The best way to do that is with a conversational AI platform. Whether a hotel, airline, car rental company or experience provider, you can provide superior service to your customers without overworking your support team.

Keep reading to take a look at the state of the travel industry’s labor shortage and how you can still provide exceptional customer service.

Travel is back, but labor is not.

In 2019, the travel and tourism industry accounted for 1 in 10 jobs around the world. Then the pandemic happened, and the industry lost 62 million jobs overnight, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

Now that most travel restrictions, capacity limits, and safety restrictions are lifted, much of the world is ready to travel again. The pent-up demand has caused the tourism and travel industry to outpace overall economic growth. In 2021, the GDP grew by 21.7%, while the overall economy only grew by 5.8%, according to the WTTC.

In 2021, travel added 18.2 million jobs globally, making it difficult to keep up with labor demands. In the U.S., 1 in 9 jobs went unfilled in 2021.

What’s causing the shortage? A combination of factors:

  • Flexibility: Over the last few years, there has been a mindset shift when it comes to work-life balance. Many people aren’t willing to give up weekends and holidays with their families to work in hospitality.
  • Safety: Many jobs in hospitality work on the frontline, interacting with the public on a regular basis. Even though the pandemic has cooled in most parts of the world, some workers are still hesitant to work face-to-face. This goes double for older workers and those with health concerns, who may have either switched industries or dropped out of the workforce altogether.
  • Remote work: The pandemic made remote work more feasible for many industries, and travel requires a lot of in-person work and interactions.

How is the labor shortage impacting customer service?

As much as we try to separate those shortages from affecting service, customers feel it. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, hotel guests were 2.7% less satisfied overall between 2021 and 2022. Airlines and car rental companies also dropped 1.3% each.

While there are likely multiple reasons factoring into lower customer satisfaction rates, there’s no denying that the labor shortage has an impact.

As travel ramps back up, there’s an opportunity to reshape the industry at a fundamental level. The world is ready to travel again, but demand is outpacing your ability to grow. While HR is hard at work recruiting new team members, it’s time to look at your operations and see what you can do to deliver great customer service without adding to your staff.

What a conversational AI platform can do in the travel industry.

First, what is conversational AI? Conversational AI combines multiple technologies (like machine learning and natural language processing) to enable human-like interactions between people and computers. For your customer service team, this means there’s a coworker that never sleeps, never argues, and seems to have all the answers.

A conversational AI platform like Quiq can help support your travel business’s customer service team with tools designed to speed conversations and improve your brand experience.

In short, a conversational AI platform can help businesses in the travel industry provide excellent customer service despite the current labor shortage. Here’s how.

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Resolve issues faster with conversational AI support.

When you’re short-staffed, you can’t afford inefficient customer conversations. Switching from voice-based customer service to messaging comes with its own set of benefits.

Using natural language processing (NLP), a conversational AI platform can identify customer intent based on their actions or conversational cues. For example, if a customer is stuck on the booking page, maybe they have a question about the cancellation policy. By starting with some basic customer knowledge, chatbots or human agents can go into the conversation with context and get to the root of the problem faster.

Conversational AI platforms can also route conversations to the right agent, so agents spend less time gathering information and more time solving the problem. Plus, messaging’s asynchronous nature means customer service representatives can handle 6–8 conversations at once instead of working one-on-one. But conversational AI for customer service provides even more opportunities for speed.

Anytime access to your customer service team.

Many times, workers leaving the travel industry cite a lack of schedule flexibility as one of their reasons for leaving. Customer service doesn’t stop at 5 o’clock, and support agents end up working odd hours like weekends and holidays. Plus, when you’re short-staffed, it’s harder to cover shifts outside of normal business hours.

Chatbots can help provide customer service 24/7. If you don’t already provide anytime customer service support, you can use chatbots to answer simple questions and route the more complex questions to a live agent to handle the next day. Or, if you already have staff working evening shifts, you can use chatbots to support them. You’ll require fewer human agents during off times while your chatbot can pick up the slack.

Connect with customers in any language.

Five-star experiences start with understanding. You’re in the travel business, so it’s not unlikely that you’ll encounter people who speak different languages. When you’re short-staffed, it’s hard to ensure you have enough multilingual support agents to accommodate your customers.

