Updated at January 23, 2018:
WhatsApp Business App is now available to Indian Businesses. You can download the app directly from Google Play store and start your WhatsApp Business profile.
According to Morning Consult study, over 80 percent of small businesses in India say WhatsApp helps them both communicate with customers and grow their business today. With a dedicated WhatsApp Business App, the interaction between businesses and customers will definitely improve further.
Our original story from Monday, February 5, 2018, follows:
You may be already receiving messages from Businesses like BookMyShow and MakeMyTrip directly via WhatsApp. Well, until now the Facebook-owned messaging platform has been running a closed testing of its business platform. Today, the company has officially launched its WhatsApp Business App for Small Businesses.
As the name suggests, WhatsApp Business App makes it easier for small businesses to have an official presence in the world’s biggest messaging platform. They can now easily respond to customers queries and have a separate space for the customer and personal messages.
WhatsApp Business App makes it easy for business owners to reach out their loyal customers over a simple chat. Business can set up their ‘Business Profiles’ on WhatsApp with useful information like phone number, business addresses, website, email and working hours. With ‘quick replies’ businesses can offer quick answers to frequently asked questions or have a ‘greeting messages’ send right when a customer first say ‘Hi’. Most importantly businesses can fully automate the ‘Messaging Tools’ to save time and make their customer happy.
With ‘WhatsApp Web’ businesses can also chat with their customers over the convenience of the desktop. WhatsApp will also offer simple messaging statistics like the number of messages read and other factors that can help you to improve the chat.
WhatsApp Business App Features
- WhatsApp Business Profiles with useful information for customers like email, addresses, and website.
- Smart messaging tools like quick replies, greeting messages and away messages.
- Simple metrics for Businesses utilising WhatsApp Business App to check the effectiveness of their chat.
- Can use the desktop to send and receive messages with WhatsApp web.
- Help businesses separate customer and personal messages.
For customers like us, we have the convenience to reach out trusted contacts of the Business. You will be able to easily identify Businesses on WhatsApp over normal users, as they will be listed as a Business Account (with a green tick badge next to the business contact’s name). There won’t be a need to download another app to chat with your favourite business group, as it will work seamlessly with your existing WhatsApp app. You will have full control over the messages you receive from this business. You can block any businesses or report spam if you feel them to be irritating.
WhatsApp Business App is currently only available for Android devices, (Sorry Apple folks) and can be downloaded directly from Google Play store. Note that the app has been launched only in Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S. Indian business owners still have to wait a few more weeks to get hold of the app.