Sale Stock launches conversation-based shopping on BBM

By Digital News Asia June 19, 2017

This is the first BBM e-commerce collaboration that uses the new BBM Chat API
BBM Chat API allows businesses and brands to engage in a two-way conversation with consumers

Sale Stock launches conversation-based shopping on BBM

SALE Stock, the Indonesian ecommerce platform focusing on womenswear, has partnered with BBM to provide shopping with a conversational interface through its BBM channel (Channel PIN: C00158214).

This is the first BBM e-commerce collaboration that uses the new BBM Chat API.

With this new service, Sale Stock is making online shopping more appealing to Indonesians by meeting them where they spend their time.

BBM, the country’s most downloaded messaging app, is the place where Indonesians naturally interact with friends and family.

The new BBM Chat API provides businesses and brands with the opportunity to engage in a two-way conversation with consumers.

This new offering furthers Sale Stock’s goal of expanding access to affordable fashion through technology, and reinforces the company’s strength and expertise in deploying new technologies.

Consumers can now chat with Sale Stock customer service agents on BBM to make inquiries and place orders. When people initiate a chat from the Sale Stock BBM channel, BBM will route them to Sale Stock’s internal tool, which will assign them to customer service agents.

Sale Stock is the first e-commerce partner worldwide that will offer service and sales through chat on BBM at scale, allowing customers to receive immediate responses, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Offering clothing and accessories at affordable prices, with additional perks such as free delivery to any location within Indonesia, the company accepts several secure payment methods, including bank transfer, Indomaret payment point and cash on delivery for 2,400 areas in Indonesia.

Purchases are covered by a 30-day, money-back guarantee.

“Sale Stock has always aimed to give access to affordable, high-quality fashion to people who have not previously enjoyed such access,” said Sale Stock Indonesia CEO & co-founder Lingga Madu.

“The inequality and status quo of fashion, where pricing is being manipulated with artificial discounts and customers have limited or no options, has to stop. We are excited to announce the collaboration with BBM where Sistas (our customers) will be able to chat and place orders on our BBM channel.

“We want to give access to Sistas who have limited internet quota, and can’t afford to access web or even download apps. This empowers them to try out shopping online in a platform that is familiar to them and enables them to ask questions to relieve their doubts. Through partnering with BBM, we provide an additional channel for Sistas to get their favourite styles in a fast and secure manner, anytime and anywhere they want.”

Since it was created in August 2005, BBM has evolved from a pure messaging application for communication (text and video) to a social ecosystem unifying chat, social, commerce and services including bill payment, top-up, vouchers/coupons, games, news, video, shopping, travel, career and polls.

“BBM is the most-installed and most commonly used messaging application in Indonesia,” said Matthew Talbot, CEO of Creative Media Works, the company which operates and runs BBM globally.

“This partnership with Sale Stock is an exciting milestone on our journey to transform BBM from a tool enabling real-time chat between two people, into a sophisticated mobile platform where brands can interact with consumers, and drive purchases.”

“As messaging is the place where people spend the bulk of their time on mobile, we are seeing more and more brands and companies looking to connect with their target audiences via applications such as BBM,” added Talbot.