EatOut today launched a Facebook Messenger Bot that will allow users to access information from hundreds of the best restaurants in Nairobi. The launch of EatOut’s Facebook Bot coincides with the launch of the 2nd annual Nairobi Burger Festival in partnership with Visa. Foodies across Nairobi will be able to simply message EatOut to access their free #BurgerFest pass. The pass entitles 2 for 1 burger offers at almost 100 restaurant outlets in Nairobi.
EatOut CEO, Mikul Shah, who has previously worked closely with Facebook commented. “It’s been less than a year since the Messenger Platform launched. We truly believe this will be the future of communication for small businesses. While it may take a while to catch on in Kenya, statistics already show that the top four mobile messengers surpassed social networks in global popularity. Mobile messengers such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and others have become the preferred means of communication on mobile devices. Over the next few months, some of our restaurant clients will be piloting their own Messenger bots. This will give users easy access to menus, maps, opening hours, events and special offers. Don’t forget to request for your free #BurgerFest pass and enjoy 2 for 1 burgers all week long.
In his opening address at F8, Mark Zuckerberg noted that between Messenger and WhatsApp, Facebook is now processing 60 billion messages per day. By comparison, at its peak, global SMS volume was around 20 billion messages every 24 hours. Currently, there are 1.2 billion active Facebook Messenger users around the globe.Over 2.5 billion people have at least one messaging app installed, with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, leading the pack. Since the platform launched in April, more than 11,000 bots have been added to Messenger. Furthermore, according to Facebook, people are already communicating to businesses via message more than a billion times a month. Hence the introduction of bots will help businesses save time simultaneously helping brands to improve messenger experiences.
