Qpon: Redefining local life services with digital communication

When we think of local life services, big discounts and flashy deals often come to mind. But have you ever wondered how these platforms bridge the gap between online communication and real-world, offline services? We sat down with BinBin Zhang, Qpon’s Head of Partnership & Procurement, to learn how this leading Indonesian local service brand is using digital communication to meet the needs of both customers and merchants.

Consumer behavior is undergoing a major shift

Across Southeast Asia, the way customers discover and engage with local services is constantly evolving. BinBin Zhang highlights the key shifts that she notices in the Indonesian market. From the consumer side, it is:

• Mobile-first habits: Customers prefer to browse different types of content across multiple apps and channels, which is time-consuming as well.
• Real-time deals: Real-time deals and true reviews attract customers and impact their purchasing decisions. 

BinBin shares that while consumers are digital savvy, the merchants are still lagging to adapt to digitalization. “According to our survey, we have found that only 30% of SMEs have a desire to go digital. But for the others, they will trigger the customer by word of mouth or simply using flyers,” says BinBin Zhang.

How businesses can stay unique in a crowded market

The Indonesian local life service market is highly competitive, with several players competing for market share. Therefore, brands must offer differentiated value propositions, whether it’s through product innovation or better customer service.  

Qpon goes beyond discounts by building an ecosystem that helps users save smarter and enjoy everyday experiences through daily flash sales and engaging lifestyle campaigns. BinBin shares that Qpon has managed to maintain its uniqueness by not limiting itself to just a food and delivery platform but broadening its offering to include tickets, entertainment, and other needs of daily life.

Another distinctive element of Qpon is its platform that includes the entire supply chain, such as discovery, decision making, payment, and redemption in store. Not only from the consumer side, but Qpon also tries to adopt a unique approach towards its merchants.

AI: Shaping the future of local life services

With more than 185 million internet users, Indonesia is a potential market for digitalization where AI plays a key role. According to the AWS report, a total of 18 million, or 28%, of Indonesia’s businesses have already adopted AI, showing a year-on-year growth rate of 47%.

Being a forward-thinking business, Qpon has been actively leveraging AI to provide relevant and nearby recommendations tailored to each user’s preferences. To create an interactive experience and support millions of its users, the brand has been using conversational AI chatbots.

“We have already launched our AI assistant, which helps customers make smart choices by analyzing their behavior, restaurant contacts, and user comments. It also supports multiple languages, giving them more options and convenience,” said Zhang.

Qpon is also actively using AI-powered gamification to drive engagement with features like short videos showcasing real-life inspiration from users and merchants. Today, conversational AI gamification is a trend, and brands use it to keep users active, entertained, and emotionally connected to their brand. As per our analysis, conversational AI gamification results in a 50% increase in conversion compared to traditional chatbots.

Conversational channels boost user retention

It’s a fact today that customers are more likely to get engaged with conversational messaging as they can respond and perform any required action. Conversational channels such as RCS, WhatsApp, LINE, and similar other messaging apps help brand to engage, convert, and retain users. 

“RCS, TikTok, or Facebook to WhatsApp is quite an important way to shorten the gap between discovery and the decision-making process. When a new user finds our ads on TikTok or Facebook, they can move to WhatsApp with just one click. They then receive a personalized message from our customer service team, which is a great way to improve user retention,” says Zhang.

Click to WhatsApp or RCS ads engage customers across all funnel stages, from brand discovery to repeat purchases. With the digital ad spending on mobile platforms expected to reach 70% in 2026, it becomes more important for brands to use these digital communication channels in their conversational marketing strategy. 

Enhancing customer service with WhatsApp & SMS

SMS is still one of the most trusted communication channels for brands as well as customers due to its high deliverability and reach. Starting from running promotional campaigns and loyalty programs to transactional notifications, SMS has a huge application area.

Being the most reliable communication channel, Qpon uses SMS through our platform for important communications, such as one-time passwords to end users. Even a small delay or friction can cause failure and customer complaints,” says BinBin Zhang.

She also shares that apart from SMS, WhatsApp is another key channel they have been using to interact with their customers and provide after-sales services. Being the most used communication app in Indonesia, with a user base of 285.7 million, WhatsApp provides a convenient way for Qpon to support their customers. 

Infobip x Qpon: Powering the next phase of growth 

Maintaining the present reputation is a must for building a strong future relationship. We have been helping Qpon strengthen its digital communication strategy using the right channels. BinBin shares that they are happy with our current association, “You stand at our point to help us to have a better understanding about the local market, the local customers, and even the tech issue.”

Looking to the future, Qpon plans to strengthen its presence in Indonesia while expanding further into Southeast Asia. BinBin highlights that Infobip will play a vital role in their expansion plan.