4 conversational commerce use cases that are boosting CX in APAC

Conversational commerce is a customer experience differentiator, placing the customer at the center of business strategy.   

Generation alpha, the first fully digital generation, is moving into the consumer space. This digital-first customer demands greater value and immersive, memorable experiences. They’re demanding conversational experiences. 

A quick refresher – conversational customer experience is CX that aims to build deeply personal relationships with customers at scale. Enterprises achieve this by leveraging rich customer data profiles and CPaaS to develop hyperpersonalized, one-to-one communication with their users. 

And APAC, with its competitive markets, growing wealth, and fast pace of technological innovation is blazing the conversational commerce trail. 

But what role does CPaaS play and how is it helping evolve conversational commerce and CX in APAC? And how are businesses leveraging CPaaS to develop their own customer-centric, conversational commerce strategies? Read on to find out. 

IDC established the future of customer experience framework which depends on four pillars. These pillars can be described as: 

Central to this framework is customer data. Used properly, customer data enhances CX by leveraging integrated communication tools to create contextual, personalized conversations with customers. 

In other words, using customer data allows businesses to speak with customers, instead of at customers. 

The key building blocks for the pillars of conversational customer experience are tools that facilitate true omnichannel communication between businesses and customers. This omnichannel engagement is enhanced by proper use of customer data through the integration of customer data management tools.  

Where can businesses turn to find these solutions? In one word – CPaaS. (I know it’s actually five words, but we’re making it a thing). 

CPaaS encapsulates customer data management tools and omnichannel communications in one integration. This allows businesses to use data to create conversations that end up providing more data. This data then goes into creating even more in-depth, personalized interactions.  

This is a self-nurturing cycle of evolving interactions that results in heightened relationships between customers and businesses that deliver a proper balance of value. 

And nowhere is this more apparent than in the diverse markets of the APAC region.

Businesses in APAC are increasing investments in CPaaS, a cornerstone of conversational commerce.  

An IDC survey of 1000 businesses in APAC indicated a general increase in spending on CPaaS in 2023-2024. 

In fact, 38% of the businesses surveyed were looking to increase spending on CPaaS from 1-15% per year, while 32% indicated they’d spend upwards of 15% more. 

This contrasting just 8% of the sample that said they’d reduce spending. 

The benefits for businesses in APAC are clear. CPaaS solves business problems through seamless integrations across business units, rather than siloing data through unified communications solutions. 

Costs are lower since there are no hardware or software costs thanks to interoperability with existing systems. And customer data is protected thanks to the added layer of security cloud-based infrastructure provides. 

These are some general benefits – and they get more specific when we look at regional APAC leaders. 

The land down under is on top in APAC, where 65% of survey respondents reported to be using CPaaS solutions. But as is always the case with Australia – there’s more!  

An astounding 79% of respondents said they’ll be growing CPaaS spending as they explore how conversational commerce can improve CX. 

Australia’s healthcare sector enhances patient experiences through conversational experiences.

Local government bodies also use rich media messaging capabilities to allow citizens to report infrastructural damage and safety hazards.

And banking and insurance companies use CPaaS to help streamline loan application processes to enhance CX while also ensuring regulatory compliance. 

Asia-Pacific’s economic giant has 66% of its businesses geared towards increasing CPaaS investments.  

In the upcoming year, Chinese business will look to leverage CPaaS towards creating new revenue streams, enhance CX, and business expansion at home and abroad.  

Currently, banks and financial institutions are using conversational AI to provide customer service and even financial advice.  

Amongst the world’s largest retail and ecommerce businesses, Alibaba and Aliexpress, are using AI to quickly resolve customer service queries, as well as funnel more store traffic through relevant promotions. 

And the technology sector is creating true super apps, as WeChat and Alipay offer users multiple services available through the apps. 

Thanks to a high smartphone penetration rate, the people of Vietnam are active on platforms like Zalo and Viber, as well as on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.  

These channels have become powerful tools in the hands of brands looking to influence consumer decisions. 

