- Success Stories
- Messenger
- Plaza Vea
MESSENGER
Plaza Vea
Faster and less expensive uninterrupted customer support by deflecting calls to Messenger
Plaza Vea
Brand
smarters
Partner
SUCCESS STORY
By deflecting service calls to Messenger as a self-serve channel, Plaza Vea serves customers 24/7, reduces the call center load, improves customer satisfaction, and enables the business to grow without increasing the size of its support center.
of customer inquiries automated
of customers using self-service Interactive Voice Response choose Messenger
fewer contact center agents required
customer satisfaction
THEIR STORY
More than just a supermarket
Plaza Vea is a Peruvian supermarket that also sells clothes, electronics, and other non-food products owned by Supermercados Peruanos S.A., a subsidiary of Intercorp, which also owns other large chains such as Vivanda, Makro, and Tienda Mass. Plaza Vea is the largest supermarket chain in Peru, with more than 100 stores nationwide.
THEIR GOAL
Self-serve customer service
The company wanted to build an automated self-serve customer service platform to decrease the load on the call center while maintaining great customer service. They also wanted customer service available around the clock and for agents to be able to reply to queries that can’t be automated and need personalized attention.
THEIR SOLUTION
Simple, intuitive, and fast support 24/7
As customer service call centers evolve, more and more companies worldwide are looking to expand and improve by adding mobile conversational support channels to efficiently serve customers anywhere, anytime. Plaza Vea hoped to do that and more, to grow its business without having to increase its call center size, creating a self-service digital platform for customers to immediately answer questions and solve problems 24/7.
Since customers mostly called, emailed, or sent messages via social media about the kinds of inquiries that could be deflected to an automated messaging experience—order and pick-up status, product availability, website navigation, cancellation requests, and so on—Plaza Vea partnered with smarters, an artificial intelligence agency in Brazil that automates conversations in Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Together, they started by automating inquiries about order status, then added other automated services for questions about how to purchase online, store locations, after-sales care, product availability, vouchers, and more.
As some customers are still adapting to using technology, Plaza Vea and smarters designed a simple, intuitive solution that focused on a high level of accuracy to help ease their clientele into automated messaging workflows. When calling Plaza Vea’s phone number, customers are given an option to continue their conversation on Messenger. Once selected, callers receive an SMS that directs them via an m.me link to a Messenger conversation. As their data is carried over on the IVR platform, the automation is triggered using referral parameters embedded in the m.me links, and the programmed bot can respond in a personal way, and customers don’t have to sign in if they already have an account. It’s designed to be straightforward and personable for users at all levels of comfort with technology.
"Customers told us they love the automated conversations in Messenger because they can self-serve as needed,” says Gabriela Veicer, Head of Customer Care at Intercorp. “They also told us that they appreciate not having to wait on hold and can quickly get answers to their questions.”
It paid off in other ways too. “Plaza Vea does more than maintain their great customer experience,” says Diego Bujaldon, Chief Project Officer at smarters. “They have increased their net promoter score from 8 to 30 points. The automated service in Messenger can resolve 95% of the most common inquiries, so agent productivity has increased to 98%. Only a small fraction now requires escalation to a person for a complex or urgent inquiry. This success will help Plaza Vea to grow the business without increasing the size of our support center.
As a result of Plaza Vea’s success, Intercorp is adding automated customer service experiences to its other brands.
THEIR SUCCESS
Fewer calls, lower cost
By adding an automated messaging experience on Messenger, Plaza Vea deflected the majority of calls to Messenger, cut customer support costs by more than half, and improved customer satisfaction.
- 95% of customer inquiries automated
- 82% of customers using self-service Interactive Voice Response choose Messenger
- 15% fewer contact center agents required
- 90% customer satisfaction
- 3 point increase in net promoter score
Customers told us they love the automated conversations in Messenger because they can self-serve as needed. They also told us that they appreciate not having to wait on hold to reach an agent and can quickly get answers to their questions.
Gabriela Veicer
Plaza Vea does more than maintain their great customer experience. They have increased their net promoter score from 8 to 30 points. The automated service in Messenger can resolve 95% of the most common inquiries, so agent productivity has increased to 98%. Only a small fraction required escalation to a person for a complex or urgent inquiry. This success will help Plaza Vea to grow the business without increasing the size of our support center.
Diego Bujaldon
PRODUCTS USED
Messenger Solutions
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