Holidays have become the holy grail for many businesses, and Black Friday is the mother of them all. In 2018, Adobe reported that Black Friday’s online sales alone totaled $6.22 billion. More than 165 million people shopped over the course of last year’s Thanksgiving weekend and spent an average of $413 each. Black Friday—and its partner Cyber Monday—has become a global phenomenon that’s inspired a three-week frenzy of retail activity.

The rise of the AI bots may sound like a sci-fi horror scenario, but in reality, the growing industry of bots isn’t scary at all—it’s a technology that brings real, tangible benefits to businesses and customers alike. Bots are already a big part of the customer service landscape. In 2018, the bot market was worth $1.274 billion and predictions anticipate it reaching $7.5 billion by 2024.

If a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, a customer’s journey could begin at a myriad of touchpoints from every possible direction. It’s dizzying, but because customer experience is a key differentiator, it’s more important than ever to have a holistic understanding of the customer’s journey from every new touchpoint — across the entire organization. The different parts of your organization need to understand each other.

For more and more companies, offering customers exceptional omnichannel service and support has become a top priority. Customers have come to expect that they can connect with companies in the channels that are the most important to them—whether that’s email, phone, live chat, self-service FAQs, or social media. And for hundreds of millions of people around the world, that list of critical channels now includes WhatsApp.

More isn’t always better. Take your local supermarket for example. Say you need to pick up a salad dressing before dinner, but you’re famished—you just want a dressing that will taste good so you can eat in peace. Yet, with over 175 salad dressings to choose from, a quick trip to the grocery store could leave you in the fetal position in aisle three wondering which dressing would best complement your three-ingredient salad.

The last thing customers want to do over the holidays is sit on hold or get shuffled between departments in search of answers to their questions. It’s enough to make even the most loyal customers say, “Bah humbug!” As the holidays rapidly approach, companies that want to avoid ending up on their customers’ naughty list are taking stock of their customer service and support departments in advance of the holiday rush.

It’s no longer surprising that consumers want to message businesses. Chat and messaging are already common features of many websites and apps, whether it’s for live support or peer-to-peer conversations. Simply put, the face of conversations is changing. Conversations are important—they’re the building blocks of relationships. Relationships with our families, friends, colleagues, even our mortal enemies are mediated through conversations—or a lack of them.

We’re putting a spotlight on our brand new cast of app integrations. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

Ride-hailing business Bolt has a unique view of customer support: instead of focusing on delighting customers, its primary goal is to resolve issues at lightning speed. “We’re not in the business of delighting our customers when they reach out for support. We understand they want a solution and they want it yesterday,” said Toby Humphrey, product manager at Bolt.

As community forums become essential tools for scaling support, it’s natural for companies to need some help keeping things organized, ensuring the conversation runs smoothly and everyone can tap into the wisdom of the crowd. That’s where moderators come in: to help your community grow into, and remain, a destination.