Consumers Now Prefer SMS, Chat to Voice Interaction with Business

Three quarters of people now talk to businesses with a mobile message‎, a new research has found.

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek received the document on new research from global trade body Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF) supported by Mblox which revealed that 76 per cent of consumers have received communications from businesses such as banks, healthcare and retailers via SMS.

In other words, businesses are embracing mobile as a communications channel regularly engaging with their customers via text and chat apps, as 65 per cent have engaged with companies via chat apps.

The study is part of MEF’s Future of Messaging Programme. It indexes the messaging habits of nearly 6000 respondents across nine countries worldwide.

Financial Services Sector
According to the research, the financial services sector is the most active in enterprise messaging, with 33 per cent of respondents having received an SMS for activities such as account activation and balance checking. 22 per cent have done so via a chat app.

Rob Malcolm, senior vice president of Corporate Development, Mblox said: “The MEF Mobile messaging report is a treasure trove of data for anyone interested in learning about consumer preferences of mobile messaging. The report shows that consumers prefer OTT apps for person-to-person communications and SMS for enterprise-to-consumer communications.

"Consumers have come to expect companies to communicate with them in real time about every aspect of the service lifecycle and mobile messaging continues to lead the power of that engagement.”

Also speaking on the research findings, Rimma Perelmuter, CEO at MEF said: “MEF’s Mobile Messaging report clearly indicates globally consumers and enterprises are embracing all kind of mobile messaging channels across a broad range of uses and verticals. However, there is a clear opportunity for growth with 24 per cent of SMS users and 35 per cent of chat app users currently unengaged.”