Apple Business Chat, a platform for businesses to provide customer service through iMessage, is now available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore, Japan, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The feature launched in the United States earlier this year.
The international expansion coincides with 30 additional businesses adopting Apple Business Chat around the world today, adding to 15 brands in the United States that have been using the platform, which remains in beta.
For example, luxury fashion brand Burberry is integrating with Apple Business Chat worldwide to enable clients to check availability on items nearby, ask questions about the size and fit of clothing and accessories, and get help placing an order. Customers can also inquire about special events like fashion shows.
Hotel chain Four Seasons is expanding its adoption of Apple Business Chat to reach 88 properties across the globe with Four Seasons Chat's capabilities to communicate with real people at each property in more than 100 languages, with response times averaging 90 seconds or less.
The full list of brands launching Apple Business Chat today:
North America
- 1-800 Contacts
- DIRECTV NOW
- Fairmont Hotels, including the Claremont Club & Spa in Berkeley
- Kimpton Hotels
- Freshly
- Mall of America
- Macerich malls, including Scottsdale Fashion Square and Santa Monica Place
- Men's Wearhouse
- Jos A. Bank
- Overstock.com
- Quicken Loans
- West Elm
- Hendrick Automotive Group
- Lithia Group
- SnapTravel (US & Canada)
Worldwide
- Burberry (Worldwide)
- matchesfashion.com (UK)
- NH Hotels (Europe)
- nPower (UK)
- Robins & Day (UK)
- buddybank (Italy)
- Engie (France)
- La Redoute (France)
- AXA Insurance (Switzerland)
- Swisscom (Switzerland)
- Vodafone (Germany)
- Credit Suisse (Hong Kong and Singapore)
- Telstra (Australia)
- Harvey Norman (Australia)
- KDDI (Japan)
Apple Business Chat launched in iOS 11.3 in March, enabling iPhone and iPad users to ask for information, schedule appointments, make purchases, and complete other customer service tasks directly in the Messages app.
Business Chats must be initiated on an iPhone or iPad, but they can be continued on any other iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch signed into the same Apple ID. You can start a conversation by searching for a business in Maps, Safari, Siri, or Search and tapping on the Messages bubble where available.
Other brands using Business Chat include Apple itself, DISH, Aramark, Four Seasons, Harry & David, American Express, Discover, Hilton, The Home Depot, Lowe's, Marriott, Newegg, T-Mobile, Ameritrade, Wells Fargo, and 1-800-Flowers.
Business Chat requires iOS 11.3 or later. Also note that while the feature has expanded to additional countries, availability varies by brand. For example, when we tried to message Apple through Business Chat in Canada, an automatic reply indicated that the feature remains unavailable in that country.
Update: This article has been updated with additional information from Apple's announcement.
