WhatsApp, Emails Dominate Customer-Brand Chats During Shopping Season

New data from global communications platform Infobip highlights a growing preference for conversational interactions between brands and consumers during major shopping events like Black Friday. WhatsApp, E-mail, and SMS emerged as the top communication channels, facilitating over 1.6 billion interactions on Black Friday alone.

This year, Infobip recorded an unprecedented 3.4 billion customer communication interactions on Black Friday—a 26% increase compared to 2023. Messaging interactions accounted for 1.8 billion of this total, reflecting a rise from 1.7 billion last year, reaffirming Infobip’s status as the world’s largest messaging platform.

Retail, eCommerce, and finance sectors ranked among the top five industries driving these interactions, with increases of 42% and 36%, respectively. The data also reveals that Black Friday sales activity extended across the entire month of November as brands aimed to attract pre-Christmas shoppers with early discounts.

Infobip’s Chief Business Officer, Ivan Ostojić, noted the growing role of Rich Communication Services (RCS), attributing its rise to consumers’ demand for seamless, end-to-end experiences and brands’ emphasis on hyper-personalization. “RCS has become a significant channel for shoppers, enabling businesses to provide fully conversational journeys that boost customer engagement and sales,” he said.

As brands continue to expand their discount periods and prioritize conversational channels, Infobip’s data underscores the evolution of customer interactions, setting a new standard for personalized shopping experiences worldwide.