Mumbai: A new report from global cloud communications platform, Infobip has revealed that brands prioritise customer interaction by increasing budget allocations to improve the overall experience. In India, 83% of businesses in IDC’s Future of Customer Experience Survey 2023 are investing heavily in customer service/support interactions to deliver superior customer satisfaction. The Infobip report “Driving Meaningful Customer Engagement with Conversational AI” features insights from leading IT market research and advisory firm IDC.
The research highlights that customer expectations have evolved in today’s digital age. They now demand authenticity and more personalised attention from brands. However, many organisations still lack the capabilities to deliver unique experiences. As per the IDC survey, 60% of the organizations in India do not have the tools to maintain customer context across the customer journey and channels.
The rising demand for omnichannel communication and the need for scalability and flexibility are encouraging businesses to adopt unified platforms with conversational capabilities. According to IDC research, companies are investing in conversational apps — such as live collaboration tools, intelligent digital assistants, and digital avatars — to provide more effortless and seamless customer experiences. In India, 82% of businesses surveyed plan to maintain or increase their spending on conversational applications.
The report further highlights the increasing relevance of unified AI-powered conversational solutions in India and the Asia Pacific region. The industry’s shift towards improved customer experience (CX) is not surprising. Previously, customers had to wait for a service agent to respond to their queries. Now, APAC businesses are enabling customers to independently find answers, request services, and complete transactions using omnichannel communication solutions powered by conversational AI.
Harsha Solanki, VP, GM Asia, Infobip, said, “It’s no surprise that businesses in India are prioritizing superior customer experiences through conversational AI. Increasingly, brands are using a network of diverse chatbots and AI algorithms to facilitate timely actions at crucial stages of the customer journey. In today’s AI-driven landscape, CPaaS is enabling businesses to seamlessly orchestrate customer engagement throughout the entire journey, enhancing efficiency and maximising value. This approach allows businesses to achieve more with less, reducing costs and improving operational effectiveness while focusing on long-term customer relationships. At Infobip, we are prepared to support businesses on this transformative path.”
“Generative AI has reshaped conversational experiences. Having a single source of truth across interactions and channels powers context. This customer context allows for more relevant and intelligent conversations and raises the bar for personalisation,” said Lavanya Jindal, senior research analyst, Asia/Pacific Customer Experience and Value Streams, IDC Asia/Pacific.
Messaging Apps on The Rise
Messaging apps have become increasingly popular across Asia, as customers prefer to communicate and purchase through digital channels. Recognizing this trend, brands in retail, digital commerce, financial services, and telcos are swiftly establishing their brand presence on popular platforms like WhatsApp and Viber, ensuring their services are readily available where their customers are most active. According to Infobip’s latest messaging trends report, there was a 509% increase in WhatsApp messages in Indonesia, a 226% increase in chat apps in Vietnam, and a 34% increase in Viber messages in the Philippines. In India, there was a 43% year-on-year rise in Whatsapp messaging, a 155% increase in mobile app messaging, a 166% on social media, and a 36% on email.
Whatsapp continues to dominate globally, with more than 2.8 billion active users. But, cultural preferences, local language, and integration have seen other messaging platforms gaining popularity in certain regions, such as Line in Taiwan and Thailand, KakaoTalk in South Korea, and Zalo in Vietnam. In some countries, a messaging platform can claim market dominance due to its significant user bases, such as WeChat boasting 1.3 billion active users – almost all based in China.
APAC is Investing in Conversational AI
The IDC Business Value Engineering 2023 Survey revealed that about 39% of businesses in the APAC region consider conversational AI to be a critically important investment priority in the next two years. The primary business motivators for investing in AI-powered apps for improving CX are mainly to improve customer success, loyalty, and advocacy, as well as products/services that reflect customer’s needs.
Chatbots are one of the top two areas that APAC businesses are planning to integrate GenAI, according to IDC’s Future Enterprise Resiliency and Spending Survey Wave 1, January 2024. Conversational AI chatbots today are capable of quickly pulling contextual data relevant to customers and using it to offer not only delivery updates and product recommendations but also simple personalised greetings to make customers feel more welcome.
