Chat-based e-commerce key priority for WhatsApp: Meta India head

livemint.com:

Conversational commerce is essentially chat-based assisted shopping where online shoppers use chat platforms such as WhatsApp or Instagram to interact with and purchase goods or services. For instance, one can order a soundbar from JioMart Shop on WhatsApp, by going through the catalog of products available via a link within the chat app, complete the purchase on the JioMart webpage using any method, including opting for cash on delivery, and then track the delivery of the soundbar from within the chat.

Devanathan said that about 650 million Indian digital users were on social media and messaging platforms, of which 450 million were not adept at online shopping, sharing findings from a report Meta India conducted along with Bain & Company. They surveyed 7,800 users, including 25 senior executives from large and mid-market enterprises across retail, consumer products, banking, finance, insurance, auto and travel and 150 businesses from India.

This delta of users gives enterprises the opportunity to use conversational platforms and GenAI powered tools to pull in these users, more so the 350 million subset that have done a UPI transaction which would be low hanging fruit for conversions. These set of users are well versed with online payments and may, therefore, be willing to shop on a chat platform with as much ease.

Meta also believes that more users may be willing to take up chat-based shopping as most users of those surveyed were unwilling to download apps, faced issues like limited phone storage and difficulty navigating apps, with 40% even abandoning a purchase if pushed to install apps. That’s why business-specific apps may not be able to grow beyond the delta of top 50 million to 100 million customers.