Insider Spotlight
A study commissioned by Rakuten Viber and conducted with global technology market analyst Omdia found that 70 percent of retail businesses struggle to generate measurable revenue or customer engagement from their messaging investments despite growing adoption of conversational commerce.
The big picture
The findings come as the conversational commerce market reached $14.47 billion and is expected to grow by 13 percent annually, based on data cited from Fortune Business Insights.
Rakuten Viber said many retailers continue to rely on fragmented messaging tools and one-way promotional campaigns that fail to deliver personalized customer experiences.
The company release said these disconnected approaches often result in inconsistent interactions, abandoned shopping carts, and weaker customer loyalty, limiting returns from messaging investments.
Why it matters
Rakuten Viber said retailers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to improve customer engagement at scale. Its study found that 70 percent of retailers identified improving customer targeting as their primary AI objective.
Noa Bar Shay, Rakuten Viber vice president of business managing partnerships, said retailers are replacing generic promotional messages with predictive engagement strategies that analyze browsing behavior and purchase history to deliver more relevant recommendations.
The study also found that 48 percent of retailers are consolidating multiple messaging tools into a single platform to simplify customer interactions throughout the shopping journey.
What they're saying
Rather than treating messaging as separate communication channels, retailers are integrating customer identity, loyalty programs, payment systems, and purchase histories into a unified platform, the company said. Rakuten Viber added that this approach helps businesses reduce operational complexity while providing a more consistent customer experience.
“Retailers are moving toward super apps like Rakuten Viber that act as a single hub where a customer’s identity, loyalty points, and purchase history are all stored in one secure chat thread,” explains Bar Shay.
“Messaging only becomes ‘smart’ when it’s connected to your customer relationship management or other customer and payment systems. When tools share data, the interface knows exactly who the customer is and what they need. This reduces ‘technical bloat,’ cuts costs, and ensures a consistent brand voice globally.”
Bar Shay said messaging platforms become more effective when connected to customer relationship management and payment systems, allowing businesses to personalize interactions and streamline transactions.
What's next
Rakuten Viber said retailers' next phase of growth will depend less on expanding their online presence and more on improving the quality of customer conversations.
“Previously, a company's success depended on the scale of its presence—you needed the customer to see you everywhere: on the website, on social media, and in messengers. Today, however, creating a shopping experience that is simultaneously intuitive, human, and secure has taken center stage. Therefore, the leaders are the brands that have started truly listening to their audience,” Bar Shay said. — Princess Daisy C. Ominga| Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
