Rakuten Viber, the application for secure and private communication via messages and voice, presented today a free account for owners of small and medium-sized businesses in Greece.

As announced, this is the first step in Viber’s new strategic expansion into the business world.

With the addition of more tools, the hyperapp further strengthens its business portfolio and empowers businesses of all sizes to build their digital presence, enhance customer engagement and drive sales on the platform.

It was also mentioned that the Greek market is one of the first two worldwide, together with the Philippines, where the new solution is offered, with the availability of the new product gradually following in the rest of the world.

Viber has a 91% smartphone penetration share in Greece. As noted its eclectic and dedicated user community makes it an attractive option for businesses looking to provide personalized experiences to their customers. Last year, Viber saw a 176% increase in business account creation and an impressive 38% increase in inbound business messages. Building on this growing demand for business-to-user interaction through the app, Viber is announcing a suite of tools designed to help small and medium-sized companies reach new customers, as well as build and retain the loyalty of existing ones .

Small businesses can open and manage a new business account at no cost to easily interact with customers, manage their inquiries, improve the ease of discovery of their business by new audiences and boost their sales.

New features include:

– Public business profile: Businesses can create a public business profile that can be easily found through the search field and that will include all the necessary information. The profile can be shared with customers within the app or even with audiences who don’t yet use Viber.

– 1-to-1 customer communication: Businesses can respond immediately to customer requests through instant messaging.

– Easy search via Viber: Businesses can now meet and retain loyal customers on the app they prefer for their daily conversations: potential customers can discover local products and services by searching for a business name or business category.

– Dedicated chat folders: Businesses can store their customers’ messages in a convenient way, separate from the personal messages they exchange with family and friends. Users will also have easy access to a separate inbox to save their business conversations.

– Product catalog: Businesses can easily add new products or services to their catalog. Customers can explore and ask a question about the products by sending the link to a product directly in the chat.

Ritesh Shah, VP of Fintech and Business Solutions at Rakuten Viber, announced data from the company’s initial research, according to which customer retention and growth are among the most difficult missions for the majority of small businesses in Greece, as many struggle to survive due to limited budgets. “From now on, any small local business can open a Viber account and boost their digital presence at no cost, quickly and easily,” Shah added.

The company also plans to introduce features such as push messages, voice calls, and quick, automated responses that will help SMB communication take a new level. Paid service packages, based on user feedback, will soon be introduced to the market as an extension of the initial package of free self-service business tools.

The new service was officially announced this morning in Athens. Rakuten Viber’s senior management and the hyperapp’s strategic partners in Greece detailed the new solution and shared recent industry trends.

Atanas Raykov, VP of Growth at Rakuten Viber, spoke about the importance of the Greek market for Viber through its gradual evolution into a hyper-application with a hyper-local approach and a robust ecosystem in our country.

Athanasios Raptis, CEO of the Yellow Pages, presented data on the digitization of businesses in the country. He pointed out that despite the positive trend of digitalization, with 67% having or planning to have an online advertising presence, the majority of small businesses are lagging behind global trends.

Mary Synatsaki, influencer in the field of lifestyle and beauty, and one of the entrepreneurs who tested the new service in beta format, presented her new business account and explained how it positively affected engagement with both existing and new clients: “I have been using Viber to communicate with my clients for a long time. With my new business account, interaction is much easier, personal and efficient.”

Those interested in more information can search at https://lp.viber.com/smbgr