"Can I sell my products on WhatsApp?"
WhatsApp introduced its WhatsApp Commerce feature in 2018.
It was introduced soon after the arrival of WhatsApp Business to help budding businesses leverage the booming conversational commerce format.
So to answer the question mentioned earlier––yes, you can sell your products on WhatsApp.
In fact, WhatsApp is the future of digital commerce. Don't believe me?
There are thousands of companies already practising and profiting from its interface.
I mean, the app has more than 2 billion active users and lets businesses leverage its conversation UI to market, sell and support.
It is nothing short of incredible how much WhatsApp has grown in our favour, especially while being the only channel that is still Ad free.
This article is for those who want to learn how to leverage WhatsApp for sales. But it is especially for the ones who still doubt WhatsApp potential in digital commerce.
Let us answer all the important questions, for you right here, from the basics.
Major problems faced by eCommerce businesses
Abandoned cart and checkout
Customers are a tease. Around 70% of users end up adding things to their cart but abandoning their cart without finishing the checkout process.
Recurring customers
Or rather lack of them. Even once a user is converted, it feels rather impossible to guarantee their return. Generating reorders is both a priority and a problem faced by businesses.
The problem with COD orders
Users often order items with COD(cash on delivery) and refuse then refuse to accept the order when it finally reaches them. It might be a trick for certain users to save their money, but it costs businesses double the shipping charges along with the loss of conversion.
Low conversion rates on clickable ads
Even though users do manage to click on Instagram, Facebook and Google ads and reach the store or website, they usually leave without actually making any purchases.
Commercial chaos
Competition is always around. Ads from 10 different businesses from the same industry with their online presence on every platform. It is hard for customers to stick to or remember a particular brand unless it can manage to really stand out.
How can WhatsApp help?
WhatsApp Business supports it all.
It is one of the most popular conversational channels around the world. It's available in more than 180 countries and 60 different languages, with over 70% of its users all over the world checking the app daily. And It has a 98% open rate, and it has a sea of features that can be leveraged in multiple ways.
But more than anything, WhatsApp helps businesses because owning a WhatsApp Business Account helps businesses use Whatsapp for Marketing, lead generation, eCommerce Sales and Customer Service.
How can I use WhatsApp for eCommerce?
WhatsApp is a tool. Using a WhatsApp Business account only benefits those who know how to leverage it.
Here are some strategies to remember when using WhatsApp for eCommerce.
1. Lead Generation
Add a WhatsApp chat widget to your website
By placing a WhatsApp chat widget on your website, you can grab the user's attention with conversation. The widget is usually found on the bottom right corner of the website and gives a pop-up welcome message to let users know that their queries can be answered quickly and easily. Once the user clicks on the widget, they are redirected to WhatsApp, where you can directly interact with them. This conversational framework not only helps you generate leads but also majorly improves the customer support experience.
Here is everything you need to know about the WhatsApp chat widget.
Collect opt-ins with links and QR codes
WhatsApp basically spoon-feeds us with lead generation options. Make use of them.
Where WhatsApp chatbot covers the website front, WhatsApp click-to-chat links can be added to all your socials and can be used in all your email and sms marketing messages. The QR code, on the other hand, is extremely versatile. Its scan-to-chat feature allows it to be used offline. Add the QR code to your packaging, receipts, and other online and offline campaigns to drive high-intent leads that could result in more conversations
2. Marketing
Automate your abandoned cart notifications
Send an automated notification to your customers when they abandon their cart. Use a casual reminder along with a small incentive to encourage the customer to complete their purchase. Sending abandoned cart notifications can help recover approximately 40-60% of abandoned carts.
Leverage the broadcast feature
Use the WhatsApp broadcast feature to deliver updates and notifications to your prospects and customers.
Send order confirmation, delivery shipment updates, payment confirmation messages, abandoned cart reminders, targeted promotional offers and newsletters and much more. Share product links, add media and CTA buttons to these notifications to make them more interactive and operative.
By partnering with automation solution platforms like Engati, you can also integrate your eCommerce store with your WhatsApp and automatically send notification updates and promotions to your customers on the instant messaging app.
Engati also allows you to segment your customers based on specific attributes to help you target your audience better with each notification campaign you create. This will also help you turn existing customers into loyal ones.
Offer instant discounts to avoid COD returns
40% of COD orders get returned (RTO), which ends up doubling the shipping charges faced by the business.
To prevent this Return to Origin debacle from occurring, it is essential to steer the user clear of COD orders.
Use WhatsApp to send an instant discount offer on directly paying online. Entice them with a 5-10% discount or add free shipping to promote online payment over cash on delivery. WhatsApp also provides the WhatsApp pay feature that allows users to pay directly on WhatsApp using their UPI. Take advantage of the feature to promote more online payment.
You can convert up to 40% of your CoD orders using instant promotional discounts and reduce your RTO losses significantly.
3. Integrate & Automate
Integrate WhatsApp with your eCommerce store
With the assistance of Automation solution partners like Engati, you can both automate your e-commerce store and integrate it with WhatsApp. Once you're set-up, you can automate and streamline all your processes, right from sending instant broadcast notifications to interacting with customers for sales and customer support.
Engati allows you to integrate with all major CRMs and major eCommerce portals like Shopify and WooCommerce.
4. Customer Service
Use a WhatsApp Chatbot
Once you integrate your eCommerce business with a WhatsApp chatbot you welcome the ease of conversational AI automation into your business.
A WhatsApp Chatbot plays the role of a qualified salesman and customer support agent for your e-commerce store.
Let's talk about everything a WhatsApp Chatbot can do for your store.
- Automates all frequently asked customer queries
- Collects information from incoming leads
- Helps complete sales process by giving personalised product recommendations and detail
- Collects customer feedback
- Handles all pre and post-purchase customer support queries
- Connects to a live agent when the situation requires
5. Sales
Leverage WhatsApp commerce.
WhatsApp commerce is a WhatsApp Business feature meant specifically for e-commerce. The feature follows a conversational commerce model to explore and exploit the intersection between messaging apps and shopping.
Integrate your eCommerce store product catalogue with WhatsApp and display your products on a separate panel for users to browse through. Customers can then click on their preferred product and add-to-cart to go ahead with a purchase.
WhatsApp Commerce allows you to sell directly on WhatsApp. It even provides a user experience(UX) design that syncs with the customer's mental mode to make shopping on the messaging app more convenient.
Sell with Engati’s Product Discovery feature
Engati's product discovery feature helps you complete your customer's WhatsApp e-Commerce experience. While WhatsApp allows customers to view your catalogue and add products to the cart, product discovery allows them to receive the product details and go ahead with the purchase. Through this feature, Engati's WhatsApp Chatbot segregates your merchandise into product categories, recommends similar products to your customers, helps manage carts, and facilitates payments, thus helping up-sell and cross-sell your products to your customer base. It also allows you to add different payment methods for your customer's convenience and helps you make more sales with less effort.
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