aCommerce serves customers better with 8x8 SMS API

Founded in 2013, aCommerce is the leading e-commerce enabler in Southeast Asia, providing end-to-end and a la carte e-commerce solutions for brands in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. aCommerce is on a mission to make e-commerce easy in SEA, empowering brands to achieve their e-commerce goals by providing them with a suite of technologies and services. For aCommerce, these brands are the priority – and this includes serving them the best customer experience with the help of 8×8 SMS API.

SMS wins email for effective customer communication

aCommerce’s solutions include performance marketing, channel management, webstore development, warehousing and fulfillment, last-mile delivery, customer service solutions, and an all-in-one e-commerce management software as a service, EcommerceIQ. Part of its communications to over 150 brands and 120 million end customers involves sending package tracking links, announcing sales orders status, or sending marketing promotions. Before 8×8, this was done with email. However, when it comes to e-commerce in SEA, mobile is king — aCommerce soon realized that email was not the most effective communication channel.

In fact, this goes beyond online shopping. Southeast Asian consumers are primarily mobile-first, and mobile usage far outpaces desktop usage. And what communication channel is guaranteed to reach (almost) every mobile phone? That’s right – SMS. Being platform agnostic, SMS is highly reliable with a 98% open rate and is thus considered one of the most popular and effective communication channels today. This prompted aCommerce to use SMS in addition to email.

With so many SMS service providers in the market, the next step for aCommerce was to decide on a solution that could boost their customer engagement without requiring too much effort from the team.

8×8 SMS APIs: robust, easy-to-integrate, and fuss-free

The team at aCommerce was clear about what they were looking for in an SMS provider: a robust, reliable, and competitively-priced solution. 8×8 SMS APIs managed to hit the criteria, and even more.

The integration process was quick and seamless, with most of the efforts being channeled towards custom development, which aCommerce required. Once the system was up and running in just a few weeks, the aCommerce team could start using 8×8 SMS APIs without any issues. The team found that the 8×8 platform was easy to use, and the documentation easy to understand. 8×8 SMS APIs provided a robust structure that was flexible and easy to implement, coming in handy especially in terms of allocating cost back to the respective accounts tailored to aCommerce structure for all SMS sent with regards to SMS types and destinations. By scheduling notifications in advance, 8×8 also enabled the aCommerce team to simplify their messaging workflows.

The 8×8 customer support team was also very responsive, although the aCommerce team did not have to reach out often. “Working with 8×8 was really hassle-free. That’s what we like about it,” said Leena Chanvirach, Regional Head of Data & Analytics at aCommerce.

Boosting customer engagement with SMS marketing

Besides using 8×8 SMS APIs for operational purposes, the aCommerce team also started using SMS for marketing purposes, as a complement to their other marketing platforms. With 8×8’s real-time communication solution, aCommerce could automate the sending of marketing promotions, updates, and discounts to customers, and even schedule marketing campaigns effortlessly.

With SMS marketing, the aCommerce team’s marketing campaigns gained more traction as compared to email marketing and saw a higher conversion rate, boosting their customer engagement. Additionally, with automated real-time communications in place, aCommerce could channel its efforts and manpower to its core business planning and operational workflows, improving its business efficiency. Chanvirach shares, “We like that 8×8 works reliably without a fuss. Because of that, we were able to focus our efforts on what really matters to our business.”

With 8×8 SMS APIs, aCommerce is able to focus on their priority — serving their brands and ensuring that their customer experience is exemplary.