When was the last time you WhatsApped someone? In all likelihood, the answer is probably not that long ago. First released in 2009, WhatsApp quickly became the default setting for instant messaging in much of the world. By 2014, it defined the market so much that it was acquired by Facebook – and it has pretty much remained a leader in the chat space ever since.

In the past decade, chat apps have gone from being a disruptive new technology to something we use every day. Today, WhatsApp boasts over 2 billion daily active users, by far the market leader, followed by WeChat with 1.3 billion and Facebook Messenger at just under 1 billion. Chat apps, put simply, are going nowhere. In that time, customers have come to expect a consistent experience across their chat apps – and a core set of functionality has evolved across all major providers.

In our previous post, we provided the ultimate live chat features list - covering 15 features you should provide in your live chat or instant messaging app. Here, we cover how these features come to life across customer service, gaming, internal company chat, social and community chat, and chat for two way marketplaces.

Chat and instant messaging are a key part of how many applications are driving product adoption, user engagement, and retention. As a product owner or developer, you’re almost spoiled for choice when it comes to deciding how to implement chat in your product. In this article, we’re going to go deep and look at the protocols that power chat.

Live chat is the most common type of realtime web experience. Embedded in our everyday lives, we use messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Slack daily to keep in touch with friends and family, and to communicate and collaborate at work. With live chat functionality also prominent across e-commerce, live streaming, and e-learning experiences, end users have come to expect (near) instant message receipt and delivery.

Live chat is everywhere. From connecting distributed workers across continents, through providing an efficient customer service channel, to bringing together online communities, chat is central to how we communicate. This demand puts an unusual level of pressure on chat app operators to make sure that every message reaches its destination, every time.

Looking for the perfect chat solution can be a daunting task. You need a provider that not only supports all the necessary chat features but also offers delivery and scaling guarantees to ensure a smooth chat operation as your business grows. While it might be tempting to start with a simple solution and see how your needs evolve, underestimating the importance of finding the right provider can be a costly mistake.

Live chat is a baseline for customer service, as well as connecting users of two-sided marketplaces, live auction sites, and social networks. And it’s easy to see why.

Customer experience is changing. Research from Merkle shows that customer loyalty increasingly relies on an emotional connection, with frictionless interactions a core requirement. This means that the days of strictly regimented, one-off customer contacts are over. Instead, customers today expect an ongoing relationship with the brands they trust. Done well, live chat can be the ideal way to provide that ongoing connection.

With more than a billion players worldwide, online games are a significant cultural, social, and economic phenomenon. And while innovative gameplay gets people through the door, it’s the social aspect of online gaming that keeps them playing. That puts social functionality front and center when it comes to the difference between an ongoing hit and an expensive flash in the pan. And players are quite particular about how they want to engage with others.