And today, we’re launching another powerful integration to make Heyday’s multi-channel customer messaging even better: Messenger API support for Instagram.
With Heyday, brands can connect with and serve shoppers in real-time via Instagram, Messenger from Facebook, WhatsApp, Google Business Messages, or through their website chat widget — and conversations across all those messaging channels are centralized on one inbox.
This exciting API integration gives merchants using Heyday the ability to connect with shoppers in real-time via Instagram messaging and close more sales opportunities via live chat.
Paving the way for the $2 trillion social commerce revolution
According to a recent KBV Research report, the global social commerce market is expected to reach $2 trillion in market size by 2026, accounting for 25% of all e-commerce transactions. With more consumers using Instagram to discover and research products, there is a very real opportunity for brands to generate revenue via these platforms, especially with the rise of Generation Y and Z.
Conversational commerce via text, live chat and video is becoming the shopping channel of choice for many consumers, with Shopify stating in their Future of Commerce 2021 report that “as e-commerce continues to grow and retailers navigate challenges presented by COVID-19, fostering an online dialogue between merchants and customers is becoming increasingly important.” By using a unique blend of AI-powered virtual assistants and live chats with human sales associates, brands can capture and convert more demand into concrete revenue, and create richer interactions with their customers.
And as a platform, Instagram plays a huge role in the social commerce ecosystem. “Messaging plays a central role in helping people connect with brands in personal ways through story replies, direct messages and mentions,” says Instagram.
“Over the last year, total daily conversations between people and businesses on Messenger and Instagram grew over 40%. For businesses, the opportunity to drive sales and improve customer satisfaction by having meaningful interactions with people on Instagram messaging is huge.”
The future of retail will blend the best of what automation and human service has to offer to create a truly differentiated customer experience that’s quick, engaging, convenient, personalized, and scalable across all channels.
Start selling via live Instagram conversations
With shoppers turning to social media to discover brands and products more often than ever before, having a differentiated customer experience on these channels is a critical part of the modern retailer’s omnichannel strategy.
Adding multi-channel customer messaging to your channel mix enables shoppers to choose how they want to be served, either by browsing your website independently, chatting with a virtual assistant, or by initiating a live chat via your brand’s Instagram or Facebook Page.
In this day and age, you have to meet customers where they spend their time and bring your store experience to them via those channels.
“Social commerce is the next frontier in e-commerce,” explains Brad Wing, Heyday’s VP of Global Strategy & Partnerships. “In this day and age, you have to meet customers where they spend their time and bring your store experience to them via those channels. We’re proud to partner up with Instagram and enable retail merchants to build messaging-first shopping experiences that engage customers natively.”
“We are thrilled that Heyday AI is launching Messenger API support for Instagram. The Messenger API for Instagram is now available for all developers who make it possible for brands to improve and enhance messaging experiences with customers,” said Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, VP of Platform Partnerships at Messenger.
“By integrating the Messenger API for Instagram, businesses and developers can effectively scale messaging workflows to better own the customer experience and build more authentic relationships.”
To learn more about our Instagram API integration and multi-channel messaging, talk to our sales team today!