WhatsApp Flows For Businesses: At Meta’s second annual Conversations conference in Mumbai, WhatsApp unveiled a number of new capabilities for Indian companies. The features include Flows, which lets companies personalise chat experiences for clients, Payments, which lets clients accept payments within chat, and Meta Verified, which bestows a seal of legitimacy and other advantages on companies.
With the help of the feature called “flows,” businesses may build elaborate menus and forms that customers can use to conduct different tasks without leaving the chat window. A food delivery business could create a means for consumers to order from any of their partner restaurants, a bank could create a way for customers to schedule an appointment to establish a new account, and an airline could create a way for passengers to check in for a trip and select a seat. In the upcoming weeks, Flows will be accessible to companies utilising the WhatsApp Business Platform all over the world.
Payments is a feature that makes it simpler to finish a transaction in-chat. Customers in India can now add things to their shopping carts and transfer payments using the method of their choice, including debit and credit cards and any of the supported UPI apps. In order to make paying for anything as easy as sending a message, WhatsApp is collaborating with partners Razorpay and PayU. Payments are already available in Singapore and Brazil as well.
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WhatsApp Flows For Businesses in India
Customers can be assured they are conversing with the correct company by using the Meta Verified function, which enables businesses to gain verification from Meta. Businesses that prove their validity to Meta in order to get verified gain a verified badge, better account assistance, and impersonation protection. Additionally, Meta Verified will include premium features like multi-device support so that several employees can answer to clients and the ability to create a personalised WhatsApp page that is simple to find via a web search. Before being made available to companies utilising the WhatsApp Business Platform, Meta Verified will shortly be tested with small businesses using the WhatsApp Business app.
WhatsApp Business App
The free WhatsApp Business app has a variety of functions for companies of all sizes. Having a WhatsApp Business account means creating a seamless purchasing experience for your users, from time savings to personalising your interactions.
WhatsApp Business is an extremely effective tool for business when used with the WhatsApp chatbot. WhatsApp is evolving into a fantastic shopping destination, especially during off-peak hours, thanks to the numerous new features that the network continues launching. Even if you choose not to create a WhatsApp chatbot, WhatsApp for Business offers a lot of fantastic features that you may utilise.
WhatsApp Flows For Businesses Features
Here are some features of the WhatsApp Business app that you might like as much as we do:
- Company Profile
- Rapid responses
- Greeting Message Sent Automatically
- Unexpected Message
- Labels Contacts
- Message Information
- Catalogues
- Digital Business MessageMessages and Reply Buttons List
- Shops on Facebook integration
- Payments using WhatsApp
- Business Directory for WhatsApp
1. Company Profile
Create a business profile with information that will be useful to your consumers, such as your address, business description, email address, and website, if you intend to use WhatsApp for sales. Brands may win a user’s loyalty with the help of business accounts. To obtain a “Verified” symbol next to your company name, WhatsApp must certify that this is a verified business account. A business profile offers the company a recognisable “face” and identity.
Go to the WhatsApp Business app and select Settings > Business settings > Profile to add information about your company.
2. Rapid responses
These are regular communications that address frequently asked questions. You can save and reuse commonly sent messages with quick replies so you can quickly respond to typical inquiries. On your keyboard, simply press the “/” to pick and send a rapid response.
3. Greeting Message Sent Automatically
With WhatsApp for Business, you can write a welcome message that customers will see when they first contact your business or after 14 days of inactivity. Instant messaging allows you to warmly welcome and introduce a business to a new potential client without any waiting or delays.
Settings > Business settings > Greeting message are the steps to setting up a greeting message. From this point, you can write a fresh greeting or change an old one.
4. Dismissal Message
Similar to welcoming messages are away messages. When someone tries to contact the business beyond your working hours, they send them a personalised message. You can send your working hours or write a personalised greeting. You can programme them to turn on at the specified time.
Settings > Business settings > Away message > “Activate away message” are the steps to setting up an away message.
From this page, you can modify your away message and set a time for sending it. Always send, Custom scheduling, and after work hours are your options.
5. Identify Contacts
Organisation and labelling of contacts for simple access is possible for businesses. You can simply search through your contacts if you group and organise them in this way.
Click the menu button on the client’s chat page, select a label, and then save to add a label to a new contact.
A new label can be added by selecting “New label” from the menu on the client’s chat page and then clicking “Save.”
6. Access Statistics for Messages
You can get crucial analytics like the number of your messages that were sent, delivered, and read using WhatsApp for Business.
To access statistics, select Settings > Business Settings > Statistics from the menu button.
7. Collections and Catalogues
Catalogues are the other element that would be helpful for your business. They appear as follows:
Utilising catalogues enables your business to display your products for easy browsing and product inspection by potential customers. You no longer have to send each item, price, and description individually as you always did thanks to catalogues. Now that everything is simply gathered on your WhatsApp page, you can stop sending your consumers elsewhere or to the website.
