As conversational messaging becomes central to how consumers discover, engage with, and buy from brands, WhatsApp is rapidly evolving into a core pillar of social CRM and digital commerce strategies. That shift was on display at a recent industry conference hosted by Omnichat, where leaders from Meta, Maxim’s Group, and MEDILASE shared how WhatsApp is being transformed into a powerful engine for personalized customer engagement and AI driven commerce.
Omnichat, a leading omnichannel AI customer experience platform and official WhatsApp Business Solution Provider, hosted the event titled “Social CRM and AI.” The conference focused on how businesses across industries are using WhatsApp not only for customer support, but as a full funnel channel that connects marketing, sales, loyalty, and service through conversational AI.
At the event, Omnichat announced the launch of its Omni AI Agent Studio, a new platform that enables businesses to design and deploy custom AI agents across conversational workflows. The studio builds on Omnichat’s existing AI Customer Service Agent, AI Marketing Campaign Agent, and AI Shopping Agent, allowing brands to integrate agentic AI seamlessly across the customer journey. Alan Chan, Founder and CEO of Omnichat, said the launch reflects the company’s broader mission. “This launch signifies a pivotal moment in our commitment to democratising Agentic AI for businesses,” Chan explained, adding that the goal is to help companies build a powerful social CRM by unifying customer data, conversational insights, and omnichannel engagement.
Marketing Technology Insights: PossibleNOW Launches DNCSolution for Salesforce
The role of WhatsApp itself has also fundamentally changed. Drawing on recent research from Kantar, Omnichat noted that 71 percent of Hong Kong consumers message a business on WhatsApp at least once a week. Silvie Lam, Business Director for Greater China at Meta, said consumer expectations now extend far beyond basic inquiries. “Customers no longer just expect WhatsApp to be a customer service channel,” Lam said. “They now expect to be able to reach out to a brand via a messaging app immediately after discovering it through social ads.” She highlighted how tools such as Ads that Click to WhatsApp, Website to WhatsApp ads, WhatsApp Catalog, and WhatsApp Flows allow businesses to manage the entire customer journey and capture high intent moments more effectively.
Real world case studies illustrated how these capabilities translate into measurable results. Maxim’s Group has turned WhatsApp into a high performing commerce channel alongside its Eatizen membership app. By using Omnichat’s platform and Omni AI, the company engages members and new customers through automated chatbots and AI segmented broadcast promotions. Eileen Tang, Head of Digital Business at Maxim’s Caterers Limited, shared that during a recent Mid Autumn Festival campaign, WhatsApp delivered a two to three times higher average transaction value compared to traditional online marketplace channels, driven by frictionless in app ordering and lower development costs.
Marketing Technology Insights: Smartcat Releases Enhanced AI Video Translation To Bring Human-Quality Multilingual Content to Global Teams
Similarly, MEDILASE has integrated WhatsApp into both its online and offline customer experience. Using Omnichat’s WhatsApp API solutions, MEDILASE automated inquiries, appointment reminders, and confirmations while unifying workflows across marketing, sales, and customer service. KC Ng, CEO of MEDILASE, said the platform has improved collaboration, service quality, and conversion outcomes, noting that a recent interactive WhatsApp campaign achieved a five percent conversion rate with around 40 percent customer participation.
Together, the collaboration between Meta, Maxim’s Group, MEDILASE, and Omnichat underscored a clear message for the MarTech and CX landscape in Asia. Conversational commerce powered by WhatsApp and AI is no longer an emerging concept but an operational reality. As brands look to build deeper, more profitable relationships, the integration of social CRM, messaging, and AI driven workflows is becoming a competitive necessity rather than an optional innovation.
Marketing Technology Insights: Usercentrics Acquires MCP Manager To Bring Consent and Trust To AI
For media inquiries, you can write to our MarTech Newsroom at info@intentamplify.com
