Message solutions provider targets to reach more PHL industries

CLOUD communications platform Infobip Philippines, which now covers 80% of the local banking industry, said it aims to expand its reach to other verticals as demand for automated messaging remains strong.

“Even if people are going back to physical stores now, the digital setups will be retained and upgraded depending on customer demand,” Infobip Philippines Country Manager Charist B. Montenegro said during a virtual briefing.

“We are really aggressive on expanding further not just by verticals but also the utilization of different channels that we have and the use of the solutions that we offer,” she added.

She noted that Infobip, which entered the Philippine market in 2016, currently covers 80% of the banking industry in the Philippines.

The company now seeks to cover the retail, e-commerce, transportation, and medical industries.

Citing Infobip’s global research, Ms. Montenegro said that chat apps such as WhatsApp are becoming crucial channels for customer communications.

This demonstrates the growing importance of conversational experiences, she added.

“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,” the company said in a statement.

It said that customers now have access to more channels and devices than before.

“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,” the company noted.

At the same time, the company pointed out that while newer channels are gaining momentum, its study 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 said.

Conversational customer experiences are quickly becoming the new normal, according to Ivan Ostojić, Infobip chief business officer. “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.” — Arjay L. Balinbin