By 
By Richard Eberlein
Businesses are no longer asking whether AI, chat, and conversational commerce will shape customer engagement. They are asking where to start. There is a lot of excitement around agentic AI, and understandably so. The potential is significant. But before businesses can truly benefit from these tools, they need to get the basics right.
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Chat commerce is not just another button on a website or another way to push marketing messages. It changes the nature of the relationship with the customer. That is where many businesses risk getting it wrong.
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For years, digital marketing has trained companies to think in broadcast terms. You send an email, the customer opens it, clicks through, and completes the journey elsewhere. The communication is mostly one-way. Chat does not work like that.
Opening a real conversation
When a business opens a WhatsApp or chat channel, customers experience it as a conversation. They respond, ask questions, and expect help. If the company is not ready for that, the experience quickly becomes frustrating rather than helpful.
That is why I believe the right starting point for chat commerce is service, not sales. The temptation is to use it for conversion first. There is nothing wrong with commercial outcomes, but if the first question is “how do we sell more?”, the business may miss the more important starting point: where are customers already getting stuck?
At Finchoice, this is how we are thinking about the opportunity. The first step is not to automate everything. It is to look at the most common customer service queries and identify where chat can give customers faster, clearer support. If a small number of query types account for a large portion of customer contact, that is a useful place to begin.
Looking at the journey
The same applies to customer journeys where people drop off. In an insurance journey, for example, a customer may start the process but not complete it. The question is not only how to complete that transaction. The better question is whether they needed help, clarity, or reassurance at that moment. If chat can support them before the journey moves into a call centre, that is service. It is also a better use of everyone’s time.
This is especially relevant in South Africa. For many consumers, chat is already a familiar, low-friction way to engage. Data costs, device limitations, and comfort with different digital channels all matter. Not every customer wants to download an app or move through a web journey first. Many are already in messaging environments every day. If businesses are serious about access, they need to meet customers where they already are.
Taking ownership
A chat channel needs clear ownership. It needs the right data behind it, and escalation paths when automation is not enough. It also needs to be designed around real customer journeys, not internal departmental structures. Otherwise, the business has created another disconnected experience.
This is where the conversation about agentic AI becomes more grounded. Agentic AI may help businesses move from simple responses to more intelligent action. But it will only work if the operating model underneath it is sound. Poor data, unclear processes, fragmented channels, and weak ownership will not improve because AI has been added on top. In many cases, they will become more visible.
Solving customer problems
The businesses that make progress will not necessarily be those that chase the most advanced use case first. They will be the ones who choose one clear customer problem, solve it properly, measure what happens, and then build from there.
Chat commerce is not about looking advanced. It is about making the customer’s next step easier. That may sound simple, but it is exactly where the hard work sits. The future of customer engagement will not be won by businesses that open more channels. It will be won by businesses that make those channels work when customers actually need help.
Eberlein is Weaver Executive for Growth and Engagement, overseeing Finchoice