Conversational AI platforms like Quiq offer translation capabilities. Customers can get the help they need in their native language—even if you don’t have a translator on staff.

Work-from-anywhere capabilities.

One of the labor shortage’s root causes is the move to remote work. Many customer-facing jobs require working in person. That limits your labor pool to people within the immediate area. The high cost of living in cities with increased tourism can push locals out.

Moving to a remote-capable conversational tool will expand your applicant pool outside your immediate area. You can attract a wider range of talented customer service agents to help you fill open positions. For distributed support teams, secure tools like Surfshark can also help staff work safely across different networks and locations.

Build automation to anticipate customer needs.

A great way to reduce the strain on a short-staffed customer service team? Prevent problems before they happen.

A lot of customer service inquiries are simple, routine questions that agents have to answer every day. Questions about cancellation policies, cleaning and safety measures, or special requests happen often—and can all be handled using automation.

Use conversational AI to set up personalized messages based on behavioral or timed triggers. Here are a few examples:

  • When customers book a vacation: Automatically send a confirmation text message with their booking information, cancellation policy, and check-in procedures.
  • The day before check-in: Send a reminder with check-in procedures, along with an option for any special requests.
  • During their vacation: Offer up excursion ideas, local restaurant reservations, and more. You can even book the reservation or complete the transaction right within the messaging platform.
  • After an excursion: Send a survey to collect feedback and give customers an outlet for their positive or negative feedback.

By anticipating these customer needs, your agents won’t have to spend as much time fielding simple questions. And the easy ones that do come in can be handled by your chatbot, leaving only more complex issues for your smaller team.

Don’t let a short staff take away from your customer service.

There are few opportunities to make something both cheaper and better. Quiq is one of them. Quiq’s conversational AI Platform isn’t just a stop-gap solution while the labor market catches up with the travel industry’s needs. It will actually improve your customer service experience while helping you do more with less.

7 Ways to Get Ahead of Holiday Customer Service Issues

Posted on Michael Hartsog

Do you hear that? The tingling of bells… The unpacking of thousands of twinkling lights… the entire retail industry taking a deep breath in anticipation of customer service issues…

While everyone is jumping for joy at the coming holiday season, you’re a little less enthused. You know that while it’s lucrative, it’s also extremely tough on your customer service team.

The holiday shopping season is basically here, but there’s still time to get ahead of the avalanche of customer service issues that await you.

40% of retail executives expect double-digit online growth.

Between pandemic pressures and logistical issues, this year might be tough. Even though brick-and-mortar stores will see more business than in 2020, shoppers continue to do most of their shopping online. 40% of retail executives expect double-digit online growth, according to Deloitte’s 2021 holiday retail survey.

This could put even greater stress on your customer service team. Now’s the time to come together and strategize the next few months with your team.

Keep reading for seven key tactics to get ahead of the customer service holiday rush.

1. Start preparing now

So, the holiday shopping season has effectively started.

With inventory and shipping delays, shoppers are worried about getting their holiday gifts in time this year. According to Deloitte, 68% of shoppers plan to shop before Thanksgiving this year, compared to 61% in 2020.

Of those looking to start shopping earlier this year, 49% cite potential shipping issues, and 47% say stockout issues are responsible for their early-bird habits. With holiday shopping already underway (and the cash register already chiming), the support messages will be a-ringing

If you haven’t already seen an uptick in customer support issues, you’ll likely see it soon. This means you need to start preparing now. With just a few weeks before we’re deep into Christmas cheer, any strategies you plan to implement must be simple and work seamlessly into your existing workflow. Whether you need to scale up your team or invest in technology, you’re running out of time.

2. Strategize based on last year’s performance

It’s easy to get through a holiday season and never look back. You’re tired, your team is exhausted, and you have another year to plan for. But now’s the time to (quickly) pause and reflect.

Take another look at last year’s numbers. What can you learn from them?

