Infobip, a global cloud communication platform, has developed an AI-powered chatbot that enables customers in India to book Uber rides through WhatsApp.
The WhatsApp to Ride (WA2R) service is now available for Uber riders across Delhi-NCR, one of Uber’s busiest regions.
The chatbot has been built on the WhatsApp for Business platform using Infobip’s chatbot platform, ‘Answers’.
This launch follows a pilot in Lucknow, India in December 2021, which saw Uber receive a significant proportion of ride requests from new users through WhatsApp.
Silvio Kutić, CEO of Infobip said:Customers are increasingly moving away from an app-only approach. Instead, customers want to communicate with brands using their preferred method. So, businesses need to be where their customers are and provide an end-to-end customer journey within the channels their customers use. We’re delighted to have played a role in building this new WhatsApp chatbot solution for Uber and look forward to seeing its impact now and in the future as its rollout continues. We are even more thrilled as we are the global cloud communication platform provider to both the companies involved - Uber and WhatsApp.
Research firm, Gartner estimates that by 2025, 80 percent of customer service organisations will have abandoned their own mobile apps in favour of omnichannel messaging. This will enable companies to deliver a more convenient service, rather than trying to convert users away from their established apps.
Abhilekh Kumar, Director, Business Development, Uber India South Asia, said:We want to make it as easy as possible for our new sets of consumers to take an Uber trip, and to do that we need to meet them on platforms they are comfortable with. Our partnership with WhatsApp enables that, giving riders a new way to book a ride through a simple, familiar, and trusted channel. We are pleased to co-create the chatbot feature with Infobip for an altogether new customer experience while booking an Uber ride.
With more than two billion users globally, WhatsApp is one of the world’s most popular messaging channels. Uber’s Delhi-NCR customers can now use this platform to message Uber’s business account number to order a ride.
