Viber ramps up super-app status
SECURE messaging and voice-based communications leader Rakuten Viber introduced its Business Inbox and Commercial Account to amplify customer experience and ramp up brand visibility at Manila House in BGC, Taguig City on Jan. 26, 2023. With Asia-Pacific Senior Director David Tse leading the launch in person and Chief Revenue Officer Cristina Constandache joining via video call, the super-app announced the offerings as the next stage of branduser interaction and of Rakuten Viber’s long-term strategy.
“This strategy aims to improve the utility of the app for users and expand the ways in which brands can connect with their audience in a natural way,” Constandache said.
“Consumers want to have convenient access to communication with a business. More importantly, as trends show us, users are appreciating the power of mobile messaging,” Tse added.
The super-app reported that 71 percent of consumers expected companies to provide personalized interactions while 82 percent of organizations intended to initiate a strategy to offer better customer value via services. Rakuten Viber’s Business Inbox and Commercial Account were meant to provide an enhanced customer experience and better brand engagement.
Upon receiving a business message, consumers would have their Business Inbox activated. While able to locate business messages better, consumers would also be able to pin a specific brand’s conversation, move any brand out of the Business Inbox and into the main Chats screen, or pin any business conversation on top of the Chats screen.
With Commercial Account, consumers could search for Viber-verified businesses — including description, contact information and available contact channels such as address, phone number and website — and communicate proactively with brands in the contact channel of their choice.
Meanwhile, Viber upped its storage management functionality, allowing consumers to clean the cache from the app or seamlessly select chats to clear.