Customer service KPIs

  • Revenue: Was last year a high-performing year for the business? Use this along with market indicators for 2021 to predict how busy the holiday season will be.
  • CSAT: How did your team perform last year? If you had high customer satisfaction scores, continue putting effort into your current strategies. If customer satisfaction dipped over the holidays, identify the contributing factors. facebook messenger
  • Wait times: How long did customers have to wait to connect with a customer service agent during your heaviest service windows? If your wait times suffered, see what processes you can put into place this year in order to save some time. Be upfront with your customers about their expected wait. You may need to hire more staff to cover the extra volume.
  • Popular platforms: Which platforms received the highest volume of customer support issues? Did you receive a lot of Facebook messages? Email questions? Prioritize resources and training for the types of communications with the most action.

Take a second to look at this information and see what insights you can extract from last year’s data. It’ll give you a great starting point to help you build your 2022 strategy.

3. Improve your knowledge base

Sure, not all customers will bother searching for the answer to their questions before reaching out to your overwhelmed customer service team. But some will. And some even prefer it over chatting with a team member.

Add seasonal information to your knowledge base to help answer frequent holiday-themed questions. Add articles on Black Friday, holiday shipping, your return policy, upcoming deals, holiday service hours, and any other questions you can get ahead of.

If you haven’t built out your knowledge base yet, a simple homepage banner and/or link in the footer can work in a pinch. Even if only 5% of customers view this information, that’s 5% fewer conversations your team must navigate.

4. Make your return policy easy to find

The holidays already inspire more returns, and online shopping just adds to the mix. While some online retailers like to hide their return policy as an (ill-advised) strategy, customers notice—and it might just turn them away.

More than a third (34%) of consumers surveyed by PowerReviews say that refund and return policies will have more impact on their holiday purchase decisions this year. Even more indicative of the current shopping landscape, 44% said return policies even influence which gifts they purchase.

So making your return policies easy to find and easy to navigate benefits your team two-fold: It can prevent customer service issues and potentially increase sales.

5. Provide holiday training

The holiday rush can get the best of even your most senior support staff. During a good year, customers are stressed and in a hurry to buy their gifts and refocus their energy on their families. And this year… It’s even more brutal.

Combine 18+ months of pandemic fatigue with the inventory shortages and delivery delays, and you get customers with a much shorter temper. And according to Deloitte’s survey, 21% of consumers hold retailers and sellers responsible for delays, which could make for some very aggressive conversations.

This is a great time to get the team together for a short refresher. Remind your team that they’re valuable, but also reinforce your customer sensitivity. Some patience and compassion will go a long way to elevate your customer experience.

6. Embrace automation

One of the best ways to support your team is with automation—and no, that’s not a dirty word. Live-Chat-Software-Chatbot-Messaging-Window

You can use chatbots and AI in a variety of ways to reduce the burden on your team and increase customer satisfaction while maintaining a human connection your customers crave.

Here are some ways you can integrate automation into your holiday customer service strategy:

  • Answer simple FAQs
  • Route questions to the appropriate department
  • Suggest similar items to those in your customers’ carts
  • Estimate shipping times
  • Notify website visitors of specials, deals or delays
  • Tell customers when items they’ve viewed are back in stock
  • Gather customer feedback

There are endless ways you can integrate chatbots and other automation tools into your customer service tech stack. The goal is to simply solve issues at scale without burning out your support team.

7. Prep your social media team

It’s vital that you take a look at all your customer service channels before the big holiday rush begins—especially social media.

Sprout Social predicts an 18% increase in average social media messages in November and December this year. This includes Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, with the latter expecting the most significant holiday boost at 44%.

Enterprises see the biggest social media message jump over the holidays:

  • Small businesses: 15%
  • Mid-sized businesses: 12%
  • Enterprises: 23% 

These numbers tell us you can’t forget to include social media in your holiday planning. Customers flock to social media for gift guides, influencer suggestions, and more, so it’s vital you meet them where they are and provide optimal customer service.

  1. Provide your social media team with training to assist customers.
  2. Write a script for commonly asked questions and standard responses.
  3. Share a routing map with them so they know which team member to send which issues to.
  4. Create an elevation plan for when issues need to be taken up the ladder for resolution.
  5. Assign customer service team members to manage your social media inbox.
  6. Set up auto-responses that are tailored to frequently asked questions, such as “Where’s my package?” and “What’s the return policy?”

