• by Colin Kirkland , October 3, 2022

Popular social media management platform Hootsuite recently announced that Heyday, the conversational AI (artificial intelligence) platform it purchased for $48 million in 2021, has integrated Instagram direct messages and Facebook Messenger within its ecommerce Shopify chatbot app.

This, the company hopes, will provide merchants with the ability to sell more products and offer immediate customer support. 

In a world where 75% of internet users between 16 and 64 years old use social networks to find brands, services, and products, and 22% of people would rather spend a night in jail than contact customer service, it is important for companies and brands to deliver a seamless customer service experience. 

Hootsuite said in a recent statement that its new AI integration aims to amplify merchants’ business with direct social-messaging chats that operate 24/7 year-round, to both sell products and answer FAQs in real-time. 

“Businesses are under pressure to deliver exceptional experiences that meet consumers’ demands for real-time, authentic communication,” says Steve Desjarlais, co-founder and vice president of conversational AI at Heyday by Hootsuite. “Today’s announcement enables businesses to bridge this gap by meeting customers where they are at: Instagram and Facebook Messenger.”

Desjarlais believes this integration will also help brands build stronger relationships with their customers by “leveraging automation in a cost-effective way.”

According to Shopify research, customers are almost 70% more likely to make a purchase from a business that responds to their chat inquiry within a few minutes. 

“This immediacy, combined with having insight-driven conversations with customers, have proven to be key drivers of more ecommerce conversions for Shopify merchants,” says Ellen Dunne, senior product lead for messaging at Shopify. “We know that customers who initiate a chat are extremely high-intent, and merchants can capitalize on that to make the first sale and start building a lasting customer relationship.”