&quot;WeChat, for instance, lets users shop, pay bills and book appointments.&quot;<p>Does anyone have experience with it? Is it actually useful, or just a gimmick?<p>And I have to point out that there is a protocol which is open, supports both users and services with registration, supports federation, and supports arbitrary payloads, making it a great solution for a chat bot platform... But of course everyone dropped xmpp and now will have to reinvent it.