Since social media platforms are highly visible, it’s important to service these questions thoroughly and quickly to improve customer satisfaction.

Holiday shopping is already here

Your window for getting ahead of the customer service rush is quickly closing. With holiday shopping already starting, the pressure on your team is mounting.

When you work in e-commerce, it takes grit to get through the holiday season. With the shopping window getting longer and pressures getting higher, it’s going to be extra tough to solve customer service issues with a smile.

We hope these strategies help you put together a concrete plan so you and your team feel more prepared and more confident in tackling the rest of the year.

More than just streamlining work processes, don’t forget to take the time this season to show your team how much you appreciate them. Be sure to show your support throughout the holiday season.

Get ahead of customer service issues with Quiq

When you need help connecting with your customers across multiple messaging platforms, Quiq can help. Quickly get up and running for the holiday season, integrate with your CRMs, and build messaging trees to elevate your customer experience instantly.

How To Use Messaging And Bots To Increase Customer Referrals

Posted on Max Fortis

Referrals have always had their place in marketing. It’s just that now, your customers have more reach and influence than ever before. Not only can they tell their closest friends about your product or service, but they can post Google reviews, share a social post, or use any number of methods to amplify their voice.

Nielson showed us that consumers believe recommendations from their friends and family over all forms of advertising. An impressive 92% of consumers who responded to their study agreed. We all have seen the power of word-of-mouth marketing grow.

Reaching out to your customers manually, at just the right time, to encourage or request a referral is possible. It’s just that it’s time-consuming and expensive. That’s why so many companies have turned to business messaging to increase customer referrals.

In this post, we’ll explore some of the nitty-gritty details of how to use business messaging to increase customer referrals. We’ll also give you a great example of how one of our leading clients puts messaging and bots to work in their organization to boost their customer referrals.

Why Referred Customers Are So Valuable

Aside from being a really effective form of marketing and making your business look awesome, referrals contribute directly to your bottom line. Here are 3 reasons why you need to make sure you have a healthy mix of referred customers in your pipeline:

1. Referred customers have a lower acquisition cost

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the price you pay to obtain a new customer. That number includes your total Sales and Marketing. With other methods, you pay for each click and impression that lead up to converting that customer.

Your CAC is significantly decreased when you recruit your current customers to do the sales and marketing for you. How much it decreases depends on the success of your referral program, if you offer incentives, and if you are manually doing outreach to your customers.

2. Referred customers are more loyal

In an era where consumers have so many readily available choices at their fingertips, it’s not a surprise that brand loyalty has dwindled. It’s more important than ever to reduce your customer churn.

The Journal of Marketing reports that referred customers are 18% more loyal than non-referred customers. When your customers refer you to their family, friends, or extended network, you receive the benefit of the trust and credibility they’ve built up among their community. It’s also likely that referred customers will have a stronger sense of commitment and attachment to your company because someone they know, like, and trust has matched them to your brand.

Customers that refer you also have a higher likelihood of having a long-term relationship with your company. This is why the intention to refer a company is frequently used as an indicator of loyalty to that brand.

3. Referred customers are more profitable

So far, we’ve determined that referred customers are less costly to acquire and have a higher likelihood to be more loyal. But that’s not all. There are also other ways they are generally more profitable for a business. Referred customers are also more likely to refer others to your business. Rinse and repeat #1 and #2.

In addition to that, your referring customer will likely have a deeper relationship with your product or service. That may mean a higher frequency of using your service or a history of exploring more features. These customers are a lot more advanced than a novice customer.

Consistent positive experiences with different products means that these customers are likely to spend more over their entire life time as your customer. Think of it like this. If you’re a clothing brand and your customer loves the new pants they bought from you, it’ll be a lot easier to sell them the shirt and the jacket.

Why You Should Automate Your Customer Referral Program

business messaging to increase customer referrals can be automated with chatbotsWith these incredible benefits, you’d think every company would have a referral marketing campaign. The honest truth is that asking your customers at the right time to leave a review isn’t always as easy as it seems. And you will have to ask.

According to a marketing survey conducted by Texas Tech, 83% of satisfied customers are willing to refer products and services. But, only 29% actually do. Implementing and managing customer referrals can be difficult to present at the right time if you have to do it manually.

