Shopify leads conversational commerce trend with Messenger integration and future launch of commerce bots
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — April 12, 2016 – Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP)(TSX:SH), the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, today announced an integration with the new Messenger Platform that allows merchants to provide live customer support, automatically send order confirmations, shipping updates, push notifications, and more, all within Facebook Messenger. This new integration will make it easier for merchants in the U.S. to build stronger, one-on-one relationships with their customers.
“Messaging apps are enabling us to rekindle the conversations we are used to having in person with retail businesses, and recapture some of the lost intimacy that comes with shopping online,” said Brandon Chu, Senior Product Manager at Shopify. “Our decision to integrate with Messenger and build commerce bots, is designed to help merchants develop deeper relationships with their customers, and give them an opportunity to reinforce their brand’s personality.”
Additionally, Shopify is building commerce bots for Messenger, a project that will allow merchants to have more interactive and engaging conversations with customers. Bots for Messenger and the Messenger Platform were announced at this year’s F8.
Over the last two years, Shopify has seen messaging apps grow in popularity and start to outpace social networks when it comes to where consumers are spending their time. With an expanding developer ecosystem, messaging apps are reaching far beyond simple messaging to connect customers privately and directly with their favorite businesses. This integration gives Shopify merchants a head start in leveraging messaging apps to run and grow their businesses.
For more information, please visit: https://shopify.com/messenger
About Shopify
Shopify is the leading cloud-based, multi-channel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Merchants use the software to design, set up and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations and pop-up shops. The platform also provides a merchant with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. The Shopify platform was engineered for reliability and scale, making enterprise-level technology available to businesses of all sizes. Shopify currently powers over 243,000 businesses in approximately 150 countries and is trusted by big brands including Tesla Motors, Budweiser, Red Bull, the LA Lakers, the New York Stock Exchange, GoldieBlox, and many more.