In a first (and definitely more to come), Facebook Inc’s FB Messenger app has partnered with Dutch airlines KLM to provide passengers with all flight related updates as well as check in reminders and get access to boarding passes and avail customer service without ever leaving the app.
For Messenger, adding the Airlines feature was just a matter of time. Head of Messenger, David Marcus had earlier pointed out that 80% of the U.S flight travelers used Messenger. In a blog post yesterday, Marcus said the feature was aimed at quelling the stress and complication associated with air travel, something he was “personally eager to solve for a while.” KLM also added that activating the Messenger button on its Facebook page resulted in a 40% spurt in customer queries.
Messenger with over 800 million users has long been dubbed as a multibillion dollar opportunity for Facebook along with WhatsApp, Instagram and Oculus. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pretty ambitious plans to monetize this platform.
Taking a cue from other social services like WeChat, Messenger has now become a platform for extensive communication (video and voice calling) and day-to-day tasks like exploring new stuff, shopping, hailing a cab, flight bookings etc. It also added a personal assistant M to the app and has opened it for developers.
In Dec 2015, Messenger partnered with popular cab hailing service Uber to let users hail a cab ride directly from Messenger. The Hyatt chain of hotels is also using Messenger to provide customer service and so is retailer Everlane to provide shoppers details about shipping and much more.
The idea behind offering all services on a single platform is that it does not give users a chance to leave the app, thereby boosting engagement levels. Though at present, the monetization aspect of Messenger for Business is not clear but eventually it is going to be about ads. Advertisement remains the dominant source of revenues for the social media service giant.
Further, at CES 2016 (held in January), the company outlined five novel aspects (The disappearance of the phone number, Threads are the new apps, We’re all social beings, Innovation matters, It’s all about delight), which will form the pillar of development of Messenger in 2016.
Of late, there have been talks regarding the expansion of payments service within the app. The company had ventured into the online payments market last year with the introduction of a person-to-person payment feature on Messenger.
There are also rumors regarding the inclusion of a “secret” chat service and even a game-changing ‘Bot Store', which will allow users to download a range of automated programs through Messenger.
While the company is yet to confirm the reports, we expect to get better clarity in the forthcoming F8 Conference on Apr 12–13.
At present, Facebook carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked tech companies include Etsy, Inc. ETSY, ChannelAdvisor Corporation ECOM and Ellie Mae, Inc. ELLI. All these sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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