A lot of companies out there know how painful it is to effectively execute a referral program where agents are making outbound calls to request a referral from their customers. Brinks Home Security has been able to automate their referral program using messaging and bots.

In a previous post, we examined how Brinks used messaging and bots to increase their customer retention. Now, let’s take a look at how the company was able to take their customer referral process to the next level with messaging and bots.

The Quiq bot that Brinks created combines their survey platform with their email service provider. The Quiq bot brings those two customer data streams together to invite new referrals to the Brinks family.

Brink Bots customer referral bot for customer engagement

Once a current customer submits a survey indicating that they are a happy customer, the Quiq bot will ask for email addresses of anyone they think would enjoy Brinks service as well. The Quiq bot will pass those email addresses to Brinks Email Service Provider.

Prospects are then informed that they were referred and invited to take a look at Brinks products and services. If the prospect signs up, then the Quiq bot will match the newly signed customer with the customer who referred them and send both customers free product options.

All of this is done with no human intervention. The process is streamlined and infinitely repeatable with none of the intense labor and expense of outbound calling.

Don’t Wait To Use Business Messaging To Increase Customer Referrals

It’s great when your customers eagerly act as advocates for your business on their own accord. That may happen now and again, but if you want to grow your business, retain the customers you already have, and reach your revenue goals, you’ll have to be more proactive with your referral program.

Implementing messaging and bots to automate your customer referral program will save time, money, and make the process easier for your company. More importantly, an automated process like the one Brinks uses makes it easier for your customers.

If you’d like to learn more about using bots in your current workflows visit our bot webpage or take a look at one of our bot webinar replays.

Quiq Earns 3 Capterra “Best” Badges

Posted on Lauren Winder

Provider of digital engagement solutions, Quiq is excited to announce we have earned three new badges from Capterra, one of the top software review sites in the world. Quiq was recognized within the Cloud Communication Platform category with “Best Ease of Use” and “Best Value” badges. The company was also recognized in the Conversational AI Platform category with the “Best Ease of Use” badge.

The Best badges aid in software research to help buyers make more informed decisions. Best badges are based on reviews spanning the Gartner Digital Markets network. The badges synthesize reviews to recognize the most highly-rated products in a given software category.

Why Quiq Has Been Recognized As The Best

Quiq’s recognition by Capterra in these categories originate from the company’s mission to help brands present their customers with consistently jaw-dropping customer experiences across business messaging, web chat, and with bots, the most popular channels that consumers care about. In order to help our clients deliver a great customer experience and realize significant productivity improvements, we focus on implementation and proven best practices.

Here’s what you can expect from working with Quiq:

  • A focus on your objectives to ensure success right from the start
  • A smooth implementation of Quiq as either a stand-alone product or as an integration into your existing systems.
  • An intuitive design that’s requires almost no training
  • Unlimited users so that everyone in your organization can use messaging
  • A seamless integration of automation such as routing rules and chatbots across all of Quiq’s digital channels
  • Robust reporting so that you can measure and manage the things that matter most
  • A responsive team that is eager to help you over hurdles and guide you with best practices

How To Use Reviews In Your Software Purchase

Finding the right software can be tough. With so many choices and differences in features, it helps to get recommendations from other buyers. Reviews help throughout the purchase process. Read our customer reviews on Capterra to understand why top brands chose to work with Quiq and why they continue to be delighted with their decision.

Quiq’s team of conversation experts are ready to help you make an informed decision and choose the best software for your contact center. Schedule some time to discuss your current and future business needs today.

About Capterra’s Best Badges

The Best badge recipients are determined by the subjective opinions of individual end-user customers based on their own experiences, the number and timing of published reviews on Gartner’s digital sites (Capterra.com, SoftwareAdvice.com, and GetApp.com) and review ratings for a given product in the category, and are not intended in any way to represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates.

The Difference between Google RCS Business Messaging and Google’s Business Messages

Posted on Max Fortis

If you’re still wondering “What’s the difference between Google RCS and Business Messages?”, you’re not alone. You’ve probably heard a lot about the benefits such as the ability to send and receive longer messages, attach files, and send hi-res images. While there are similarities between the two, let’s dig into the differences.

