Shopping chat. The ally of local commerce

In early April, around 7,000 retailers met for a mobile chat. The idea was to offer their products and services to their neighbors. The pandemic was just starting, many of them didn’t even have a website. That is why they used instant messaging to tackle the ASPO. Without knowing it, they were practicing a form of conversational marketing.

Today, consumers seek exclusive attention. Dialogue is the best for it. “This requirement was born as something typical of digitization. And it gave rise to a new type of commercialization,” said Agustín Tejera, vice president of Digital and creative at Another Company.

To achieve that more friendly and agile connection, chats, Messenger, bots, etc. are used. “Simultaneous messages, especially WhatsApp, are a widespread ecosystem. If we add to this the impression that there is a human on the other side, the feeling of risk that online trading can generate decreases. They feel accompanied,” Marianela said Lava, professor of the degree in Marketing at UADE.

The interaction became so assimilated into the digital world that it led to the constant demand for “now and now.” Even these users can get frustrated when faced with more traditional channels (phone calls, forms, mail, etc). “To the generations millennial and Z don’t really like talking on the phone. They want to start and end a communication in the same way. For this reason, if they hire a service through a cell phone chat, they want to be able to cancel it there, “Tejera stressed.

The analysts emphasize that the current client wants to be listened to and cared for in a personalized way. Without a doubt, dialogue is the instrument to respond to these requests.

“At the same time and worldwide, the trend of sending audios is growing. For most people it is more comfortable to send a two minute recorded message than to write it “commented the Another Company executive.

In this context, instant messaging on cell phones became an everyday thing for all ages. “Our clientele wanted to communicate fluently, quickly and instantly. So, we implemented this tool in our e-commerce,” said Alfredo Navarro, CEO of Eatbox.

Consultation time

A study by Sirena CRM shows that 53% of people do not contact a business if it does not offer the possibility of chatting by smartphone. “In our case, it is the main consultation channel. It even surpassed the web,” emphasized Matías Armenteros, owner of Herrebox.

In reality, the user combines several digital channels before closing a transaction. In general, they research search engines first. Then they go to the business website. After browsing that site for a few minutes, click on the More Information button. So he goes to cyberchat by cell phone to deepen the subject.

“Before the pandemic, many older people were not used to operating online. However, WhatsApp or Telegram were already present in their lives. So it was intuitive to buy by these means. They also felt supported because there was someone on the other side of the line, “said the UADE teacher.

For these reasons, this instrument was spread among local businesses and entrepreneurs during isolation. Most did not have online resources (web, social networks or online store) And many others only had a booth at a neighborhood fair.

“My place is in the middle of downtown (on Lavalle) Due to the coronavirus, neither tourists nor office workers came, nobody went to the theater or the cinema. To top it all, there are few neighbors in that area. I had to then carry out my digital transformation” , acknowledges Martín Cohen owner of María T Bs As.

The success of this style of marketing is also supported by the complementation of platforms. “Faced with the pandemic, we reinvented ourselves. We launched a new business unit and opened our e-commerce In TANNUBE incorporating, from the first moment, cell phone messaging. We put all of this together in one weekend “, recalls the CEO of Eat Box.

It is important to consider that, in most cases, having an electronic store or a website facilitates stock control and logistics. Nor should the synergy between chat on smartphones and social networks be ignored.

“I detected a lot of complementation between the Facebook profile of my business and cell phone inquiries. An advertisement or publication on that network generates many questions for me on WhatsApp“, warned Natalia Krautner, owner of Blauer Facial and body aesthetics.

Nor should the opening of new horizons be neglected. “The ‘ceiling’ of my store is well below that offered by this sales methodology. Now more people in the interior of the country reached through this channel. Before they only bought me if for a certain reason they came to the Capital”, observed the owner by María T Bs As.

New channels

Businesses should use the corporate version of Simultaneous Smartphone Messaging. This modality combines the characteristics of personal accounts and the possibility of creating a professional profile (description of the activity, opening hours, means of contact, automatic greeting, etc.). “Before the coronavirus, my main activity was attending patients. The sale of my products was secondary. With the ASPO, I focused on the sale of articles. That is why I put together my catalog on cell phone messaging. What’s more, my own patients me they suggested, “Krautner said.

The model business It also allows the incorporation of CRM, marketing software and customer service. “The same line allows us, through various interfaces, three sales representatives to answer questions. To provide a fast and good service, we define our style manual and even stipulate which words not to use in communication with the consumer”, commented Alberto Navarro .

Segmentation is another of the facilities of the corporate mode. “Thus, a neighborhood business can label customers according to their characteristics. In this way they can create distribution lists or special promotions,” explained Marianela Lava.

One of the imponderables of this chat is that customers interact at the most appropriate time for them. Many times they do it after office hours. For this, robotic responses are the best solution. “After closing time, those who consult us will receive an automatic response where we even incorporate emoticons to make it more pleasant. We simply tell them that we are resting and we will respond to them tomorrow at 9 AM”, summarized Matías Armenteros from Herrebox.

Through this method you can evacuate queries such as location, hours of operation, time and form of delivery, etc. “Many people see that you are online. They send you a question. They think you are reading it. But, out there, we are serving other clients. In these cases we also use automatic response,” added Armenteros.

In a short time the effects of instant messages by cell phone are perceived. A study by Orkestra indicates that, with these chats, retail businesses increase their sales on average 15% in the first year. By the fourth year, they can scale up to 50 percent.

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