RAKUTEN Group Inc. announced it launched two new features of its Viber product in a bid to develop the messaging app into a one-stop-shop platform this year.
According to Rakuten Viber Chief Revenue Officer Cristina Constandache, their ambition is to help brands build awareness, generate interest, drive conversion down to taking care of the users and the after-sales care.
“Superapp is not a concept that is foreign to the Philippine market,” Constandache said during a dinner the firm hosted for reporters last Thursday.
“However, when it comes to Viber, what it means is that we want to maximize our utility and spending space in order to become a single gateway to manifold services, wherein users can do everything that they want or as many things as they want within one app—which happens to be the Viber—anything from ordering food, texting, paying bills, shopping. In a nut shell: minimum stats with a maximum value,” she added. Constandache cited studies that showed 71 percent of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions and 82 percent of organizations plan to implement a strategy to bring better value to customer through services. With users and businesses in mind, Viber’s updates provide a better customer experience and brand engagement.
Two features
THE Japanese firm’s tweaking of the Viber app would include the “Business Inbox,” which it described as “a dedicated space for brand-user interactions, accessible directly from an individual’s regular ‘Chats’ screen.”
It stores and organizes in one folder all business messages from official brand accounts, such as a bank notification, an order confirmation from a delivery service, a special offer from a store, etc.
According to the firm, all business messages from verified brands will go to the inbox by default, which will be inaccessible for private accounts trying to impersonate a business. The “blue tick” helps users identify verified brands.
Another feature is the “Commercial Account,” where users “can discover all of the ways to engage with a brand in just one place.” This feature will host all business information, services and Chats on Viber under a single searchable business entity.
Users can search for these accounts (businesses) proactively by typing the name of the business into Viber’s main search bar. By entering a “Commercial Account,” they will see the brand’s title, logo, verification badge, description, contact information and communication channels available on the app.
Those who want to connect with a business on Viber will be able to choose the channel they prefer and enjoy a mini-website experience within the app.
Growth engine
RAKUTEN Viber Senior Director for Asia Pacific David Tse said the debut of these recent offerings “is a very important growth engine” for the company, as Rakuten Viber saw tremendous growth in the Philippines last year. Tse said the number of its users increased at 22 percent, 19 percent of who sent messages in group chats.
He added that the monthly active users in the retail sector surged by 106 percent.
The platform is beloved by users and brands here, apparently, with 603 percent increase in transactional business messages sent, 83 percent hike in conversational message, 11 percent growth in promotional business message and 34 percent surge in new chatbots.
“These growths tell us we are on the right track in always prioritizing our customers,” he stressed.