In less than a decade, on-demand services have grown from a sapling to a strong and robust tree. Startups with unique ideas, ability to adapt and customize have flourished across the globe. The principal reason for the augmented growth of the on-demand industry are smartphones. Smartphones have nurtured humans to fulfill their innate desire of immediacy. Mobile applications have been the key destination to find any service, information, solution and what not!
Today, whether you want to book an appointment with a doctor or you want to book a Taxi or, or you are looking for your favorite burger to get delivered at your doorstep, it can all happen with a few steps on your mobile screen using on-demand apps. With the consumers inclined to their mobile screens, new apps with services as well as competitive ones are arriving in the market every day. Consumers are also gradually getting surrounded by such apps that aim to make our life easier than before.
More than 9.4 billion dollars has been invested since 2010 in the on-demand industry, according to research. They have highlighted that this industry needs high labor and has low profit margin. Hence, ability to scale up efficiently and swiftly is the victory hymn but scaling up under such competition involves huge investments. Therefore, industry experts endorse aiming at customer loyalty when implementing customer purchase plans so that the Lifetime Value (LTV) of the customer validates the initial purchase cost.
Consumer are Extremely Time Sensitive
Consumers of the on-demand services are very time sensitive and also extremely particular about the specifications of the products. Hence, to satisfy the consumers, it is essential to supply “WHAT” they need and “WHEN” they need it exactly. Therefore, a seamless two-way communication is important to bridge the gap between the consumer and the provider.
Few on-demand service providers highlighted that they have 24×7 chat and phone support, but does it solve the purpose completely?
Yet, there is a communication gap between the end users that makes the consumer say “not so satisfied.” Real-time communication solutions have become the savior for these on-demand service providers.
Let us understand it with an analogy: In this scenario, you are ordering your favorite pizza from the outlet of your choice and getting it delivered at your doorstep. All you need is to click a few buttons and then sit back and relax. Suddenly, you realize that you forgot to mention the type of cheese that has to be added. You can drop a message to customer support who typically replies after a few minutes through in-app chats.
Otherwise, by that time, the Customer Support Executive understands your concern and tries to forward your request to the Service Provider; the order will be already out for delivery. The result will be a disheartened Customer furious over not getting the desired variant of the pizza.
Ways to Handle Customers in On-demand Services
1. Build a Real-time Communication Solution on Your Apps
As soon as the user realizes the mistake in their order, all they need to do is open up the App and type in their Order ID into the inbuilt Chat Platform. And this will populate your order to the support agent. They can also directly communicate with the support staff through the chat platform and request for customizations directly. Therefore, it saves on the time gap caused due to the outdated queuing system based Support Chat.
Well the benefits of in-app chat don't end there, it can be extended to a greater scale to most of On-Demand Services for multiple benefits. Chat apps can also be used for making fresh orders that customers are inclined to find easier and more natural, rather than hunting through multiple drop-down menus in an app.
2. Increase User Engagement and Loyalty
After meeting the basic expectations of consumers, on-demand companies have to nurture a friendly brand voice that connects them with their audience. And that’s why you need to create consumer friendly messaging.
For instance, on Friday evenings, when the consumers would be getting off work, on-demand companies can send push notifications reminding the customer to make a purchase. In this particular message, the on-demand team can send an emoji depicting the favorite dish of the customer. By sending these sorts of notifications will increase user engagement and loyalty.
3. Enable Better Decision Making from a Customer Point of View
To understand this with a typical example, let us assume that a group of colleagues chatting amongst themselves to decide what to order for lunch. With the help of a real-time chat platform in-built in your on-demand app, they can interact within a group about their specific interests and make customized orders according to their desires.
The solution is simple as you can enable a Communication platform within your app and let users interact with one another, within the limitations of your app. Similarly, it is a recognized fact that conversations build engagement. The more users talk, the more probable they are to purchase.
Benefits of Using Real-time Communication in On-demand Services
- One – to – One Chat: Users can chat among themselves or with the Service provider/Support staff directly.
- Push Notifications: To make sure that you don’t miss out on even a single message, instant notification can be sent about incoming messages.
- Group Chat: Assist your users to interact in a group about any topic or context of their choice.
- Attachments: Allow users to share photos, Audio, Video, documents, location, etc.
- Cross App Chat: If you have two distinct applications for delivery staff and customers it can be integrated to a single communication channel.
- Tracking: Users can keep a track of their message delivery through read receipts and time Stamps.
- UI Toolkit: With the customizable UI kit, it is possible to build apps the way you want, to match your Brand uniqueness.
Conclusion:
If an inquiry is answered within 5 minutes, the probability of conversion is 100 times higher. Therefore, by using a real-time messaging platform, consumers get the convenience of a seamless purchase process and the on-demand service provider gains more engagement due to operational efficiency. CONTUS MirrorFly supports you with the best in-app chat solution that can be in-built in your on-demand apps. Be it for Web and Mobile apps on iOS or Android. Connect with us, and customize your web and mobile apps with our end-to-end Communication Platform.