Online shopping has sparked a significant revolution in the last decade, with a substantial 20.8% of retail transactions now taking place on digital platforms. The e-commerce sector is a huge marketplace with global e-commerce sales projected to surpass 5.7 trillion U.S. dollars worldwide. Billions of visitors browse the shopping application for buying intentions. The conversion rate has reached 5.46% Aug 2023 reported by irp commerce.
WhatsApp stands as one of the most popular messaging platforms, making customer engagement through it a highly responsive strategy.
WhatsApp for E-commerce Business to engage customers
WhatsApp Business can be a valuable tool for e-commerce businesses. It can help e-commerce businesses engage with their customers and drive sales. WhatsApp Business can enhance customer engagement and streamline communication between e-commerce businesses and their customers, leading to improved customer satisfaction, increased sales, and stronger brand loyalty. It's an effective tool for businesses looking to stay connected and responsive in the e-marketplace.
Type of WhatsApp business in E-commerce
Adopting WhatsApp business is a good idea. The meta has facilitated the commercial usage of WhatsApp messaging in two ways.
WhatsApp Business Application is a free, user-friendly mobile application designed for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). It allows businesses to create a business profile and communicate with customers via WhatsApp. It is a limited version of full service. This is mobile application that serves
WhatsApp Business API, is designed for larger enterprises and businesses with more extensive customer communication needs. It offers a verified green tick badge for more trusted branding. It offers a more advanced and scalable solution for customer interactions. It's a low budget pricing for high class businesses.
WhatsApp cloud API is another option but require a dedicated server and interface.
Common challenges in the E-commerce industry
Cart Abandonment: Leaving a product in the card without completing the payment process. Addressing product carts again and engaging customers to finalize their transactions is an ongoing challenge.
Logistics and Shipping: Ordered products go through a journey as Shipping delays, where it has reached, track till the delivery. Efficient and cost-effective logistics are crucial.
Customer Support: Providing efficient and responsive customer support can be demanding, especially as customer inquiries increase.
Use Cases of WhatsApp Business for E-Commerce
WhatsApp Widget
WhatsApp is the top choice for anyone looking to engage in a conversation. For nurturing website visitors on whatsApp business is one of the most effective approaches is to provide a live chat channel directly on your web pages by embedding a WhatsApp chat widget. It can easily be done using the whatsApp business API integrations.
After the visitor initiates a conversation by clicking, you can employ an AI chatbot's set of questions. Subsequently, transition the conversation to their WhatsApp chat for a two-way messaging exchange.
WhatsApp widget allows easy access to visitors to talk with your brand and nurture potential leads with conversational, two-way messaging.
Multimedia Product e-Store
WhatsApp business supports multimedia messaging by Showing product carousel images, related contextual, interactive buttons, value added dialogue and CTA product links to registered customers makes an excellent buying opportunity. These showoffs increase the customer interaction that helps brands set the appropriate tone for the chat session.
Fast Query Response
Automated reply for common questions and conversation is a great asset. Businesses can set questions with pre-selected response answers. This comes under the WhatsApp chatbot that can also be integrated with AI chats like Chat GPT, Bard etc. These are best suited for updates, menu, information with visitors. Healthcare industry using the whatsApp business API for fast resolving queries like report download, appointment slots etc.
Order Updates and Notifications
After purchase messages are usually for shipping updates, delivery schedules, confirmation notifications. Post purchase interaction makes customers happy as well as help to take the product review that could be helpful for the next buyer.
Send Location Links
WhatsApp uses the GPS that helps in sharing the real time location information for parcel dispatch. This helps in tracking orders when they are out for delivery. Google maps are used for tracking. All the engagements are done by protecting each other without losing the personal aspects.
Example:
Oyo Hotel uses the WhatsApp message to share the exact Hotel location, transactional details and check-in details. It helps customers to reach hotels with Google map assistance.
Promotional Campaigns
WhatsApp Promotional Campaigns allows you to send broadcast promotional messages using BSP dashboard or WhatsApp API. It allows bulk messages to a group of people. WhatsApp promotional message template allows product image, web link to website, interactive buttons, reply in conversation, document download, etc.