The biggest difference between Google RCS Business Messaging and Google’s Business Messages is that “RCS” is actually a protocol adopted by the major telecommunication carriers and device manufacturers. It sets the standard of what rich messaging is. On the other hand, Google’s Business Messages is a mobile conversation channel that uses the RCS standard.

There are a few more nuances to examine. To understand the differences further, we’ll have to get into the details on each. Let’s dive in.

What is RCS Business Messaging

The standard for sending text messages began with SMS (Short Message Services) in the 90’s with 160 character limits sent over mobile networks. MMS or Multimedia Messaging Service introduced images and videos to messages, but SMS is still the most prevalent method. Rich Communication Services (RCS) is the next evolution of messaging.

Google RCS Business Messaging uses the RCS standard. RCS Business Messaging is Google’s managed platform that allows businesses to send rich messages between their business and a consumer’s phone. Brands can communicate with consumers through Messages, Google’s native messaging app, while using the range of rich media and Rich Conversations capabilities available with RCS.

Brands and consumers get a better messaging experience because of it. Take a look at just a few of the features consumers and brand enjoy:

Consumers:

  • Trusted branding like logos and sender verification so that they can be sure they are talking to a representative from the respective brand
  • Suggested replies, which are a set of short responses that consumers can use to reply to questions, help expedite conversations and guide consumers through choices

Brands:

  • The ability to send outbound messages for promotional campaigns, proactive notifications, or to pass transaction details like shipping alerts
  • Brands can integrate business systems such as a CRM or marketing automation to share notifications of real-time business actions with consumers on Google RCS Business Messaging

With Google’s RCS Business Messaging, brands engage with consumers through Messages, Google’s native messaging app, using rich media and the rich conversations capabilities available with RCS. This is really important to remember. Currently only Android users that are using Android Messages for their messaging application will experience RCS Business Messages.

Currently only Android users that are using Android Messages for their messaging application will experience RCS Business Messages.

Currently, access to the RCS Business Messaging program is only available through Google partners like Quiq. Our team would be happy to walk you through the registration process.

What is Google’s Business Messages

Business Messages is a mobile conversational channel that combines entry points on Google Maps, Search, and brand websites to create rich, asynchronous messaging experiences that delight customers and drive business results such as lower call volume, higher customer satisfaction, and increased conversion rates.

Consumers reach out to companies that use Google’s Business Messages for help via text instead of calling a phone number. Because of this, Business Messages is a great way to drive call deflection. Business Messages can tie into search results in multiple locations as shown in the screenshots:.

  • Answer Card results – These results are one of Google’s featured snippets that are typically displayed in a box at the top of Google’s results page above the organic results, but below ads. The screenshot below shows the answer card results for the consumers search for “Neiman Marcus customer service”.
  • Site Link results – These are the links that are shown below some of Google’s search results and are meant to help users navigate your site. The middle screenshot below displays results with sitelinks helping consumers find other areas of the Neiman Marcus site they may find interesting..
  • Place Card results – These location based results provide more comprehensive information about a place in search results such as its complete address, phone number, user rating and reviews. The third screenshot shots Place Card results for Men’s Warehouse.

With this channel your business registers as an “Agent”. This is a separate registration than the RCS Business Messages registration.  When a consumer messages your business, you are not given access to their phone number, you are given a unique identifier for the user and their display name used on their Android device. Because of this Business Messages has the following advantages:

  • Because consumers are not messaging you from their phone number, there are no carriers and messaging app restrictions. Virtually all Android users can use this technology.
  • Messages are encrypted.
  • ALL messages, images and rich messages, are branded and verified, creating a high trust channel

It’s also important to remember that these messages won’t live in the Messages app like RCS Business Messages. These messages persist  in Google Maps for Place Card results and within the Android device’s notifications area for Answer Card and Sitelinks results.

A Side By Side Comparison Of Google RCS And Google’s Business Messages

Both RCS Business Messages and Google’s Business Messages  provide consumers and brands with an elevated experience. Whether your focus is driving “unforgettable” conversations or simply providing quick transactions, these branded, media-rich messaging experiences can help you get there.

