By Juliana Chloe A. Gonzales, Reporter
RAKUTEN VIBER has posted a 20% increase in registered business accounts, while messaging activity among Filipino merchants more than doubled as more small businesses use direct chats to engage customers and complete sales.
David Tse, senior director for the Asia-Pacific region at Rakuten Viber, said businesses were already using the platform to communicate with customers before it introduced dedicated tools for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME).
“Before we even launched the business account features, we already realized that a lot of businesses are already communicating with the customers in Viber,” he told BusinessWorld in an interview on Oct. 13. “We noticed that there’s already a trending where conversational commerce is actually important to our users.”
Viber is not seeking to build a standalone shopping platform to compete directly with social media services and e-commerce marketplaces. Instead, it aims to connect the digital tools businesses and consumers already use.
“We’re not building something from the ground up; we are literally just connecting the ecosystem together,” Mr. Tse said. “[Our intent is] not to kick the competition out, but to embrace and build an ecosystem that people find comfortable.”
The company prioritizes simple tools for small businesses, many of which lack the staff and resources to manage complex systems.
“We build something basic, because we stay focused on simplicity,” he said. “We understand that small businesses don’t have a lot of resources. Many of them are a one-man show.”
Viber conducts local research to identify merchants’ needs, including booking links and automated replies, rather than introducing advanced features simply to attract attention.
“We always listen to the user first before a product,” Mr. Tse said. “We always put the customer first and don’t just launch any advanced features.”
He added that Filipino merchants were among the fastest in the Asia-Pacific region to respond to customer inquiries.
Viber also validates business profiles to reduce fraud and impersonation, particularly among small vendors without dedicated cybersecurity teams.
“We validate all business accounts to ensure they are legitimate and not imitating other businesses,” Mr. Tse said.
Future integration with Viber Pay could provide another way to secure financial transactions, he added.
The company is also expanding beyond Metro Manila into provincial centers, including Cebu and Davao, through partnerships with trade groups and in-person outreach to merchants.
“We started a very extensive layout of our field work to reach out to stores who may not have the resources to set up anything,” he said. “I do not believe that this is all run digitally.”
Viber works with local groups including the Cebu Chamber of Commerce to tailor its services to regional markets.
“We don’t put one equation for the whole world,” Mr. Tse said. “We localize, we listen and we bring in things if necessary,” he added, noting that feedback from Filipino entrepreneurs helps guide product updates.