Page 285 - The Digital Financial Services (DFS) Ecosystem

ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services
Ecosystem

just be able to message a business in the same way that you message a friend." This sounds good in theory,
22
but a chat interaction may prove as frustrating as sequentially navigating a cable company’s customer service
phone menu. Arun Uday, Tringchat founder and former VC, offers this contrarian view, "Think about it. Why
would anybody want to replace an existing setup that is 100 per cent accurate and takes less effort to use (i.e.
UI-driven menus) with something that is inaccurate and requires more effort to use (i.e. chatbots)?" 23
One could argue that WeChat’s popularity proves consumers love interacting with businesses via chat. But,
this argument has holes:

• Commercial interactions often do not fit the conversational chat stereotype. Yes, consumers can follow
an ‘Official Account’ (e.g., Burberry clothing) and have ‘conversations’ through the chat interface. But,
users often start with or are directed to web style pages within the WeChat application (e.g., for ordering
a taxi). Essentially, WeChat’s commerce expansion has relied on cross-selling more traditional commerce
experiences to its chat base.
• E-commerce in China is different. Shopping is typically done through online marketplaces (analogous to
WeChat’s walled garden approach) rather than corporate e-commerce sites. That said, chat platforms
may also prove valuable in other developing countries where e-commerce is having a slower start.
In summary, conversational commerce is not a proven model, but importantly, it may be appropriate for some
BoP applications (product inquiries, etc.) with users enjoying a simple user interface and low data costs.

Figure 23 – Chat screenshot – shopping

22 McMillan, Robert. Facebook Hopes Chatbots Can Solve App Overload. The Wall Street Journal. Updated April 17, 2016. http://
www. wsj. com/ articles/ facebook- hopes- chatbots- can- solve- app- overload- 1460930220 (accessed August 14, 2016).
23 Uday, Arun. Bursting the chatbot bubble. Techcrunch website. July 16, 2016. https:// techcrunch. com/ 2016/ 07/ 16/ bursting- the-
chatbot- bubble/ (accessed August 23, 2016).

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