You can add details like the price, a description, and a product code for each item in your catalogue. Your customers will find this to be more simpler than asking you about each item separately or switching from WhatsApp to the website.
WhatsApp added Collections in October 2021 to make buying more simpler. To organise objects inside a company account, they will function as folders. Users don’t have to go through the entire product list in order to find the category they’re looking for.
You can edit the Collection once it has been added in order to keep the data current.
Consider collections on e-commerce websites as categories. “Sale” or “Last chance” could convert just as well in WhatsApp as they do on the internet.By utilising these on a WhatsApp Business account, you may offer a comparable, convenient purchase experience.
Steps To Create Catalogue on WhatsApp
- With the WhatsApp Business app, creating a catalogue only requires a few easy actions. To begin going, view the following video:
- Launch WhatsApp for Business.
- Activate the Chats tab.
- Select Add new collection under More options > Business tools > Catalogue.
- Give your collection a name.
- Select NEXT.
- Choose the catalogue items you want to add to this collection.
- Click DONE.
Once you’ve added the items, collections, and catalogues, customers may browse your offerings inside WhatsApp and place their orders. Later, they can communicate about payment choices and share their order.
These communications may come at a high volume to you as a business owner. WhatsApp provides Interactive Business Messages to handle such demands for a customer in a fast and pleasant manner.
8. Business messages that are interactive
You may add interactive and eye-catching buttons to your messages with this style of messaging. These buttons come in two varieties:
- CTA: the user would be routed to a specific website or phone number by clicking this button.
- Quick reply: enables users to respond using the provided alternatives rather than manually typing their response.
Customer experience (CX) in general and the seamless customer journey benefit greatly from interactive buttons. The first benefit is that your users can comprehend what to do much better.
Should he respond by providing the number? If the user types something else, the bot won’t comprehend, and they can end the chat. Alternatively, they may type “Make an order” or something similar.
Second, employing quick replies makes for a much speedier and more aesthetically appealing experience for the consumer. He just clicks on the appropriate response and moves on to the next query
Finally, users can easily switch between the platforms by employing CTA buttons.
Let’s imagine someone wants to schedule a call with your business.
Now, he merely needs to click on the appropriate button, and the bot redirects him to his desired location as opposed to the previous need that he copy the URL, then paste it into the browser.
Therefore, interactive buttons in messages make the customer experience smoother, faster, easier to grasp, and more convenient for the customer, which will increase customer engagement with your business.
9. Messages and Reply Buttons List
In June 2021, WhatsApp announced the addition of List Messages and Reply Buttons as additional interactive messaging forms to their platform, in addition to CTA and Quick Reply buttons.
Reply buttons allow users to rapidly select from up to three possibilities by simply typing on the selected option. New list messages allow adding up to 10 options, so individuals could simply click on the desired option instead of painstakingly filling that out.
- List Messages: New list messages allow adding up to 10 alternatives, so customers could just click on the preferred option rather than spelling that out manually. This sort of message gives a simpler and more consistent manner for users to decide when interacting with a business.
- Reply Buttons: This sort of messaging provides a speedier approach for consumers to select from a menu when communicating with a business, allowing customers to swiftly choose from up to three selections by simply pressing on the chosen option.
Specifications for Interactive Messages on WhatsApp:
- Interactive messages can be mixed together in the same flow.
- Users cannot open multiple lists or button messages at once, although they can go back and re-open an earlier message.
- Currently, you can only send list or reply button messages within 24 hours after the user’s last message; if you try to send a message outside of the 24-hour timeframe, you receive an error notice.
- Web, iOS, and Android platforms are all supported.
10. Integration with Facebook Shops
Through your shop, you can showcase the goods and services you’re selling and connect with potential customers. Facebook Shops is a tool that enables you to create tailored shopping experiences for your businesses and integrate them seamlessly across the Facebook family of apps.
How to connect your Facebook Shop to your WhatsApp Business account
By connecting your WhatsApp Business account to your Facebook store, you may allow visitors to your store to message you using the WhatsApp Business app.
In order to join these accounts, you must:
- Have a registered phone number on the WhatsApp Business app.
- It should be noted that WhatsApp Messenger phone numbers cannot be connected to a store.
- Be the account administrator for your Facebook Business Manager.
- In the same Business Manager account, connect your Facebook Page and Catalogue.
- In Business Manager, possess Manage Page permissions for the Facebook Page and Manage Catalogue permissions for the Catalogue.
- Connect your shop’s WhatsApp Business account.
- Create a shop in the Facebook Commerce Manager to get started.
- Next, set WhatsApp as the Primary Contact Method in your shop after adding your WhatsApp Business number.
After completing these steps, you may configure your shop such that clients can hit the Message button on your shop pages to initiate a chat with you in the WhatsApp Business app.
