What is conversational commerce?
Conversational commerce is buying and selling through conversations on messaging apps, website chat, text messages and voice assistants. Shoppers ask questions, get product recommendations and sometimes complete the purchase within the chat. The conversation can be with a person or with an AI agent that answers on the brand's behalf.
Also called: chat commerce, messaging commerce
Why conversational commerce matters
The term was popularized by Chris Messina, who wrote about conversational commerce in 2015 as messaging apps began to carry more of people's interactions with businesses. Since then, the channels have multiplied: WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, website chat, SMS and RCS, and voice assistants.
Most conversational commerce is now powered by AI agents that answer from the brand's product data and policies. That lets brands answer pre-purchase questions at any hour and in many languages, which matters because a shopper with an unanswered question about size, fit or delivery often leaves without buying.
Conversational commerce is closely related to agentic commerce. In conversational commerce, the shopper makes the decisions through a dialogue. In agentic commerce, an AI agent can also act on someone's behalf, for example by adding items to a cart or completing a purchase.
Example
A shopper on a skincare brand's website opens the chat and asks which moisturizer suits oily skin. The agent asks about the shopper's routine and any sensitivities, recommends one product with a short reason, and adds it to the cart in the same conversation.
Conversational commerce and DigitalGenius
DigitalGenius answers pre-purchase questions and recommends products in chat, using the brand's product catalog.
Read more
FAQ
Who coined the term conversational commerce?
Chris Messina, a former Uber developer experience lead best known for proposing the hashtag, popularized the term in a 2015 Medium post about buying and selling through messaging apps.
What's the difference between conversational commerce and social commerce?
Social commerce is selling through social media platforms, for example through shoppable posts. Conversational commerce is selling through a dialogue, which can happen on social messaging apps, on a brand's website, by text message or by voice.
What channels does conversational commerce use?
The main channels are messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram, website chat, SMS and RCS text messages, and voice assistants.
· By Iain Moss