INDUSTRY WATCH
MEETING YOUR CUSTOMER WHERE THEY ARE IS KEY IN ALL OF THIS . OUR FINDINGS SHOW THAT 60 % OF USERS CHOOSE TO MESSAGE A BUSINESS RATHER THAN PICK UP THE PHONE . THEY WANT TO INTERACT WITH A BANK ON A DEVICE OF THEIR CHOOSING , ON THE PLATFORM OF THEIR CHOOSING , AT A TIME OF THEIR CHOOSING .
“ Meeting your customer where they are is key in all of this . Our findings show that 60 % of users choose to message a business rather than pick up the phone . They want to interact with a bank on a device of their choosing , on the platform of their choosing , at a time of their choosing . They want this frictionless , convenient service from any company they may be interacting with ,” added Bray .
Samson Isa , Director , West Africa at Clickatell , said findings confirm the results of an online poll event attendees had taken earlier .
Isa explained that when asked how comfortable their customers were transacting digitally , 60 % of attendees responded ‘ very comfortable ’, 44 % responded ‘ somewhat comfortable ’ and just 6 % said their customers were ‘ not very comfortable ’ transacting digitally .
“ We can see that African customers want to engage with brands via digital channels . Enabling chat commerce provides a huge opportunity , particularly for banks in the region ,” said De Villiers . p
66 INTELLIGENTCIO AFRICA www . intelligentcio . com