Originally coined in 2015 by Chris Messina, conversational commerce has become “an
increasingly familiar term in the communications and eCommerce markets,” according to an update from Juniper Research.
It refers to “the intersection of messaging apps and online retail.”
Juniper Research defines conversational commerce as:
‘The process by which end users of conversational devices, such as smartphones, are able to leverage them for commerce purposes, including retail and banking, through a chat interface.’
As noted in the update from Juniper Research, “the evolution of omnichannel retail has resulted in brands and enterprises supporting multiple integrated messaging apps, websites and voice channels to provide an enhanced commerce experience.” This ecosystem “has evolved to include the following channels.”
Furthermore, “the evolution of technology, the proliferation of online shopping and
the globalization of eCommerce, has created online commerce as the highest
exponent.” However, it has become “increasingly difficult for companies to gain any
significant competitive advantage over its competitors, instead, companies are
looking to place emphasis on customer satisfaction.”
Juniper Research believes “that conversational commerce is the convergence of three sectors: CPaaS (Contact Platform-as-a-Service), CCaaS (Contact Centres-as-a-Service) and eCommerce.” Juniper added that there are now many channels “acting as primary points of contact between the end users of these devices and the brands, enterprises and financial institutions that use them.”
At present, end-to-end conversational commerce offerings “have only been deployed in test phases by messaging aggregators amongst select enterprise customers.”
The research report also noted:
“Whilst CPaaS providers can be used to facilitate payments over a range of communication platforms through omnichannel retail, CCaaS provides a customer care aspect to conversational commerce. With the ability to integrate CDPs with mobile messaging solutions, brands and enterprises are able to provide personalized recommendations to consumers based on browsing history, order history and click behavior.”
The research report added:
“This can also be automated through the use of AI. As these platforms utilise the cloud, that allows for the adoption of new functionalities and technologies, AI and automation will allow voice and messaging clouds to provide recommended solutions and next-best actions for customer service agents.”
Juniper pointed out that “this ability to utilize AI in conversational commerce will also allow users to view all interactions and digital conversations in real-time, whilst monitoring call routes, messaging termination and clearing.”
Moreover, eCommerce “facilitates the payment processing of conversational
commerce and provides an end-to-end payment solution within a specific chat
interface.”
Therefore, the conversational commerce market “can exploit these existing markets to ensure the future success of this communications solution.”