With over 1.3 Billion users, WhatsApp has been trying to make its instant messaging platform better and more practical with every passing day and now, in order to strengthen its roots further, the Facebook-owned company has launched the WhatsApp Business App for small businesses that can rely on it to communicate with customers.
WhatsApp Business App has been rolled out in Indonesia, Mexico, Italy, the UK and the US, however, it is not yet available in India as the worldwide launch will take place in the coming weeks, and considering that India is the company’s biggest market, it is highly likely to be launched very soon.
While announcing the WhatsApp Business App the Facebook-owned company stressed that users can continue using WhatsApp as usual as there’s no need to download anything new. Users will continue to have full control over the messages they ought to receive, with the ability to block any number, including businesses, along with a ‘report spam’ option.
For the unknown, since WhatsApp Business App is built on top of WhatsApp Messenger, thus it includes all the features of the original app such as the ability to send multimedia, free international messaging, free calls, offline messages, group chat, and much more.
How To Use WhatsApp Business App
1. Users looking to register their business can have a separate Business profile along with a personal account. This means that users can have both the WhatsApp Business App and WhatsApp Messenger installed on the same device, and register them with different numbers.
2. WhatsApp Business comes with features such as Business Profiles, which lets people provide useful information like business description, website, and email or store addresses. The app also comes with smart messaging tools that will help businesses save time with quick to frequently asked questions, greeting messages which introduce customers to a business, etc.
3. It will come with a WhatsApp Messaging Statistics to help businesses review metrics such as the number of messages read.
4. WhatsApp Business App will be available on desktop as WhatsApp Web. Registered Businesses can send and receive messages via the app on their desktop.
5. Account type will help users (customers) know that they’re talking to a business as it will be registered as a Business Account. Over time, some businesses will also have Confirmed Accounts once the account phone number gets matches with the business phone number.
6. WhatsApp Business App also comes with landline as well as fixed number support. During verification, business users will have to opt for the “Call me” option in order to receive the code over a phone call.
7. Users can also restore their chat backup from Messenger to WhatsApp Business App, however, restoring it back to WhatsApp Messenger won’t be possible. In case any user wants to restore the same, it is recommended that they copy their WhatsApp Messenger backup on their smartphone to their computer before using WhatsApp Business.
The new app is only for businesses and individual users do not need to download it in order to connect to a small business. Moreover, a business account will be highlighted with an icon, after being confirmed by WhatsApp, so people would know that they are communicating with a verified merchant.
While the WhatsApp Business App will indeed help small businesses to grow their reach among the masses, the app is free for SMEs as of now. However, the company, on many occasions, have indicated that they will be charging larger enterprises in the future.