India’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises are the backbone of our country’s socio- economic development contributing significantly to job creation and overall GDP. Despite several headwinds in the last few years, the small business community has shown immense resilience and invested in finding innovative and efficient ways of running their business. A key catalyst for these businesses has been access to simple technology, that has helped them digitize their operations. Until a few years ago, only businesses with a marketing and promotional budget could afford to build a digital presence such as a website, helpdesk, etc.
Today, it is easier than ever before for a business to digitize its operations, discover new customers and keep them engaged without having to spend on building or maintaining a Website. For the majority of businesses, WhatsApp is often their first digital gateway. For over 15 million businesses in India, the WhatsApp Business App is a simple, secure, and free-to-use technology that has helped them build their online presence on a platform where they can easily connect with their customers.
What is it that makes the simple WhatsApp Business App, an efficient tool for business
owners? If you are a small business owner, here are some of the most popular features of the WhatsApp Business App that help small business owners across India:
Introduce your business professionally: Once you have downloaded the WhatsApp Business App, you can set up a business profile that gives details about your business such as the logo, description, hours of operation, contact information, and links to your Instagram and Facebook page.
Build your product/services catalog: With the Catalog feature, you can create a free mobile storefront to showcase your products and services. This lets customers easily browse and discover things they might like to buy. It also makes it easier for people to share a catalog or item they find with friends or family by simply copying the link and sharing it on WhatsApp.
A Catalog with good pictures and product information, makes consumers feel that they are interacting with a professional business. More than 3 million people in India view a monthly business catalog on WhatsApp.
Send custom welcome messages: You can also send a custom welcome message automatically when a customer reaches out to you. Customers online expect prompt replies from new businesses hence, an Automatic Greeting message not only initiates the business conversation but also enhances the customer experience. You, as a business owner, are enabled to chat and build a relationship with your customers by making them feel welcomed to your business. Similarly, the ‘Quick replies’ feature allows you to easily address the frequently asked questions, and ‘away’ messages inform customers of when they can expect a response.
Organize leads: Businesses can also leverage ‘Labels’ to stay organized by sorting their
customer conversations into different categories like ‘new customers’ or ‘pending orders’. This helps to easily organize and search for chats and messages.
Get customers to reach you with just a click: Expand your reach by sending potential
customers on Facebook and Instagram straight into a WhatsApp chat with your business. With ads on Facebook and Instagram that click on your WhatsApp Business Account, you can discover new audiences for your business and directly get connected to them on WhatsApp.
The WhatsApp Business App is built with several other features that have been built keeping in mind the small business owner in India. Across the world, over 50 million small businesses are using the WhatsApp Business App to build an online presence for their business in the simplest way possible which also enables them to find new customers and new markets to tap into.