This is why businesses are investing in CPaaS to aid the digital transformation of business. This results in improved customer experience, another driver of CPaaS investments. Businesses are also motivated to increase spending in CPaaS to boost employee productivity. 

Vietnam’s ecommerce industry, with companies like online retailers Shopee and Lazada, are among the trendsetters in the country. The online retailers are using AI chabots for customer service queries, with emerging conversational commerce solutions soon to follow. 

Vietcombank and Techombank are also using customer service chatbots for frequent customer services that can be automated. These include account balance queries and card blocks. Further investment and development in voice and video capabilities will help banks to simplify KYC and other time-consuming procedures, improving customer experience. 

And the telco industry leaders, such as VNPT and Viettel, are using conversational commerce platforms for personalized promotions and account notifications. This helps them understand their customers better, resulting in reduced churn. 

Businesses in the growing economic powerhouse of India are also investing more in CPaaS. 63% of survey respondents said they’ll increase CPaaS investments with goals of digital transformation, improving overheads, and creating new revenue streams. 

The top industries leveraging CPaaS in India are in retail, where customers get personalized shopping experiences and automated customer service.  

India’s retail industry is ahead of the conversational commerce curve, already driving sales through chat apps like WhatsApp, Messenger, and the always reliable SMS.  

Banking and insurance are no stranger to CPaaS, either, with conversational AI tools being used for mandatory video KYC services. 

And healthcare, one of India’s largest and fastest-growing industries, is  using conversational AI to enhance the patient experience, increase engagement, and improve healthcare delivery.

Finally, we look at Indonesia, where more than 57% of respondents said they use CPaaS, with 67% increasing their investments in the upcoming year. 

CPaaS is a driver of business digital transformation, as well as an important part of expanding operations both domestically and abroad. It’s also an important factor in boosting employee productivity. 

Across the country’s industries, we see banking and insurance businesses supporting customers with conversational AI chatbots. Retail and ecommerce businesses, meanwhile, use conversational AI to provide customer support and drive more store traffic with specialized offers.  

And on-demand apps, which have heavy adoption for delivery and ridesharing services, benefit from conversational AI to automate order processing and customer support queries. 

These are the trends from the top five APAC markets and some of the most commonly noted use cases across top performing industries. Next, we’ll deep dive into some of the most common use cases per industry. 

According to the survey conducted by IDC, by share of increasing investments, these are the top trending conversational commerce use cases across key industries in APAC. 

This industry will see the greatest increase in CPaaS investments. 

Providing seamless CX with conversational AI banking is the top trend, as banks and financial services organizations look to automate simpler customer service queries. Conversational AI will handle account balance queries, block cards in cases of suspected fraud, provide transaction information in real time, and handle service requests. 

Video KYC procedures are gaining widespread adoption in India and beyond. By managing KYC remotely, banks can onboard more customers remotely and at scale, eliminating the need for paperwork and time-consuming manual checks. 

Improving customer loyalty through personalized customer experiences is high on the list for retailers in APAC. By leveraging customer data, retailers can create very personal connections with customers, resulting in increased loyalty. 

In addition, brands are adopting omnichannel strategies to connect with customers at multiple touchpoints across their journeys, resulting in enhanced engagement and improved brand visibility. 

With timely patient reminders and appointment scheduling, CPaaS helps reduce patient no-shows and eliminates one of the biggest drains on the healthcare system. 

CPaaS also streamlines the patient experience by way of personalized experiences through video consults, digital lab result sharing, as well as automated notifications. 

APAC leads the way in on-demand app conversational commerce. In India, for example, you can hire an Uber via WhatsApp, thanks to an Infobip chatbot. 

In addition, delivery and delay notifications help increase efficiency and keep customers happy. 

Businesses across APAC are investing in CPaaS to provide customer-centric conversational commerce experiences and satisfy the demands of the modern consumer. 

The benefits of these investments include, in addition to customer growth and increased customer loyalty, improved operating costs and greater employee productivity. 

To discover more benefits of customer-centric conversational commerce through CPaaS, grab the IDC Infobrief.