Apple and Lowe’s are partnering to change how the home improvement brand interacts with its customer base. According to news from Chain Store Age, the retailer is collaborating with Apple on the launch of Business Chat, a feature designed for customers to interact directly with the brand via text messages.
The platform grants consumers access to Lowe’s customer service department, where they can ask employees questions, resolve problems and even complete commerce transactions via phone, iPad, watch or computer.
Lowe’s new service will let customers text a dedicated number instead of calling customer service and wading through an automated questionnaire, allowing the entire interaction to flow over text from there. Employees can send along links to particular merchandise through the system; they can also enable payments via Apple Pay and schedule appointments or deliveries.
Interactions from within the Apple Message app are all self-contained. Consumers won’t have to toggle between multiple sites or apps or log out, according to the release on the newly launched program.
“Serving customers now requires us to be more connected than ever before,” said Gihad Jawhar, VP of Digital at Lowe’s. “Our people, systems, processes and efforts must be connected — and they must be in line to create an omnichannel environment that is simple and seamless for everyone.”
Business Chat helps Lowe’s remove friction across its omnichannel retail experience.
“We will drive customer engagement by delivering convenience, inspiration, expertise and efficiency across the most relevant moments of the customer’s project journey,” Jawhar added.
Business Chat will launch in the spring of 2018, when Apple tries a beta test of the platform. Discover, Hilton and Wells Fargo are all also participating in the test, Apple said.
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