Conversational commerce: an emerging model of buying online

In a 2015 article by Chris Messina, Uber’s Developer Experience Lead, the word conversational commerce first came into play in the e-commerce sphere. In said article, Messina projected that the coming years would see the sector grow beyond just online purchasing platforms to the use of social media and chat interfaces for purchasing transactions. He predicted that 2016 will be the ”year of conversational commerce”.

The year has indeed seen the initiation and growth of this concept in e-commerce in the country and around the world. Uber, with the help of Facebook Messenger incorporated an option for users to order taxis via the chat platform, and communicate with taxi drivers on pickup times, location etc. Tencent’s WeChat platform integrates a wide range of products and services in one app enabling consumers chat while making purchases via the platform.

Simply, conversational commerce is a combination of social interaction and commerce of any kind including products and services using messaging apps as a medium.

According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), over 95 million Nigerians are active online, with more than half of this community making purchases of both goods and services via various e-commerce sites. Traditional mediums of interactions during an order placement process will usually include mail, calls to customer service personnel or chat interfaces on said website with or without the guarantee of immediate response and assistance. Conversational commerce is therefore changing the way consumers shop online. It involves an ongoing conversation between a buyer and seller/or a chatbot from the start to the end of the order placement process and even beyond.

A very good example of a company that has embraced this model of e-commerce wholly in the country today is the balogunmarket.com.ng an innovative online market that serves as an extension of the popular Balogun Market on Lagos Island.

According to founder Olayinka Oluwakuse, conversational commerce was the answer to the solution the company faced in early ages of startup while trying to replicate the business models of traditional household online stores like Jumia and Konga.

Balogun.com.ng boasts of over 120,000 consumers on the chat platform, with over 3,000 different merchants already registered. All components of a typical purchasing conversation in the market place takes place via the chat interface the company employs even haggling of prices with various merchants.

While employing the conversational commerce model, companies may leverage already existing messaging apps such as the partnership between Uber and Facebook Messenger or they can create an entirely new messaging interface that serves their desired target market aptly. This is the example of Balogunmarket.ng which moved from the popular Whatsapp chat application to creating an in-house solution called BuyChat in which payment options have been seamlessly incorporated to make shopping even easier.

‘’Payment was largely offline on delivery, but with our new interface, customers can pay via the chat portal using their bank cards,’’ Oluwakuse said.

The major driving force of online activities has always been convenience and that is a major selling point for this new and upcoming model of e-commerce. It simply offers a more personalized and convenient shopping experience for customers.

According to PayPal, 31% of Nigerians who do not shop online cite security of online transactions as reasons for not doing so. However, with the growth of conversational commerce, brands can build closer rapports with their customers and engage in one-on-one conversations that help build trust and propel economic activities.

As the prospects in the online space are endless and newer inventions on the internet of things continue to unfold, convenience and innovation are key indicators that will continue to drive e-commerce sector.