11. WhatsApp Payments
According to WhatsApp’s blog, “Making payments simple can help more businesses enter the digital economy, opening up new opportunities for growth.”
No way could WhatsApp go without accepting payments for both personal and commercial accounts. WhatsApp payments are a service provided by Facebook (now Meta) and are offered in a few nations:
- India
- Brazil
- US
Facebook Pay, which is handled by Cielo, and Novi, Facebook’s digital wallet, facilitate in-app purchases. You can request and receive money as a merchant without leaving the chat.
Indian WhatsApp payments
In-app purchases are available to users in India starting in 2018. With the use of this function, sending money is as simple as sending a message. This is useful in rural areas since it allows people to send money securely without physically exchanging currency or visiting a bank.
And as for security, don’t worry; WhatsApp payments are built with a rigorous set of privacy and security rules, including entering a unique UPI PIN for every transaction.
In collaboration with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), WhatsApp created a payment function using the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), a real-time payment system that is exclusive to India and supports transactions between more than 160 participating banks.
In India, using a debit card and a bank account are required in order to send money through WhatsApp.
Brazilian WhatsApp payments
According to a report released in December 2020, WhatsApp is the most used smartphone application in Brazil. The fact that Brazilian users would be able to transmit money to one another starting in May 2021 couldn’t have gone unnoticed.
The startup is working to make the payments available for businesses as well, even though they are currently only available for personal usage.
US WhatsApp Payments
A small number of US residents will be allowed to transfer and receive money via Novi, according to a December 2021 announcement from Facebook (now Meta). Pax Dollar (USDP) is a cryptocurrency that is supported by Novi, a digital wallet. One US dollar is equal to one USDP. When people use cryptocurrencies, they won’t be buying any more of it.
The business intends to broaden its reach after getting the initial user feedback.
Will WhatsApp Business introduce any new payments?
With Facebook becoming Meta, Stephane Kasriel, the head of Novi, declared in a tweet dated October 28, 2021, “we’re unifying our payments and financial services unit and products under the Novi brand.”
Kasriel has a solid track record as the CEO of Upwork and was formerly at PayPal before joining the company in November 2021. “I’m excited about the future, and the role Novi will play in enabling people and businesses to move money more easily and cheaply, and innovate in the Metaverse for creators and consumers alike,” he wrote on Twitter.
It appears that WhatsApp merchants should anticipate additional payment tools in the near future thanks to the new management and the disclosed plans for Novi.
How do customers contact my company on WhatsApp?
There are 5 methods for doing that:
1. Message me on Facebook or Instagram.
After creating a WhatsApp Business account, you can connect it to an Instagram or Facebook profile. Your clients will be able to get in touch with you by calling the number that appears on the profile or website that is connected. They can send you a message immediately on WhatsApp by tapping on it.
You can sync business data from that Facebook Page to your WhatsApp Business account in addition to the phone number. The data from the Facebook Page will automatically update your WhatsApp Business profile.
2. Ask for some useful information.
Customers can provide you with their mobile phone on your website, in your app, or in-store enabling you to send them information over WhatsApp when they need a shipping confirmation or boarding pass.
3. Start a dialogue.
A click-to-chat button for your business may be visible to a customer on a website or in a Facebook advertisement.You might include a “Send Message” button to enable users to contact your company right away after viewing the advertisement. The configuration for this functionality for various ad types is shown below.
4. QR Code
Customers can WhatsApp message you by scanning the QR code for your company account. The pre-populated message can be changed, and unless you reset it or deactivate your WhatsApp Business account, your special QR code will remain valid.
To discover how to use a QR code on WhatsApp Business, watch this video:
Simple methods for making your QR code:
- Go to Settings in WhatsApp Business.
- Select Business Tools > Short Link from the Settings menu.
- To view your QR code, tap the QR code.
5. Short Link.
You can give your clients a quick link they can use to initiate a discussion with you.
How to make a short link?
- When you register for an account on the WhatsApp Business app, a short URL for your company is produced instantly. To get to this quick link:
- To access the business settings, go to WhatsApp Business > Settings.
- To view the automatically generated link, tap Short link.
- After clicking the short link, you can:
- If you want to copy the brief link and post it someplace on your website or other Facebook pages, click the “Copy” button.
- If you want to give this link directly to your consumers, tap the “Share” button. Anyone who has the link in their browser can message you.
- To construct a message template that will be sent to you when the user opens your short link, select “Create a default message” from the menu.
Businesses now have countless options for connecting with and engaging with WhatsApp’s enormous audience because of the platform’s daily connections of billions of users. Using WhatsApp chatbots, businesses can now swiftly and efficiently engage with customers on the platform they prefer thanks to WhatsApp for Business
Before beginning WhatsApp chatbot development, you should be aware of the platform’s numerous restrictions. Building the bot from scratch might be difficult and time-consuming.
