Vibes Releases New Mobile Transactional Messaging Platform

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Vibes has launched a new transactional messaging solution to enable companies utilize automated service messaging programs across mobile channels. The company also has released its 2016 Transactional Messaging Consumer Report, which delves into consumer perceptions and preferences in service-based messaging.

Vibes new Catapult platform offers transactional messaging features in its APIs for systems integration. The solution allows companies to power automated service messaging programs across mobile channels, including text (SMS and MMS), push and mobile wallet (Apple Wallet and Android Pay).

Businesses can use Vibes’ mobile marketing platform to execute, personalize and measure transactional and service updates on customers’ preferred mobile channels. Companies can set up messages and rules which are triggered by events such as shipping updates, service prompts, processing alerts, product updates and more.

Key features include:

- Channel prioritization: Catapult allows companies to orchestrate, prioritize and deliver transactional and service updates to customers via SMS, MMS, push notifications, and Apple Wallet and Android Pay notifications.

- User-friendly transactional messaging templates and logic: Catapult allows technical and non-technical users to create actual message templates, update message content and set up message logic.

- Real-time in-platform reporting and analytics: Catapult’s reporting capabilities can conduct cross-channel analysis to help business users understand transactional messaging’s impact on the customer experience.

- Subscription management and URL shortening built-in: The platform allows users to activate various in-app features applied to transactional messaging, including a built-in URL shortener and subscription management across channels and message types.

- Unique APIs for messaging and transactions: Catapult splits, or decouples, messaging content from the transactional APIs, allowing for cross-channel subscriber, channel and preference logic control.

- Flexible event API: Catapult’s transactional messaging capabilities in its UI ensure API integrations are future-proof, allowing business users to avoid lengthy development times to make simple updates.

2016 Transactional Messaging Consumer Report

Vibe’s new consumer messaging report found that two in three consumers say that shipping alerts for online orders, delivery alerts and payment confirmations would increase their likelihood of making a purchase.

Based on data from over 1,000 respondents, Vibes study found that people are open to service-based communications from the companies they transact with. Whether it’s an alert that their payment has been processed or their order has shipped, these functional notifications deliver value to consumers by keeping them updated on their various interactions with a business.

Takeaways from the study include:

- Mobile phones are the No. 1 preferred device for service-based messages: The majority of those polled (70 percent) prefer to receive service-based messages on their mobile phone.

- Service-based messages create a competitive advantage: 84 percent of respondents said service-based messaging has an impact on their decision to choose one company over another.

- Including key details and delivering service-based messages instantly drives satisfaction: Conveying basic information such as time, date, tracking information and speed were the most important features of service-based messages in terms of positively impacting customer satisfaction.

- Text messaging is the fastest communication channel for purchase information: Most respondents (78 percent) said a text message is the fastest way to be reached for important service updates on purchases.