If there’s one thing businesses should learn from the global COVID-19 pandemic, it should be the importance of how they communicate with their customers in riding out the challenges. This is what Atanas Raykov, the Senior Business Director at Rakuten Viber, underlined during his talk, Fast-Forward to Now: How the Future is Already Here and Consumers are More than Ready, at DigiCon 2020. There’s no doubt that the pandemic is changing consumer behavior, altering their lives that lead to new habits that brands should be able to identify and keep up with.

“In fact, they’ve also switched the channel. Research has shown that 67% of consumers now expect to send more messages to businesses in the next two years. They want to communicate more through messages or apps,” Raykov said. “That’s not all. A study also revealed that 53% of customers are likely to buy from a company that they can contact via a chat app.”

However, he pointed out that research has also shown that many brands are still using the same channels they’ve used before the pandemic and targeting their audience in the same traditional, one-sided manner. “Now that consumer expectations have shifted, it is no wonder that there is a disconnect between businesses and customers.”

Raykov added that consumers now expect brands to help them get things done promptly and understand their needs. They want to engage with brands that are purposeful and responsive and those that provide personalized customer service. Apart from the apparent disconnect between brands and customers, the latter has also become more experimental with the brands they choose to engage as they look for those who can fulfill their expectations.

The need to engage customers via a messaging app has never been more pronounced, that failing to invest in a business communication tool can spell the difference between survival and failure in these challenging times. One of the solutions businesses should consider is chatbots.

“The most common form of bots are often found in messaging apps to simulate or mimic human conversation to assist with different tasks like making a dinner reservation, adding an appointment to your calendar, or fetching and displaying information,” Raykov said.

This is something that Viber is very familiar with as the leading messaging app has helped brands connect with their customers in all corners of the world through the Viber bots. Raykov shared that Viber bots have enabled brands to customize content push, increase user experience, improve customer experience, and enhance customer loyalty. The numbers prove this point since 80% of Viber users believe that chatbots improve a brand’s overall customer service.

But that’s not all a Viber bot can do. “It’s commonly used in customer service, but it can also help you streamline different aspects of your business operations,” Raykov pointed out. “Viber bots have helped brands reach a wider audience through our over a billion users and convert leads into paying customers.”

Some of the brands that successfully launched Viber bots are those from the health and media industries, which are more focused on disseminating information. Viber has KIRA Kontra COVID by DOH, the bot of Department of Health where users can do a self-check, check COVID-19 information, and ask questions; and Cosmopolitan Philippines, a lifestyle and entertainment chatbot with a horoscope feature.

Viber bots are also used to create fun and interactive executions. One of these is the Viber Cupid bot where Filipino users can take a love quiz, customize and send a Valentine’s Day card to their Viber contacts, and more. Viber bots can also be turned into a game bot. Viber’s Easter Egg Race bot was created to entertain Filipinos at the height of the enhanced community quarantine and in time for Easter Sunday. There are also transactional bots on Viber like the FoodPH bot that connects sellers to potential customers based on the type of food they’re looking for and their location. 

“Another exciting development in this space is the imminent use of chatbots for payments. This is not happening in the future. It’s happening now. Viber is in fact working with different brands to offer this kind of service to their customers very soon,” Raykov said.

Viber will soon launch a chat extension for peer to peer payments and mobile top ups in Nepal through eSewa’s e-wallet integration with the messaging app to facilitate peer-to-peer payments and mobile top-ups. A payment integration with Google and Apple Pay is also in the works, making it possible for Viber users to securely transact and purchase products and services from any merchant through just a single app.

“The chatbot possibilities are endless. Trends have forecasted that chatbots will soon come with voice, human touch, emotional intelligence, and more. In the near future, for every need, there is a bot,” Raykov said. “For businesses, chatbots will soon no longer be just an option. Based on the new consumer habit developed during the pandemic, they’ll become an integral part of how a business operates. It’s high time brands use this powerful business tool and get ahead of the game before they’re left behind.”