The shift towards Conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the retail landscape, with AI-powered customer experiences emerging as the new standard, particularly within the realm of daily use messaging apps. This trend signals a departure from the previously flashy, novelty bots to a more meaningful, user-centered approach.
For the past ten years, retailers have primarily focused on optimizing websites, apps, and mass emails – platforms that were primarily designed for broadcasting messages rather than fostering interactions. Burton Chau, CEO and Co-founder of Sanuker, contends that such platforms are now out of sync with how individuals typically utilize their smartphones. While websites, apps, and email blasts continue to play an essential role, they tend to be more transactional. Messaging platforms, which consumers frequently use daily, present an opportunity for high user interaction, high intent, and measurable customer journeys, particularly when supplemented with AI, automation, and data.
This shift marks a significant realignment of the tech stack. Retailers are increasingly focusing on meeting consumers within their preferred platforms, such as WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, and threading marketing, service, and commerce into a single chat thread. AI agents are employed within these threads to manage discovery, frequently asked questions (FAQs), lead qualification, and first-line service, with human staff handling more complex tasks.
Sanuker operates across various messaging platforms, but WhatsApp has emerged as the anchor for conversational retail in markets like Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, India, and Indonesia. Chau attributes this to the app’s ubiquity and the quality controls established by Meta. A key selling point is that WhatsApp supports the entire retail journey, from pre-sales inquiries to recommendations, purchasing, post-sales follow-ups, and customer support.
Using Sanuker’s technology, retailers can integrate the conversation with e-commerce platforms, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, providing real-time updates on inventory, pricing, and order status. As a result, the customer experience becomes less like a campaign and more like a continuous relationship.
While many retailers claim to offer personalization, Chau identifies a clear distinction between basic tweaks and what he terms “CRM-connected personalization.” He asserts that an AI agent achieves true personalization when it uses real-time customer data to provide accurate responses and promote outcomes. This includes access to purchase history, interests, and behaviors. The ability to update the backend with new events when orders or inquiries are made within the chat creates a closed loop that makes conversational AI economically attractive.
Sanuker foresees a future where AI agents serve as the first-line digital concierge on messaging platforms. Chau believes that AI agents could replace human agents in customer service roles by 2026, not by eliminating human roles, but by taking on repetitive questions and escalating only when necessary.
Achieving this requires a seamless integration of technologies. Sanuker’s platform, alongside tools like N8N and Dify, enable retailers to quickly and efficiently connect messaging with e-commerce, CRM, and ERP systems, and integrate AI models from OpenAI, Azure, Gemini, or DeepSeek.
Despite the promise of conversational AI, it also brings potential risks, including spammy bots that undermine trust and invite regulatory scrutiny. Chau emphasizes the need for robust governance and compliance measures, and highlights the importance of designing explicit handover routes to human agents to ensure that customers never feel trapped in an automated loop.
In his vision, the most successful retailers in 2026 will not be those that replace staff with bots, but those that utilize conversational AI to enhance human interactions, making them rarer, richer, and more consequential.
What is the role of messaging platforms in the shift towards conversational AI?
Messaging platforms, such as WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, are pivotal to the shift towards conversational AI as they provide the daily-use platform that allows for high user interaction, high intent, and measurable customer journeys.
How does Sanuker’s technology enhance the customer experience on WhatsApp?
Sanuker’s technology integrates WhatsApp conversations with e-commerce platforms, CRM, and ERP systems, providing real-time updates on inventory, pricing, and order status. This makes the customer experience more personalized and relationship-based.
How does Sanuker envision the future of conversational AI in retail?
Sanuker envisages a future where AI agents serve as the first-line digital concierge on messaging platforms. These AI agents would handle repetitive questions, escalating only when necessary, thereby enhancing the efficiency of the customer service process.
