Apple iMessage Business Chat feature to launch soon

With the growing number of business apps in today’s era of smartphones, tech giant Apple is planning to roll out a new feature to its iMessage called Business Chat. Last year in Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference, the company announced this feature which will allow consumers to chat with business’s representatives in iMessage, schedule appointments, depending on the business’s needs.

Businesses can also utilise Apple’s newly integrated Apple Pay in the iMessage app for scheduling appointments. This move from Apple comes right after the WhatsApp rolled out its standalone business app recently. This feature is slated to launch in spring partnering with Discover, Hilton, Lowe’s and Wells Fargo as of now.

The Business chat will be integrated into the current iMessage app. The features include payments, bookings, customer service and more. This feature sits with the current iMessage feature and doesn’t mess around with your personal chats.

Majority of consumers said they would rather message a business than call customer service, according to a Facebook-commissioned study by Nielsen released last fall. The study also found that 56 per cent want to text over calling and a further 67 per cent said they expect to message more businesses over the next two years.  

With iMessage's Business Chat, no new app installation is required as it comes built-in with iOS. Apple confirms that Business Chat will launch with the public release of iOS 11.3 this spring.