Here Is All You Need To Know About WhatsApp Business

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted more than ever how important local businesses are in connecting communities and providing a backbone to our economy. Being the second-largest employment generator in the country, it is crucial to enable access and availability to digital tools that can augment the growth of small businesses in our country and help them scale. 

As our country continues to transform into a digitally empowered society, it is no surprise that business tendencies have evolved in that direction too. Research shows that people are looking to message with more than just their friends. Messaging with businesses is becoming more and more common all around the world. In fact, among people who message businesses, 63% say they have started messaging businesses more often over the past two years, and 67% plan to message businesses even more over the next two years.

With 15 million monthly users of the business app in India and more than 50 million globally, businesses are finding tremendous value in the very nature of WhatsApp. WhatsApp has played an instrumental role in helping small businesses interact with their customers and optimize sales especially now when digital tools can serve as a lifeline for businesses and customers to stay connected.

Businesses across the country are using the WhatsApp Business app to better communicate with their customers and grow. Take a look at some of the most impactful features. 

• Creating a Business Profile lets businesses add important company details to their profile, which helps create a formal presence, feel professional and assure customers that they are interacting with a legitimate business.
• With Catalog, businesses can create a free mobile storefront to showcase their goods or services and customers can easily browse and discover things they might like to buy. Catalogs make businesses look more professional by keeping customers engaged in the chat without needing to switch to the website for relevant information. Today, more than 3 million people in India view a business catalog on WhatsApp each month. Also, to make it easier for people to discover products, Catalog Links make catalogs and individual items available to be shared as links on websites, Facebook, Instagram and elsewhere. Along with businesses, this also makes it easier for people to share a catalog or item they find with friends or family. Simply copy the link and send it on WhatsApp or other places as well.
• QR Codes are a digital front door that make opening a chat with a business as easy as possible. People simply have to scan the QR code a business displays on its storefront, product packaging or receipt to initiate a chat. To start using a QR code, businesses can follow these quick steps, take a look at this video and complete training on the same. 
• Messaging Tools help business owners streamline their operations and significantly save time. Quick replies allow businesses to easily address the frequently asked questions they receive,  and ‘away’ messages inform customers of when they can expect a reply.
• Businesses can also leverage Labels to stay organized by sorting their customer conversations into different categories like ‘new customers’ or ‘pending orders’. This helps them easily organize and search for chats and messages.
• To give businesses and their customers a fun way to express themselves and stay connected, WhatsApp also created business-themed sticker packs available within WhatsApp to users around the world. The ‘Open for Business’ sticker packs are some of WhatsApp’s first animated Stickers (launched this year). These stickers are unique collections featuring 20+ new designs that have been curated by WhatsApp designers. Since people and businesses might not be able to see each other in person right now, these new stickers can be a fun way to say thanks and get business done. 

As businesses across the world prepare to re-open and expand online, people need simple ways to get in touch with businesses to ask questions, get information, or find something they might like to buy. While the lockdown has given several businesses the impetus to rely more on tools like WhatsApp, one thing’s for sure - it is time for businesses to meet their customers where they are, and in India, that’s on WhatsApp.