WhatsApp Business API for eCommerce | Use Cases 2022

Jun 29, 2022 4 min read

Before you know where and how to use WhatsApp business API for eCommerce, it is essential to understand the need to do it. But, way before that, it is equally critical to embrace the transformation which chatbots are bringing to the eCommerce industries. More customers are developing the habit to converse with a bot before they need a customer support executive.

That too, when it comes to customer retention numbers, it is now getting better for those who have adopted WhatsApp for business API. WhatsApp Business API was released in 2018, and since then, it has only seen an upward curve of adoption among the companies.

In this quick read, we explore the different ways in which companies can adopt WhatsApp API for their business. It can be with the help of live chat or messaging bots.

What is WhatsApp Business API?

The first thing to be clear here is that WhatsApp Business API is not an app. It is a more complex setup where a business is required to integrate its WhatsApp business profile with the other tools and systems. Indeed, it can be an automated conversational assistant or other tools at hand!

So, to use this, it is essential to have your eCommerce business applied and approved in the first place

Why implement WhatsApp business API for eCommerce?

Is it better than a website chatbot? Or is WhatsApp better than any other messaging app?

Here are the quick pointers which highlight the need for WhatsApp business API.

• WhatsApp is now the most popular messaging app and is accepted among all age groups. Indeed, the app boasts of having 2 billion active monthly users.
• WhatsApp users are not plentiful. The users are active and send over 65 billion messages daily. In fact, in some countries, the active time spent on this app is more embracing, which is 20 hours every month.
• WhatsApp is the most comfortable messaging platform for today’s youth as well as for the older generations. The ease of use, along with the significant ease of communication has made it one of the go-to apps for communication.

Use Cases for WhatsApp business API for eCommerce

Customer Acquisition

WhatsApp API gives businesses more flexibility to offer better opportunities to attract customers. The plus point here is the process is seamlessly natural. It enables you to connect with the audience personally as a brand.

The WhatsApp Business API solution allows you to set up proactive automated chat messages to level up your customer acquisition. Here, you stand a chance to turn up any obligations into a powerful CTA.

Providing personalized experiences

There is one thing that runs the business world, and that is DATA! As a user agrees to receive updates or to be contacted through WhatsApp, as a brand you get the following data:

• Phone Number
• Country of Residence (based on the phone number code)
• And sometimes, the User's Name

Based on this, you can extend the conversation about the location. For instance, you can ask about the city of residence, or the actual name, instead of mistaking that with the user name.

Hence, these data and the information derived can be effectively used to provide personalized experiences to the user. In practice, this includes, greeting the users with their names, and not by the user names, showing them a menu that has their language on it, etc.

Purchase and Product Suggestions

In most business products, the interface allows it. You can choose the product recommendations inside a bot. This helps you target one-on-one conversations. Undoubtedly, the truth is when it comes to selling, there are no fancy solutions. The simple thing is a user is there, who is already conversing with your bot. You just have to make the best use of the images, videos, and GIFs to send videos of the products and services which your brand targets.