The Gupshup Flagship event, aptly named “Gupshup Conversations,” recently concluded with resounding success, bringing together visionaries, industry leaders, and custodians of customer experience from around India. The event was a melting pot of ideas, innovations, and insights, all revolving around the transformative power of conversations. As we reflect on the event, three key pillars emerged, underscoring the seismic shift towards a conversational future.

#1 As we delve into the key takeaways from the event, it’s evident that an irreversible shift toward conversations is underway, driven by technological advancements and changing user preferences.

#2 Companies like Meta, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Truecaller Business, and MoEngage are spearheading this transformation, each contributing to the development of a conversational ecosystem.

#3 For brands, embracing this conversational revolution is becoming essential to enhance customer engagement, improve operational efficiency, and unlock valuable insights.

Read on to learn more about the key insights from the event sessions.

The Irreversible Shift Towards Conversations

Talking comes naturally to all of us. When we visit a store, reaching out to a shopping assistant for size options feels effortless. At a bank, we trust the guidance of an agent to determine our loan eligibility. Whether discussing dinner plans, seeking purchase advice, or navigating complex customer service issues, conversations are the bedrock of our daily interactions. These countless instances highlight our inherent preference for conversations.

It’s no surprise, then, that the digital world is rapidly evolving to mirror this fundamental human behavior. This transformative shift was the central theme of the Gupshup Flagship event, “Gupshup Conversations,” where industry leaders and innovators came together to envision the future of conversational interactions.

We kicked off the Gupshup Flagship event, “Gupshup Conversations,” with an inspiring keynote from Beerud Sheth, CEO & Co-Founder of Gupshup. He shared his vision for a world where conversations become the front-end of business workflows across the customer lifecycle. One compelling comparison he drew captured the audience’s attention: in developed markets, internet consumption is driven by websites, searches, and hyperlinks, whereas in developing markets, it’s centered around conversations.

The irreversible shift towards conversations is driven by several factors:

User Preference: Users today prefer quick, interactive, and personalized interactions. Conversations provide a more human-like engagement that aligns with these preferences.

Technological Advancements: The rise of AI and natural language processing (NLP) technologies has made it possible to create sophisticated conversational agents that can understand and respond to user queries with remarkable accuracy.

Ubiquity of Messaging Platforms: With the widespread adoption of messaging apps like WhatsApp, Google Messages, Instagram, etc; users are already accustomed to conversational interactions. Businesses are now catching up, and leveraging these platforms to connect with their customers. At Gupshup, we make conversations between brands and their customers, as easy as chatting with a friend.

Building a Conversational Future: Industry Giants Lead the Way

The conversational revolution is not a solo endeavour. Major tech companies such as Meta, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Truecaller Business, Sarvam.ai, and MoEngage are at the forefront, each contributing to building a conversational future in unique ways, collaborating with Gupshup.

These companies are not just innovating in isolation but are creating an ecosystem where conversations are central to the user experience. Their efforts are paving the way for a future where interactions are more fluid, responsive, and human-like.

Post the sessions from industry stalwarts, the audience engaged in the product keynote, delivered by Gaurav Kachhawa, Chief Product Officer, Gupshup. Gaurav talked about practical ways of “Reimagining Digital Customer Engagement”. He unveiled Gupshup’s Conversation Cloud as the next-generation platform that will help brands successfully make the shift to a conversational future driven by rich, highly engaging 2-way communication across channels. He shared exciting glimpses of new product announcements, from prompt-based journeys, a ready-to-deploy prebuilt Gen AI agent library, Voice AI Beta, AI in Agent Assist, and AI-based ad creatives.

He put a spotlight on Customer360 – the conversational profiles offering from Gupshup and how it is the bedrock of how brands can personalize customer interactions, to automated campaigns that marketers can set and forget! Gaurav also announced Smart Messaging features like channel failover and language personalization, among others, that help brands achieve improved reach & engagement, better read rates, and most importantly ROI optimization.

