NEW YORK, Aug. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPSN), a leading provider of conversational commerce solutions, was awarded Best of Show and Best Emerging Technology earlier this month at CompTIA ChannelCon — the premier conference for IT solutions providers that serve small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The awards highlight LivePerson's commitment to making its enterprise-grade conversational commerce capabilities accessible to SMBs through IT solutions providers.

Conversational commerce lets consumers message with businesses on their own schedule, using natural language, to make purchases and get things done. The conversation is established through SMS, popular messaging apps, voice assistants, or a businesses' own website and app. LivePerson brings together the tools, AI, and automation capabilities necessary for solution providers to create conversational commerce for the businesses they serve. LivePerson data demonstrates that consumers are more likely to make purchases over conversational commerce than websites.

In April of this year, solution providers at CompTIA's annual member meeting ranked automation and artificial intelligence (AI) among the top three emerging technologies in the IT channel based on the near-term business opportunity they present for profitable growth. The SMBs these solution providers serve have a similar focus. More than 60% are already investing in AI or plan to in the next 12 to 24 months.

A key challenge solution providers face in marketing AI and automation is that it is unclear how the technology can be packaged and delivered in a way that reliably impacts their customers. The CompTIA ChannelCon awards won by LivePerson signal that solution providers have begun to grasp the opportunity in conversational commerce. The sales that conversational commerce drives for SMBs are a powerful starting point for the application of AI and automation. Solution providers benefit from the high-margin recurring revenue that comes from delivering differentiated, sales-impacting outcomes to their customers.

Through LivePerson's partner program, solution providers can sell an entire conversational commerce solution including a multi-channel platform that enables SMBs to monitor and manage messaging conversations in SMS, popular messaging apps, voice assistants, or a businesses' own website and app. The program includes access to AI-powered bots that can handle consumer inquiries across all channels. Solution providers also gain the opportunity to add a new stack of professional services to their repertoire centered around bot development, management, optimization, and administration.

"We believe that the perfect storm is brewing for solution providers," says Andy Lezon, LivePerson's Senior Director of Channel Sales and Partner Programs. "The SMB appetite for AI and automation is high, and solution providers are searching for new ways to add value and increase margins. Since solution providers control and influence the majority of their customers' IT wallet, they have a major opportunity to grow sales and increase the bottom line for their customers. At CompTIA ChannelCon, all of this came into focus for solution providers. We are honored to have received the Best of Show and Best Emerging Technology awards."

About LivePerson
LivePerson makes life easier by transforming how people communicate with brands. Our 18,000 customers, including leading brands like Citibank, HSBC, Orange, and The Home Depot, use our conversational commerce solutions to orchestrate humans and AI, at scale, and create a convenient, deeply personal relationship — a conversational relationship — with their millions of consumers. For more information about LivePerson (NASDAQ: LPSN), please visit www.liveperson.com.

Allison Franzese
afranzese@liveperson.com
212.609.4224

SOURCE LivePerson, Inc.