Viber steps up with new business tools, targets PHL MSMEs

MESSAGING platform Viber unveiled on Tuesday a new set of business tools, initially targeting the Philippines because of its vast user community and vibrant small business sector.

Viber has started enabling business accounts with a free self-serve communications hub for discoverability and engagement, David Tse, senior director for Asia Pacific at Rakuten Viber, told reporters on the sidelines of the company’s briefing in Pasay City.

The features include a public business profile, 1:1 customer chats, search discoverability, dedicated chat folders, and a product catalog, according to Viber.

The new Viber for Business offerings are in line with the needs of over 300 beta-tested local micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), among around 8,000 global participants, Mr. Tse noted.

“We have seen a lot of home-based, small businesses conducting their business on communities, channels, and group chats,” he said of the 1.5 million global users the platform saw conducting business on Viber.

“We see that conversational commerce is happening,” he added. “We see people wanting to have a conversation piece between buyers and sellers, and we have seen smaller platforms that are better at the messaging part.”

“We want to kickstart a defined identity and growth for their business, evolving based on the needs of the users.”

Mr. Tse noted that many MSMEs do not have a website for their business. “This is going to help those who don’t have the resources to set up and update a website, or even create a social media account.”

In the first half, Viber saw a year-on-year increase in business accounts created (30%) and business messages delivered (34%) among big enterprises in the Philippines.

This prompted the platform to expand the same offering to MSMEs for free, Viber said in a press statement.

“Tailored pricing plans will be offered soon based on market feedback to expand the initial set of free self-serve business solutions,” it added.

Regarding digital security, Mr. Tse said that Viber uses an algorithm across all their services to filter suspicious mobile numbers under spam accounts and inappropriate companies, with aid from their own list of legitimate businesses.

The new self-serve business accounts are available in the Philippines and Greece, with plans to onboard additional countries soon, Viber noted.

The platform also expects to integrate digital payment channels and other features in the future, Mr. Tse said. — Miguel Hanz L. Antivola