LivePerson, Inc.†(Nasdaq: LPSN), a leading provider of conversational commerce solutions, launched another wave of major brands on Apple Business Chat beta, a new way for users to communicate directly with businesses using the Messages app on iPhone and iPad. Burberry, KDDI, Vodafone Germany, buddybank, Telstra, Harvey Norman, NH Hotels, and others now use LivePerson’s LiveEngage platform to enable their consumers to ask questions, get help, and make purchases from the Messages app on iPhone and iPad. LivePerson’s automotive subsidiary,†Contact At Once!, also†announced†that it now supports Apple Business Chat and has brought the experience to several major automotive brands including Hendrick Automotive Group, Lithia Motors, Inc., and Robins & Day. These announcements come on the heels of the first wave of major brands LivePerson helped launch on Apple Business Chat, including Aramark, Discover, Lowe’s, The Home Depot, T-Mobile, and others.
The LiveEngage platform enables brands to connect to Apple Business Chat and other popular messaging services and voice assistants, along with a brand’s own apps, website, and phone systems. LiveEngage brings together the AI and automations necessary to operate delightful consumer experiences at scale, along with the backend integrations to offer capabilities such as order status updates and reservation changes. A workspace for customer care and sales agents is provided to monitor and support the experience and supplement automation.
These capabilities allow consumers to message with brands in the same “time-shifted” way they message friends and family, moving in and out of conversations to multi-task or go on about their day. Consumers consistently rank this conversational experience above traditional modes of communication such as phone calls.
“Conversational commerce is becoming a standard because conversations are the oldest, most natural way for consumers to interact with a brand – there is no interface to learn” said†Robert LoCascio, founder and CEO, LivePerson. “The data is clear that consumers love this way of interacting, and brands get better business outcomes with it. Making these experiences work at scale not only requires connectivity to a consumer’s device, but also automation, coordination across thousands of agents, and deep integration to backend systems. We bring these key capabilities together in LiveEngage, and we are proud to help another wave of amazing brands launch Apple Business Chat.”
“At buddybank, we are paving the way for conversational banking. Through LivePerson’s LiveEngage platform, we can open a new communication channel using Apple Business Chat. For our iPhone-only banking model, this is the first important step toward a fully integrated iPhone banking experience.” said Angelo D’Alessandro, founder of buddybank.
“Our focus is on providing an exceptional customer experience. We are thrilled to support Apple Business Chat through LivePerson’s LiveEngage platform, which gives us a powerful and engaging connection with our customers,” said†Yasuhisa Yamada, Associate Executive Director of Product & Customer Service Sector of KDDI. “Apple Business Chat makes communicating with ‘KDDI au’ as easy as messaging a friend, so we expect it will quickly become everyone’s preferred customer service channel.”
