New Infobip Research Shows the Rising Dominance of Chat Apps for Customer Communications

Data from more than 153 billion communications interactions shows customers now prefer conversations with brands on their favorite digital channel

KUALA LUMPUR - 2 December 2022 - New research from global cloud communications platform Infobip reveals that chat apps such as WhatsApp are becoming crucial channels for customer communications, demonstrating the growing importance of conversational experiences. Infobip's data shows an 80% and 62% increase in WhatsApp and rich communication services (RCS) interactions respectively in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021.

Customers now have access to more channels and devices than ever before. Whether for marketing, support, or sales, they increasingly want conversational experiences with a business or brand on their preferred channel. But organizations may struggle to keep up with such preferences and provide the experience customers have come to expect without the right omnichannel communications in place.

To help businesses understand changing habits, Infobip analyzed more than 153 billion communications interactions on its platform from the first half of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021.

The analysis reveals several trends in customer communications. First, customer communications today are more digital than ever, with a 68% increase in interactions across all digital channels. Second, alongside the growth in chat app interactions, some 99% of customer support and chatbot interactions are now on WhatsApp.

However, while newer channels are gaining momentum, the data shows the continued growth of more traditional channels, such as SMS and email. Interactions on these channels increased by 75% and 91% respectively with Infobip seeing emerging uses around timely alerts and security solutions such as two-factor authentication.

Infobip also finds that many sectors also reflect the same trends. For instance:

• 134% more WhatsApp interactions in banking and finance
• 104% more WhatsApp interactions and 155% more email interactions in retail and eCommerce
• 1063% more RCS interactions in telecoms
• 428% more Messenger interactions in transport and logistics

Infobip's data shows the growth in chat apps has given rise to newer use cases such as conversational commerce, where messaging and eCommerce meet to enable better customer experiences and superior results for businesses.

Ivan Ostojić, Chief Business Officer at Infobip, said: "Our data reveals how conversational customer experiences are quickly becoming the new normal. Customers don't want a one-way interaction with a brand. They want a conversation – whether for support, sales, or marketing. But, as our data shows, to meet customer needs, businesses and brands must first embed global real-time omnichannel communications. When omnichannel communications are in place, businesses can create meaningful relationships with their customers on their preferred channel at any point in their journey, helping boost loyalty and ultimately sales."

About Infobip
Infobip is a global cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build connected experiences across all stages of the customer journey. Accessed through a single platform, Infobip's omnichannel engagement, identity, user authentication and contact centre solutions help businesses and partners overcome the complexity of consumer communications to grow business and increase loyalty. With over a decade of industry experience, Infobip has expanded to 70+ offices globally. It offers natively built technology with the capacity to reach over seven billion mobile devices and 'things' in 6 continents connected directly to over 700 telecom networks. Infobip was established in 2006 and is led by its co-founders, CEO Silvio Kutić, Roberto Kutić and Izabel Jelenić.

Recent award wins include:

• Infobip named a leader in the CCaaS Leaderboard, Juniper Research (Aug 2022)
• Omdia Ranks Infobip as Leader in CPaaS Universe Report (May 2022)
• Ranked the leading service provider in CPaaS by Juniper Research in its new Competitor Leaderboard CPaaS Vendors (October 2021)
• Infobip named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Communications Platform-as-a-Service (CPaaS) 2021 Vendor Assessment (doc #US46746221, May 2021)
• Best A2P SMS provider for the fourth year running by mobile operators and enterprises in ROCCO's annual Messaging Vendor Benchmarking Report
• Best CPaaS Provider of the Year, Best RCS Provider of the Year, and Mover & Shaker in Telco Innovation at the 2021 Juniper Digital Awards