Brands Embracing the Conversational Revolution

The Gupshup Conversations event highlighted a clear and compelling vision of a conversational future. As conversations become the new digital interface, businesses must adapt and innovate to stay relevant. The shift towards conversational interactions is not just a trend but an evolution in how we connect, communicate, and conduct commerce.

From retail to healthcare, finance to entertainment, brands are leveraging conversational AI to create seamless and interactive customer journeys. For instance, a retail brand might use chatbots to assist customers in finding products, answering questions, and completing purchases, all within a messaging app. In healthcare, virtual assistants can provide medical advice, schedule appointments, and offer personalized health tips.

Brands across various industries are increasingly recognizing the value of becoming conversational. The benefits are manifold:

Enhanced Customer Engagement: Conversational interfaces provide immediate, personalized responses, leading to higher customer satisfaction and engagement.

Operational Efficiency: Automating routine queries and tasks through chatbots and voice assistants can significantly reduce operational costs and free up human agents for more complex issues.

Data-Driven Insights: Conversations generate rich data, offering valuable insights into customer preferences, behavior, and pain points, which can inform better business decisions.

Increased Accessibility: Conversational interfaces can be accessed across various devices and platforms, making it easier for customers to interact with brands anytime, anywhere.

Some of Gupshup’s esteemed customers took centre stage to share how they’ve leveraged Conversation Cloud to 10X their CX. Here are some of the customer highlights:

BankBazaar: BankBazaar is India’s Largest FinTech Co-Branded Credit Card issuer & Online Platform for Free Credit Score with over 50 Million Registered Users. The brand has partnered with Gupshup to leverage Conversational messaging capability. Conversational messaging has enabled BankBazaar to effectively interact with their financially savvy premium customers in real time. By sending personalized, contextual cart recovery messages to opted-in customers, the brand is witnessing a boost in conversion rates. The brand aims to shift 60% of its outreach to conversational messaging by 2025.

Mamaearth: Pooja from Mamaearth talked about the Pareto principle which means 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes. Pooja further drew parallels to how brands focus a majority of their attention on acquisition, and not enough on retention. With a 50:50 effort on acquisition and retention, the brand saw outstanding results as they were focussing on conversations that matter!

The event also highlighted some customer-love stories which further went to prove that every conversation matters!

Swiggy: Swiggy aims to provide an exceptional customer experience by enabling users to easily search for restaurants that meet their specific requirements. To achieve this, Swiggy launched the Dine Buddy campaign on WhatsApp. By leveraging Gupshup to design conversational journeys, Swiggy Dineout enhanced the customer experience in selecting restaurants, engaging users deeply, driving conversions, and gaining better insights into user preferences. Swiggy witnessed an impressive 2.3X surge in customer engagement.

Cars24: CARS24, a leading AutoTech company founded in 2015 with operations in India, UAE, and Australia, sought to enhance its customer experience and optimize costs. Operating in over 100 Indian cities and handling both used car sales and vehicle financing, they aimed to improve conversions, specifically test drive bookings. CARS24 partnered with Gupshup to implement a Gen AI-powered commerce chatbot on WhatsApp. This new chatbot now handles 80% of customer queries, significantly reducing the need for agent intervention and improving the overall customer experience.

Kotak Mahindra Bank: Kotak Mahindra Bank, a prominent private sector bank in India, provides a wide array of financial products and services. With a nationwide network comprising 1600 branches and a strong digital footprint, the bank is celebrated for its customer-centric ethos and dedication to pioneering solutions. Enhancing customer service, Kotak Mahindra Bank utilizes Keya, an AI-enabled bot powered by Gupshup’s Conversational AI Engine. The bank efficiently manages more than 3.5 million queries monthly, achieving an impressive 93% AI accuracy rate.

As we move forward, one thing is clear: the future is conversational, and those who harness its power will lead the way in the next era of digital innovation.

We hope you enjoyed reading the insights! Until next time, here’s the Gupshup Conversations team signing off.