BUSINESS TECH | Messaging study finds 70% of retailers struggle to generate returns
The study attributed the weak performance to fragmented messaging tools and one-way communication strategies that rely on generic promotional messages rather than personalized customer interactions.
A study by Rakuten Viber and technology market analyst Omdia found that 70% of retail businesses are failing to generate measurable revenue or customer engagement from their messaging investments, underscoring the challenges retailers face in turning chat platforms into effective sales channels.
The findings come as conversational commerce continues to grow. Citing Fortune Business Insights, the study said the global conversational commerce market has reached $14.47 billion and is expected to expand by 13% annually. Despite increasing investments in messaging, many retailers have yet to realize meaningful returns, according to Rakuten Viber.
“In global retail, the path from seeing a product to owning it can now happen within a single conversation,” said Noa Bar Shay, vice president of Business Managing Partnerships at Rakuten Viber. “Messaging has evolved from a notification tool into a storefront.”
The study attributed the weak performance to fragmented messaging tools and one-way communication strategies that rely on generic promotional messages rather than personalized customer interactions. These practices can lead to inconsistent customer experiences, abandoned shopping carts, and lower engagement, it said.
The research found that 70% of retailers now view artificial intelligence as a key tool for improving customer targeting. Rakuten Viber said AI can analyze browsing behavior, purchase history, and shopping patterns to deliver more relevant recommendations and timely messages.
The study also found that 48% of retailers are consolidating multiple messaging tools into a single platform to streamline customer interactions and improve operational efficiency. Bar Shay said messaging platforms become more effective when integrated with customer relationship management and payment systems, allowing businesses to maintain a unified view of customers and deliver more consistent communications.
“Previously, a company’s success depended on the scale of its presence—you needed the customer to see you everywhere: on the website, on social media, and in messengers. Today, however, creating a shopping experience that is simultaneously intuitive, human, and secure has taken center stage. Therefore, the leaders are the brands that have started truly listening to their audience,” Bar Shay said.
Full disclosure: All news articles published on the TechSabado website are written by human journalists, unless otherwise specified. Final text editing is also performed by human editors, with artificial intelligence (AI) used only to assist with additional grammar and style guide corrections..
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