Ramadan is an important month for over 2 billion Muslims in the world, with at least 200 million Muslims in Pakistan alone, during which consumer behavior changes in contrast with the rest of the times throughout the year.

Consumer behavior are all the psychological, sociological and cultural factors that influence consumer engagement in your business – and knowing how it changes during Ramadan, which is no better time than others – could help you transform how you interact with your customers.

Social media usage increases during Ramadan, subsequently causing a rise in online shopping. More individuals spend time on their phones during fasting hours, and after prayer hours, which brings forward the point that online shopping for Eid increases rapidly. 

Over 48% of individuals spend time on their phones, with over 29% scrolling through Instagram, over 22% on Facebook and over 22% on TikTok, and with over 45% on WhatsApp, to connect with others – so with WhatsApp being at the highest percentage, what better conversational channel to reach out to your customers via conversational messaging. 

Making the best out of changing consumer behavior during Ramadan

In the United Arab Emirates, there are over 10 million social media users, with Pakistan boasting a staggering 71.7 million, Bahrain with 1.5 million, Singapore with 5.1 million, and Malaysia with 26.8 million. 

These figures are particularly noteworthy as these countries have significant Muslim populations. During Ramadan, social media usage experiences a notable surge, underscoring its importance as a communication and engagement platform during this sacred time.

With at least 50% of users spending more time on WhatsApp keeping mind that there are 52.32 million users of WhatsApp in Pakistan alone with brands like Unilever seeing a 59% growth in Monthly Active Users, and 200 orders within hours of launch their WhatsApp Business Platform, showcasing WhatsApp’s ability to convert inquiries into sales rapidly, based on how often it is used. 

In the ever-changing digital era, more and more customers expect personalized shopping experiences rather than going through multiple options to make a choice completely on their own.

Leveraging the Impact of Conversational Messages through Personalizing Customer Experience

A conversational experience lets you be a part of your customer’s purchase journey enabling you to understand and reflect the values they uphold, specially during Ramadan onlooking Eid. 

In a study conducted by META, it was found that 48% of the audience increased their mobile phone usage during Ramadan. This surge was primarily driven by the desire to explore, research, compare products, and make purchase decisions, especially during fasting hours when visiting physical stores might be less convenient. Notably, within this 48%, 8 out of 10 individuals belonged to the Gen Z and baby boomer demographics.

Furthermore, among these mobile users, 69% utilized their phones to explore potential purchases, 87% engaged in product research, and 72% completed purchases directly via mobile devices. These statistics, derived from the 2021 META study, underscore the significance of mobile platforms in facilitating consumer behaviors during Ramadan.

WhatsApp emerges as a pivotal platform in this landscape, with a substantial user base engaging in conversational interactions. Unlike other social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, which offer interactive features, WhatsApp serves as both a conversational and social media platform.

So, how can you harness the power of conversational messages to personalize customer experiences?

1. Establish One-to-One Relationships: Initiate direct communication with customers through platforms they already use, such as WhatsApp and Messenger for Business. With WhatsApp boasting a user base of 45%, as shown in Meta’s study for Ramadan, tapping into these existing channels can foster personalized interactions.

2. Expand Global Reach: Engage with customers across borders by deploying dynamic ads tailored to multiple countries and languages. This approach enables businesses to connect with diverse audiences on a more personal level, catering to their unique preferences and needs.

By leveraging conversational messages and personalizing customer experiences, businesses can cultivate stronger connections with their audience, driving engagement, loyalty, and ultimately, business growth – and this can be done be walking your customers through the sales funnel:

Awareness Stage: Whether you’re in retail and eCommerce, finance, on-demand, or running a charity, we provide you with the technology and channels you need to create conversational experiences that drive customer satisfaction and loyalty during this month.

The journey begins with a click-to-WhatsApp ad on Instagram or Facebook featuring enticing recipe ideas for Iftar and Suhoor, the meals during Ramadan, tailored to catch the eye of your target audience. If your channel of choice is WhatsApp, allow customers to open a conversation with you over WhatsApp.

Consideration Stage: Catalog shopping Now that you have an open conversation with your customer, you can continue sending relevant and meaningful messages that can help guide them through the sales funnel. This could include a brief introduction to your brand and an invitation to explore more recipes.

The rich media features on WhatsApp allow you to enrich the conversational experience and deliver interactive customer engagement. This interactive experience educates customers about your recipes and allows you to recommend ingredients available for purchase in your retail stores.

Conversions: Payment options. Completing a purchase of conversational chat apps has never been more efficient. WhatsApp allows customers to make a purchase directly through a secure payment option within the chat and provides immediate confirmation and receipts.

This makes finalizing a sale easier than ever because customers can browse products, choose what to purchase and complete the purchase all through a single conversation.

Retention: After purchase, your conversation shouldn’t die out. Make sure you continue to chat with customers to increase retention and encourage them to repurchase with you. order update, delivery status

Keep the customer informed with regular order status updates, from preparation to delivery. Then collect feedback from them right in the chat with easy reply buttons for fast responses. Offer support for any queries or issues, reinforcing customer satisfaction.

However, your journey with this customer shouldn’t stop here. Utilize the data you extracted from previous interactions to gain insights into their behavior and preferences during Ramadan, helping to refine future marketing strategies and campaigns.

Create value for your customers through convenience.

Enhance customer satisfaction and drive success through convenience by streamlining your customer’s journey through offering multiple interaction channels, providing personalized recommendations, and implementing subscription services, continuous feedback mechanisms, ultimately leading to increased satisfaction, loyalty, and business growth. To execute a successful Ramadan campaign, making sure those ads bring conversions you could benefit from: 

Digital Connect’s customer data platform to build individual customer profiles and leverage the insights to send the right message to the right audience through the campaign builder. 

Omnichannel CPaaS solution to enable consistent conversational messaging across all channels at the right time. 

Understanding consumer behavior is essential for businesses, and consumers need ease-of-access to create marketing plans that work and to supply goods and services that satisfy customers’ wants and needs. To see trends and patterns, forecast demand, and make wise choices regarding product design, price, promotion, and distribution, marketers must analyze and understand data on customer behavior.