August 13, 2025
8×8 Launches Social Connect to Turn Online Comments into Instant Sales
8×8 has rolled out 8×8 Social Connect, a tool built to convert social engagement into transactions while keeping brand reputation intact.
Instead of treating social posts as marketing collateral alone, Social Connect monitors platforms in real time, spotting comments that signal buying intent or urgent issues. These are routed straight to an agent’s workspace, complete with context and AI-generated suggestions, so they can respond immediately without switching apps.
As mobile devices now account for 75% of e-commerce traffic, 83% of shoppers expect an instant reply, and personalisation can make a buyer 74% more likely to purchase. In that environment, slow or fragmented responses often mean lost revenue.
Huge Help for the Retail Industry
Retailers may finally have a way to stop valuable sales opportunities from vanishing in social media comment threads.
Once an opportunity is identified, agents can move the customer into a secure one-on-one chat using Rich Communication Services or apps like WhatsApp. They can share images or videos, answer questions, and process payments through 8×8 SecurePay, all from the same platform.
Hunter Middleton, Chief Product Officer at 8×8, said: “Every missed social comment is a lost sale, and every delayed response risks your reputation. With 8×8 Social Connect, retailers can finally bridge the gap – moving customers from public comments to private, branded chats where agents can personalise interactions and close the sale instantly or solve queries privately. Customers today don’t distinguish between your social feed, your website, or your store. They expect immediate, personalised engagement no matter where they are.”
Beyond chasing sales, the system also helps brands resolve complaints privately before they escalate, while logging every interaction to inform future marketing, staffing, and stock strategies.
This release builds on the company’s existing retail portfolio, which includes 8×8 Sales Assist and 8×8 Aftersale Assist.
