Business Wire – Seattle Uber features an AI-powered chatbot that was created by Infobip, a leading provider of omnichannel interaction and a worldwide cloud communication platform. The chatbot offers consumers a streamlined booking process by letting them order rides using WhatsApp, a first for the entire world.
Using the chatbot development platform “Answers” from Infobip, the chatbot has been created and deployed on the WhatsApp for Business platform. Delhi-NCR, one of Uber’s top markets globally by volume, now offers its users the WhatsApp to Ride (WA2R) service. The debut follows a pilot in Lucknow in December of last year, where a sizable part of Uber’s trip requests came from new customers, indicating a possible product-market fit.
According to Gartner, 80% of customer service organisations will have given up native mobile apps in favour of omnichannel messaging by 2025 in order to provide a better customer experience. Businesses and brands must now more than ever meet customers where they are, rather than attempting to lure them away from their preferred apps.
“Customers are rapidly turning away from an app-only approach,” said Silvio Kuti, CEO of Infobip. Customers prefer to interact with brands using their chosen means of communication. Businesses must therefore be present where their customers are and offer a seamless customer experience through the media they prefer. We’re honoured to have contributed to the development of Uber’s new WhatsApp chatbot solution, and we’re eager to see its effects both now and in the future as its distribution continues. We are even more delighted because we supply both Uber and WhatsApp with a global cloud communication platform.
“We want to make it as simple as possible for our new sets of consumers to take an Uber journey, and to achieve so, we need to meet them on platforms they are comfortable with,” said Abhilekh Kumar, Director, Business Development, Uber India South Asia. As a result of our cooperation with WhatsApp, riders now have a new way to schedule a ride through an easy, well-known, and reliable channel. We are excited to work with Infobip to co-create the chatbot functionality for an entirely new consumer experience when booking an Uber ride.
“After a successful rollout of the ‘WhatsApp to ride’ experience in Lucknow, we are thrilled to expand WhatsApp’s relationship with Uber and debut this service for consumers in Delhi NCR,” said Ravi Garg, Director of WhatsApp Partnerships, India. Uber has gained new riders thanks to the ease of using the WhatsApp interface to book rides, and we look forward to assisting them as they continue to grow. Uber and companies from a number of industries are using the WhatsApp Business Platform to develop a range of scaled tailored solutions that enhance user convenience and permit deeper customer connection. We are eager to continue forming alliances with companies to open up new channels for reaching audience demographics that frequently use WhatsApp.
One of the most widely used messaging apps in the world, WhatsApp has more than two billion users worldwide and 400 million in India alone. Uber therefore selected Infobip’s Answers platform to capitalise on WhatsApp’s appeal and practicality while enhancing the user experience. Infobip’s intelligent virtual assistant “Answers” streamlines and automates the ride-booking procedure. The Infobip chatbot aids Uber in broadening its reach by speaking both English and Hindi.
Customers in the Delhi-NCR region of Uber only need to send a message to (+917292000002), scan a barcode, or click a link to launch an Uber WhatsApp chat. The same security measures and insurance coverage as the app will be provided to the passengers. For more more on WA2R, click here.
Since 2014, Infobip and Uber have worked together to ensure the privacy of both riders and drivers, first using SMS and then number masking techniques. The Infobip chatbot creation platform may be used to create chatbots that can be used on all essential communication channels, including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Viber, and SMS, among others. Companies can lower operational expenses and improve customer satisfaction by being accessible 24 hours a day by deploying chatbots.
