WhatsApp is the most used messaging platform with more than 2 billion active users worldwide as of February 2020. WhatsApp users are not only plentiful, but they are also incredibly active sending over 65 billion messages on a daily basis.

It’s no surprise that more and more consumer businesses are adopting Whatsapp business account to engage with their customers on a user-friendly and rich channel like WhatsApp.

The best reason to use WhatsApp for ecommerce business is that many of the customers are probably already using it and they love this platform to engage with businesses. According to the Facebook Messaging Survey, 67% of mobile messaging app users said they expect to use chat more for communicating with businesses over the next two years. What’s more, 53% of respondents say they’re more likely to shop with a business they can message directly.

WhatsApp Market Overview

Let’s have a look into the major WhatsApp markets.

Although WhatsApp is the top instant messaging app in the world, it still needs to capture the top spot in about 25 countries including the US, France, Australia, and Canada. As per the data, with 200 million users, India is the biggest market followed by Brazil and the USA.  If we see it in terms of market penetration. It has the highest penetration in Saudi Arabia followed by Malaysia and Germany.

What is Whatsapp Business API? How Does it Work

Whatsapp Business has launched not so long ago, to enable small business marketers to widen its reach to consumers and users. Now, Facebook has gone a little further and has launched WhatsApp Business API for large business enterprises. With the WhatsApp Business API, WhatsApp now offers businesses the opportunity to engage with their customers directly over WhatsApp. It has opened up a whole new avenue for businesses to delight their customers. 

The API is designed to allow businesses to respond to customer inquiries, or provide them with other information they’ve requested. 

Since it is an API, there is no front end interface provided and no app. The idea is that businesses will take the WhatsApp API endpoint to integrate it into their technology stack. 

WhatsApp Ecommerce Integration Use Cases

• To create a branded business presence on WhatsApp.
• Send programmatic notifications messages.
• Respond to incoming messages manually.

How Ecommerce Businesses can use WhatsApp Business API

As ecommerce companies have limited physical customer interaction, it is important that they make their online interactions instant, easy and powerful. Platforms like WhatsApp business app allow businesses to do just that. 

The Whatsapp Business API has opened up a new avenue of customer engagement for ecommerce businesses. 

Here are some ways ecommerce businesses can integrate WhatsApp in their communication strategy.

1. To Acquire New Customers 

The WhatsApp API offers a great opportunity to offer advanced chatbots and opt-ins to capture leads on your store.

On-site Chat:

Instead of an on-site assistance bot waiting in the corner of the site, you can create a WhatsApp chat bubble or button to invite website visitors to engage with you. You can further create bots to capture leads and assist visitors with the buying process.

Related Read: Complete Guide on Ecommerce Live Chat

Notification opt-ins:

This way you allow potential customers to receive notifications, news and updates via a channel they check and use frequently. E.g. your lead can sign up to receive a notification when a product is back in stock or there’s a price drop!

Campaign ads CTA:

A great way to drive acquisition is to use the click-to-WhatsApp marketing approach in your paid campaigns. That is, when prospects click on your Facebook or Google ad, instead of a landing page, they will be invited to a WhatsApp conversation that engages them right of the bat, in a familiar environment.

2. To Offer Great Post-purchase Experience

WhatsApp Business API’s real power lies in the programmatic notifications you can send through it. Once customers make a purchase and allow (or select this as the preferred way to receive notifications) your business to send them notifications, you get a very powerful tool to offer a great post-purchase experience to your customers.

Here are a few ways ecommerce businesses are levelling up their post-purchase customer experience using Whatsapp.

Order Updates:

Ecommerce businesses traditionally use email and SMS to send order-related information. WhatsApp API has opened up a new channel for businesses while making it more convenient for the buyers. With the help of the API, you can send various order updates to the customers to their favourite messaging channel. Learn more on Order Management software

Delivery Tracking:

Using GPS for live location sharing has always been a useful feature on WhatsApp. You can now implement live location sharing for your customers to locate their deliveries with WhatsApp Business API.

This will be particularly useful for ecommerce businesses, as the customers will be able to live track the package without switching between apps. Learn more on Best Shopify Apps to Integrate with Store

Personalised Recommendations:

Sending personalized product recommendations is a great way to increase LTV while positively engaging with your customers. WhatsApp API allows you to send product recommendations and 

To Collect Feedback:  

The WhatsApp Business API helps you reach your customers through their most used messaging app, and gather instant feedback through their replies. Leverage on the data you receive to better understand your customers through more reliable reporting based on a larger pool of responses.

Enable Loyalty Program Engagement :

Customer Loyalty programs are a great way to reward your customers so as to increase your sales. Through Whatsapp Business API, customers can easily use the app to track and manage their loyalty points. They can also look up for personalized offers, search for rewards and acknowledge targeted notifications on the go.

3. To Extend your Customer Support on WhatsApp

Direct messaging applications, including WhatsApp, have become indispensable tools for achieving consumer satisfaction. Global trends are developing a tendency towards 1:1 customer service over peer to peer messaging platforms.

Whatsapp business API makes it possible to integrate WhatsApp with your current customer support system. How can you integrate the most widespread app in the world with a scalable customer support system?

The answer is Richpanel’s WhatsApp integration.

Integrating Richpanel with WhatsApp for ecommerce store enables you to have a synergetic effect on your customer service. Once you connect WhatsApp with Richpanel, you don’t have to juggle between multiple screens or tabs to handle customer queries. Richpanel serves as an omnichannel support platform for your team to manage all your support interactions on WhatsApp along with other channels. 

Recommended Read: Popular Ecommerce Customer Service Softwares

Benefits of Connecting WhatsApp Business with your Richpanel Account:

Richpanel leverages the API to connect WhatsApp business with the Richpanel customer support platform.

When you connect your WhatsApp business to Richpanel - 

• Support agents can view and respond to all the messages from email, live chat, Facebook messenger and WhatsApp from a single dashboard.
• You can use all the advanced automation features like rule-based ticket routing to power up your customer support.
• Agents can view and use the customer’s ecommerce data to respond to the support requests from WhatsApp.
• Agents will resolve customer issues faster with the help of powerful features such as Power Replies and Insta Actions. 
• You will get real-time insights on metrics such as response time and the number of chats handled.

How to Get Started with WhatsApp Business API?

So far, we have understood what is WhatsApp business API and its benefits for ecommerce businesses. If you're ready to start extending your customer support on WhatsApp, consider Richpanel. 

All you have to do is to sign up to Richpanel to submit your details and we will get your Whatsapp business API approved. Once the approval process is complete, you will be able to extend your customer support on WhatsApp using the Richpanel customer support platform.‍

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