The Next Big Thing: India to see conversational commerce push

India’s business growth is all set to witness conversational commerce as the next big thing, a new report by Meta in association with the management consulting firm Bain & Company has revealed.

Conversational commerce is the AI-driven process that uses automated interaction and technologies to set up an engaging and uncomplicated experience for the consumer during online shopping.

The Bain & Company-Meta report, titled Win With Conversations, talks of how a marked transformation is in the anvil as far as conversational commerce is concerned. The change will be powered by generative AI, or GenAI, over the next one or two years, and the aim will be to personalise customer experience by automating tasks and creating a more engaging interaction process.

Based on research data, the report deduced that as many as 90 per cent of consumers, who could be categorised as digitally non-savvy, prefer using conversational platforms to interact with local service providers, restaurants, shops or delivery services. More than 50 per cent customers were comfortable being guided by GenAI tools while carrying out the simplest of online tasks that include accessing bank account, booking hotel or travel tickets and paying bills.

As many as 70 per cent of large enterprises already communicate with clients using apps that allow hassle-free communication such as WhatsApp, the report said. More than 80 per cent businesses want to invest in GenAI over the next couple of years and, among big businesses, almost 60 per cent have a plan in place to increase their budget on conversational platforms within three to four years. In other words, while big business is at the forefront of heralding this shift in consumer interaction culture, the positive reaction of customers has been encouraging an increasing number of Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) to make use of conversational commerce, too, the report noted.

The Bain & Company-Meta report concludes with the notion that conversational commerce has moved beyond merely being a trend and is gradually becoming a reality. To thrive in the modern era, businesses need to seamlessly imbibe the culture of utilising GenAI to personalise the shopping experience of the customer.