Facebook turns to Decision Lab to understand the importance of ‘chat’ in Vietnam

Although it can no longer be considered just ‘chat’ — ‘conversational commerce’ is preferred — it’s never been more important for brands with an online presence. Already widely adopted by Vietnamese consumers, especially through their love of Facebook, a question has emerged during the global pandemic: what do users think of it? The social media giant asked Decision Lab to help them answer that question.

The Issue: C-Commerce

Sitting at the intersection of messaging apps, social media and online shopping, conversational commerce is about maintaining contact with customers in an increasingly ‘no-contact’ world. Born out of the desire for greater convenience and a more tailored shopping experience, in Vietnam, no one facilitates more of it than Facebook.

Still the world’s leading social media platform by a stretch, they understand better than most the importance of this customer-centric chat, or ‘CC’ for short. However, unlike ads, where the exchange takes place in public, these millions of often micro customer exchanges occur behind a wall.

Keen to find out more about consumers’ perception and attitudes towards ‘CC’, Facebook reached out to Decision Lab to help them answer their questions.

The approach

Having engaged with the social media platform on a previous occasion, Decision Lab was tasked with leveraging its knowledge of the connected consumer in Vietnam to design a study that would deliver Facebook the insights they needed to optimize the platform for vendors and light the path towards a more strategic approach to conversational commerce. 

Answering questions that covered the where, why, how much and how often, the idea of the study was to touch upon every step of the CC purchase funnel. In addition, the study covered questions relating to consumers expectations, and their willingness to interact with vendors.

The outcome

Picked up by a series of media outlets after the results were published at a Chat+ Vietnam event, Facebook Account Manager Hai Ly Nguyen, said Decision Lab’s report had already impacted the company’s understanding of the channel and would strengthen their position as a thought-leader in the market.

“The team set out clear expectations from the beginning, communicated effectively throughout the process and have helped us to narrow down the target audience with insights from participants that have already helped our advertisers improve their CC effort. We look forward to partnering more closely with Decision Lab on more impactful projects in the future.

Hai Ly Nguyen
Account Manager at Facebook

Highlights of the research findings, as published in Vietnam Economic News included the following:

• Vietnam is the 2nd most advanced CC market, where CC is highly influential with 36% of users making a purchase via chat and 53% using CC at some stage of their purchase journey.
• 50% of CC buyers became regular online shoppers via chat
• 95% of CC buyers plan to either increase or maintain their level of CC spend
• In the two major capitals of Ha Noi and HCMC, 58% of CC buyers make purchases via chat at least once a week.
• 66% of CC buyers are willing to keep in touch with merchants post-purchase, and 72% are willing to keep buying from the same shop.
•  2 out of 3 CC buyers in Vietnam bought their first item through ads on social media
• Facebook Messenger (85%) is by far the most popular channel for CC, followed by e-commerce sites, Instagram Direct and Livestreams.
• The top 3 products purchased via CC are fashion, food and electronics.
• The most popular reasons for buying via  CC are detailed information (64%), personalized consultation (61%) and faster response (55%).

For a detailed ‘chat’ about these results, and how Conversational Commerce can impact your brand’s results, contact one of Decision Lab’s agile research consultants today. You can also watch the webinar of the Chat+Vietnam event here for free.