Pre-Playo: A Fragmented Sports Landscape
Coordinating casual sports games was cumbersome before Playo. Unreliable online forums and phone calls dominated scheduling, while finding suitable venues remained a challenge. But Playo streamlined this experience.
Founded on the belief that everyone deserves a convenient and enjoyable way to play, Playo offers a comprehensive platform that caters to all aspects of the sporting experience. Users can browse a vast selection of verified courts, fields, and arenas, compare prices and amenities, and book their desired space with a few clicks.
Today, the app has over 2 Million users and operates in over 60 cities across the globe and counting.
Beyond Bookings: Fostering Engagement Through Chat
Playo's innovative platform definitely revolutionized sports bookings. But their vision extended beyond simple transactions. They recognized the importance of fostering a thriving sports community within their app.
One key observation fueled this desire: users were booking venues on Playo but then resorting to external messaging platforms like WhatsApp to coordinate with their teammates. This highlighted a crucial missing piece – a dedicated in-app chat functionality.
By integrating chat, Playo aimed to achieve two key goals:
Boost user engagement
A seamless in-app chat would encourage users to stay within the Playo ecosystem, facilitating smoother communication and potentially leading to more frequent bookings and interactions.
Cultivate sports communities
Chat would enable players to connect before, during, and after games, fostering a sense of community and encouraging repeat engagement on the platform.
How Playo uses CometChat
Playo recognized the need for a robust and feature-rich chat solution to achieve their vision of fostering in-app engagement and community building. They looked for a reliable chat SDK that could seamlessly integrate with their existing platform and cater to their specific needs. After careful evaluation, CometChat emerged as the clear winner.
Today, Playo leverages CometChat's diverse features to create a comprehensive chat experience that supports various use cases:
Groups chats (Thriving community groups)
Playo utilizes CometChat's group chat functionality to create vibrant sports communities. Users can discover and join public or private groups based on their location and interests. 
Within these groups, players can:
01.
Keep members informed and facilitate game coordination by sharing booking details directly within the community chat.
02.
Engage in conversations using a variety of message formats, including text, photos (perfect for post-game celebrations!), videos, location sharing, and playful stickers.
03.
Conduct polls to gauge group preferences or spark discussions.
04.
Maintain a positive and inclusive community atmosphere with built-in profanity filters.
Playpals (Secure Direct Messaging)
Playo also offers a secure one-on-one chat experience between two players. Users can access private messages (DMs) directly from profiles. As an added layer of privacy control, a message request system ensures users only receive messages from those they approve.
During conversations with their playpals, users can:
01.
Send voice notes, photos, videos, documents, and location information alongside text messages.
02.
Utilize smart replies for quick responses and react to messages for a more informal tone.
03.
Benefit from threaded replies, allowing for focused discussions within broader chat threads.
Game Chats (Streamlined communication for game coordination)
Playo takes the in-app communication experience a step further with game-specific group chats. When a user creates a game (public or invite-based), CometChat automatically generates a dedicated group chat for that specific game. This eliminates the need for players to exchange phone numbers or create separate chat groups
With everyone automatically added to the game chat upon acceptance, players can discuss logistics, confirm details and costs, and keep sports-related communication centralized within the Playo app.
Since the game chat remains active even after the final whistle, players can use it to share post-game photos, discuss highlights, or plan their next meetup, thus encouraging repeat engagement on the platform.
