RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Curitiba-based startup Omnichat has been chosen by Facebook as a business solutions partner for Whatsapp. Omnichat is a leader in the chat commerce market in Brazil, a service type that became essential during the pandemic, with many businesses migrating to digital and maintaining communication with consumers through digital channels such as WhatsApp.
Omnichat, which tripled in size in 2020, will be able to connect directly to corporate communication tools.
With the partnership, Omnichat is now able to connect with Facebook and have direct access to WhatsApp’s API, a technology that enables a company to securely open access to its platforms. This should boost the company’s chat commerce platform, simplifying interactions with business-oriented mechanisms on messenger.
According to Mauricio Trezub, Omnichat’s CEO, the company was selected because it offers strong sales solutions, allowing sales to be closed through the app. “Other platforms focus on customer service and support, Omnichat focuses on sales, seeking constant innovation in this solution; this is what attracted WhatsApp’s attention,” he says. The executive also says that WhatsApp’s choice provides greater stability for the platform, and expedites customer service and resolution of potential problems.
Trezub and his partner, Flavio Negrão, founded the company in 2016 to introduce the consulting experience of physical sales to e-commerce. “We managed to join the best of both worlds: the practicality of digital sales with the humanization of physical stores,” says Trezub. The company also works with other apps and platforms, such as Facebook Messenger, SMS, and provides solutions for proprietary chats on company websites, for instance.
Social isolation and the advent of many new consumers to e-commerce in 2020 have provided Omnichat with plenty of room to grow in 2020. According to Trezub, the company tripled in size last year and brokered the exchange of 330 million messages, serving 7 million customers. The number of employees quadrupled and the number of users quintupled. “Our chat commerce solutions today serve more than 300 brands from various segments that together have more than 10,000 vendors in operation,” said the executive.
At the end of the year, the company received an investment of R$20 (US$3.79) million from Kaszek Ventures, in a series A round.
With 160 million users in Brazil and present in virtually all smartphones in the country, WhatsApp is a tool that has helped many companies to communicate, advise and even close sales last year.
A July 2020 survey by Accenture consultancy pointed out that 83% of Brazilians currently use WhatsApp to make purchases – and 37% of them consume products from large companies. In small businesses, the prevalence is even higher: 64%. And those who think that this use is occasional are wrong. The survey shows that 59% make purchases at least once a week.
According to Trezub, brands have naturally migrated to WhatsApp, which was a safe and known channel for consumers. “Some chose a halfway route using the vendors’ own cell phones, however, the big brands sought to professionalize themselves with platforms such as OmniChat’s,” he said.
According to him, large customers, with many vendors and stores, and a larger operation, tend to need more solid solutions, which provide data such as conversion rates, customer service time, labor risk protection, and other analyses.
As a result, the company’s focus today is on serving large stores that need this type of solution. “They need more solid solutions to be able to control chats and measure data, unifying the services in one platform.” Among the companies served are retail giants O Boticário, Arezzo, Leroy Merlin, Havaianas, and others.