Still a little confused? Here’s a chart comparing the two side by side. As you can see, both have their advantages and limitations. The good news is that companies don’t have to choose between one or the other.  One of our conversation experts can help you decide which program works best for you or if you should apply for both depending on your unique business needs.

As a Google program partner, Quiq can help you get started with either or both programs. We handle the registration process for you. Once we get started, you’ll work with the Quiq Customer Success team to optimize messaging for your organization.

Quiq’s messaging platform supports Google, Facebook, live chat and more. Our platform brings all of your digital channels together into one intuitive agent desktop. Quiq has worked with companies from large enterprises to mid-sized companies to implement messaging across all of our supported channels and automating workflows for your entire organization.

Ready to leverage the power of Google to help your business grow? Schedule a call with one of our conversation experts today.

What is Google’s Business Messages

Posted on Max Fortis

google my business messaging

When consumers have questions, they turn to Google for answers. When consumers want quick and convenient conversations, they turn to messaging. So, what if I told you there was a way to combine the power of Google’s search with the convenience of messaging to make it super easy for your customers to find and engage with you?

Learn More About the End of Google Business Messages

Well there is. Google’s Business Messages provides brands a comprehensive messaging solution across Android devices through Google search and Maps.

DEFINITION: Google’s Business Messages is a mobile conversational channel that combines entry points on Google Maps, Search, and brand websites to create rich, asynchronous messaging experiences.

Let’s take a closer look at Google’s Business Messages and all of the great features that make this channel a must have for every company.

How Your Customers Will Use Google Business Messages

Google Search and Google Maps are two features that your current and potential customers use on their phones all the time. Consider these following stats:

  • 35% of product searches start on Google. (eMarketer), and
  • 34% of “near me” searches done via desktop and tablets result in store visits. (HubSpot)

With Google’s Business Messages, customers can click the “Message” button presented within the search results to start a conversation with your company.

If you’re curious about what the experience will be like for your customers, you can try out Business Messages for yourself. If you have an Android device, you’ll want to make sure you have RCS enabled on your phone. Once you do, do a Google search for “Quiq Bozeman”. You’ll find the “Message” button in the overview section. Click and start a conversation with us.

The conversation will start with a greeting from our Quiq HQ Bot. Feel free to ask a question or send an emoji. You should expect one of our conversation experts to be with you quiq-ly.

Features of Google’s Business Messages

Business Messages isn’t just for brands that want to be discovered. Here’s an example of a well known brand using Business Messages to deliver a better experience for their customer.

Luxury department store Neiman Marcus is a juggernaut in retail and customer experience circles. The retailer worked with Quiq to implement Business Messages and elevate their customer’s shopping experience.

When Neiman’s organic search result is shown, “Message with a live agent” is presented at the bottom along with the company’s typical response time. When clicked, customers are then taken to their messaging app to continue the conversation. But that’s not the end of the story, in fact, it’s where the benefits begin.

Within the messaging conversation, consumers are able to shop, ask questions, and complete secure payment transactions. Customers are also able to easily get updates such as order tracking, refunds, and handle service inquiries.

Google’s Business Messages enhances customer care, with rich features like:

  • product photos and carousels that expand the conversation to drive purchasing, scheduling, and upselling,
  • suggested replies that enable consumers to respond with just a tap of a button,
  • typing indicators, delivery confirmations and read receipts that keep conversations moving along,
  • the ability to send and receive emojis, hi-res images, and videos ensures that the conversation is personalized.

Since messaging is the channel preferred by consumers, businesses will see more of their customers turn to messaging instead of calling their contact center for pre-sales service and post-sales support. Business Messages integrates directly with a company’s digital customer service platform, like Quiq, so handling these conversations happen in one, easy-to-manage agent desktop.

Don’t Wait To Get Started With Business Messaging

Quiq is part of Google’s partner program for Business Messages which enables us to onboard brands, influence the roadmap and standards, and be among the first to offer our customers an upgraded messaging experience through Google Search and Maps.

We’re ready to help you get started with Google’s Business Messaging and can help you get registered, implement, and deploy Business Messaging for your business. Ready to explore Google’s Business Messages and Quiq? Schedule some time to talk to one of our conversation experts today.