Increasing Sales with Conversational Commerce: Why Selling Through Messengers Is Worthwhile [5 Reading Tips]

What do adidas, BECK’S, Hellmann’s and Wish have in common? They all use conversational marketing to get close to their target audience via messenger services, to present products and to accompany customers in the purchasing process.

In Asia and Latin America, it is already common practice to make purchases via chat apps and pay directly in messengers. With an investment from Salesforce Ventures, the start-up Charles now wants to take advantage of this trend and expand into the European market.

Increasing Sales with the All-in-One Solution

In order to establish even closer ties between companies and their customers, the start-up Charles combines service, newsletter and e-commerce features in one system. With this solution alone, companies can use chat apps to send newsletters, advise customers individually and process enquiries directly.

When customers buy from an online shop, they first have to send an e-mail if they have any questions and then have to wait several days for an answer. In comparison, customer journeys in conversational commerce are significantly shorter and thus more customer-oriented. As a result, ordering processes are completed much more often.

Founded in 2020, Charles now has more than 100 clients that generate between 10 and 40 per cent of their revenue via the chat feature. The newsletters achieve open rates of over 90 per cent, enabling eight times more revenue per subscription than through e-mail marketing.

Salesforce Ventures has recognised the potential and invested in the start-up, which wants to expand further with the support of the software giant. With the investments of other companies like Salesforce Ventures, Charles, which has so far enjoyed success mainly in Brazil and China, wants to take the shopping trend to the European market.

Increasing Sales Across All Age Groups

The solution primarily helps create personalised shopping experiences for customers, building brand trust by doing so. Companies that rely on conversational commerce benefit from the fact that other age groups besides Generation Z and Y also use chat apps. For example, more than 90 per cent of those aged between 45 and 54 communicate via WhatsApp.

Benefits of Conversational Commerce

Lower costs (no separate app or server fee)
New target groups can be reached
Direct dialogue with customers
Better service thanks to 24/7 advice
Greater customer loyalty
More sales
No cookie problems thanks to comprehensive insights in conversational commerce tools