The audience segment with the previous sales and search product details help you bind the large audience to announce new products, newsletters, promos, etc. It’s a low budget process with a high 4% conversion rate because whatsapp messages have a high open rate of 99%.
Send Product Catalogs
“Jo dikhta hai woh bikta h” is a right line for sales prospective. Picture Visuals gives an excellent idea about the product. Product catalog or prospective helps customers to understand the USP and details. You can send promotional message campaigns using the WhatsApp business API or app to showcase a catalog file with image, description, and pricings. E-commerce SMEs use the WhatsApp catalog to engage more customers.
Chat Support And Customer Feedback
Customers trust the product that has good customer support and feedback on the e-commerce platform. Customers move to competitors in case of lack of customer support if he/her faces more issues.
WhatsApp business API integrates with your CRM software that allow messaging and support service form your end. You can set up multiple agents accounts so that multiple customers can be engaged at the same time in real time conversations. All the conversations will be saved on your end.
WhatsApp API chatbot provides multilingual support for e-commerce customers. It can resolve the customer queries with automated answers or start manual conversation in case of serious issues.
Advance With Secure WhatsApp Payments Method
WhatsApp Business offers integrated payment options through business accounts. It provides a straightforward and secure money transfer mechanism using the trusted Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
How to start a WhatsApp Business platform for E-commerce?
You can utilize whatsapp business for e-commerce in two ways:
WhatsApp business App
The WhatsApp Business App is an ideal choice for small businesses, as it doesn't demand any complex setup. This application permits a one-on-one response to customer interactions and is available free of charge, making it accessible to all types of businesses, though it particularly suits small enterprises. While the app supports broadcast messaging for up to four people, it lacks CRM integration like the WhatsAPp Business API offers.
You can download the application to start.
WhatsApp Business API
The WhatsApp Business API, alternatively known as the WhatsApp Business Platform, is best suited for medium and large businesses with scaling needs. This powerful tool enables businesses to reach an unlimited number of customers at once for marketing or promotional message distribution. To access the WhatsApp API, a dedicated interface portal is necessary, often provided by Business Solution Providers (BSP) like Authkey. It offers extensive connectivity and customization options, allowing seamless integration with various systems such as CRM, software, apps, and chatbots. Moreover, it can efficiently manage multiple agents and handle inbox conversations and chats.
Prerequisite: Website, facebook business page, mobile number(not active on whatsApp), business documents.
Facebook business page & manager ID
Apply for WhatsApp Business Account and document verification
Dashboard interface (BSP)
Conclusion
The application of WhatsApp Business for e-commerce is versatile, and it totally depends upon the business scenarios. We have explored some of the most prevalent use cases, including embedding a WhatsApp Widget in the website's left or right corner, sending marketing broadcast messages on a globally trusted platform, implementing chatbots for seamless human-free customer support interactions, and establishing an e-store on WhatsApp Business.
WhatsApp for e-commerce can be harnessed in two distinct ways: through the WhatsApp Business Application, tailored for small businesses, and the WhatsApp Business API, designed for larger and scaling businesses. The WhatsApp Business API necessitates a dedicated dashboard provided by Authkey as a Business Solution Provider (BSP). It offers robust CRM and software integrations.
Running a business without using WhatsApp, you are missing something that your customer likes. Engaging customers on WhatsApp by sending multimedia messages, catalogs, message conversations with customers in real time, is a breeze using WhatsApp business API.
Talk with our experts for live demonstrations on WhatsApp business API. Check Pricing
Authkey is a cutting-edge omnichannel API platform that provides a diverse set of messaging capabilities, encompassing SMS, voice, email, and WhatsApp business messaging. By utilizing Authkey's API, you can effortlessly interact with multiple channels through a single integration. This empowers you to tap into various communication avenues to effectively reach your customers and elevate their overall experience. Additionally, you can kickstart your business messaging journey without any cost by taking advantage of Authkey's free offering.