Zopim to power FB's Businesses on Messenger

Singapore

JUST a year after Zopim was acquired by New York-listed customer service firm Zendesk for some US$30 million, the Singapore live chat startup has chalked up yet another achievement - this time partnering Facebook to power the latter's recently unveiled Businesses on Messenger platform, which allows businesses to directly communicate with customers via the instant messaging app.

Customers will be able to start a conversation with businesses (ask free-form questions and get responses right away), receive updates on orders or shipping status, and even change their orders or shipping details later, via Messenger.

Zopim's live chat technology will be powering this experience, through enabling multiple live chats at once, facilitating collaboration among customer service representatives, and allowing access to chat history so participants can easily continue a conversation after a break.

"Messenger has changed the way people communicate with their friends, and now it's opening new opportunities for businesses to interact with their customers," said Royston Tay, co-founder of Zopim, on Thursday. "Consumers can communicate and engage with retailers within the messaging app they already use every day, on their own terms."

Over 600 million people worldwide reportedly use Facebook's Messenger, second only to the 700 million monthly active users of WhatsApp, which Facebook bought last year for US$19 billion. In comparison, China's WeChat has over 468 million users, Japan's Line has 181 million users, while Berlin-based Telegram has some 50 million users, BT has learnt.

Facebook's new service is currently being developed for two online retailers: zuzily (which sells products for mothers) and Everlane (apparel for men and women). It will be rolled out gradually to more businesses later this year.

Said Aaron Ginn, Everlane's growth product manager: "At Everlane, we pride ourselves on the personal connection we have with our community. Not only can our customers now connect with us through Messenger; they can also receive personal attention and immediate service from us, thanks to Zendesk's integration."

Facebook on Wednesday also unveiled other plans for Messenger at its F8 developer conference, among them a new payments system that lets users send and receive money directly through the platform, and the new Messenger Platform, which will allow third-party developers to add Messenger features onto other apps.

Last February, Zendesk and Zopim opened its newly expanded Singapore office - also Zendesk's new Asia-Pacific headquarters - at Haw Par Technocentre. Zendesk, whose shares last traded at US$22.31 on Wednesday, has a current market cap of US$1.85 billion.