WhatsApp Business API: Enhance Your Customer Communications

We are excited to announce the availability of the WhatsApp Business API and its early access program. By introducing WhatsApp Business API, Infobip now enables enterprises and financial institutions to engage and hold one-on-one conversations with a potential market of over one and a half billion people in 180 countries.

Customer experience is a brand’s biggest asset today. To optimize it, messaging channels have become one of the most convenient and effective ways to communicate with a company or financial service. With WhatsApp Business, enterprises can expand their customer-centric dialogue on a chat app their customers already trust and enjoy.

There are several ways businesses can use WhatsApp Business to connect with customers and enhance the customer experience.

Businesses can better engage with customers through real-time conversations and rich communications functionalities. Businesses can immediately respond to inquiries by sending and receiving rich messages with high-resolution images, QR codes, text, file and document sharing.

WhatsApp Business API makes it simple for enterprises to personalize the content of messages for each customer. Personalization includes user attributes such as the customer’s name, user behavior (previous purchase orders for example) or location (country, city).

Today, personalization is key for enterprise communications. According to Business Insider, 47 percent of customers will leave a brand’s website if they don’t get customized product lists or information.

Clients and customers want the highest level of security, especially when it comes to personal financial data or payment information. WhatsApp Business API provides a safe and secure, yet convenient way for customers to chat with their preferred business or financial institution.

WhatsApp Business confirms customers are communicating with a verified business. The customer also approves the dialogue by opting-in before the communication with a specific business takes place. Customers can also be the first to initiate the contact and provide consent to interact.

WhatsApp Business is a highly measurable chat app that monitors in real-time whether someone is responding to your messages or writing back and engaging in the conversation. Businesses can also receive status delivery and messages seen reports, helping to optimize future conversations even further.

A recent report shows that customers don’t enjoy having phone conversations for customer service issues. When they’re speaking with someone on the phone, they find it challenging to multi-task and feel they are wasting valuable time. On the flip side, waiting for an email is a painfully slow and often frustrating process. Therefore, it’s essential for enterprises to run communication programs based on audience needs. Providing efficient and direct service-related information through chat apps creates value and enhances the customer service experience.

A study from digital commerce company SAP Hybris found that when it comes to customer service, standards are very high, with 87 percent of customers expecting a response within 24 hours, and 20 percent within just one hour.

WhatsApp Business API will allow enterprises or organizations to communicate with their audience on a chat app they are already enjoying. Infobip enables this communication in an efficient and convenient way, making it possible for enterprises to scale their communications, grow brand loyalty and fuel engagement, vital in today’s business world.

According to PwC, 73 percent of all shoppers consider customer experience a key factor in their purchasing decisions, followed by price and product quality. Yet, only 49 percent of consumers in the United States say that the level of customer service they receive is satisfactory overall.

From booking confirmations and hotel check-ins, to important time-sensitive updates like flight status information, customers can now stay informed using the most-used messaging app in 180 countries, WhatsApp.

Using a conversational approach through WhatsApp, where the response arrives within seconds, it’s easy to address a customer concern with immediate attention. This builds added trust, credibility and increased customer engagement.

There are two ways that can be utilized in communicating with your audience, depending on the needs of your business.

Leveraging WhatsApp Business, customers will have the option to receive important banking transaction alerts in real-time. For example, if a credit card has been compromised, the bank agent can reach out and notify the user immediately via chat app instead of over the phone.

Transactional inquiries: For everyday banking issues, instead of accessing a banking app, reaching out to a call center or visiting a local branch, clients can efficiently communicate over WhatsApp and inquire about everything from the status of a mortgage application, to the process of opening a bank account.

Customer support: Banks can also conveniently administrate support and time-efficient responses to new inquires over WhatsApp Business, all within the app. This helps them avoid app development and the management of mobile sessions needed in the typical mobile bank application.

Through WhatsApp Business API, businesses can reach shoppers where they are already having conversations, at a scale not previously possible. Shoppers can now easily and quickly resolve issues and stay informed during their entire shopping journey.

Customer experience: It is more convenient for shoppers to speak with a customer support agent on WhatsApp rather than using a private chat service on a website. Using a chat app, merchandise returns or payment issues that need quick resolution can be handled quickly, without the need for a standard phone call into customer service.

Purchase and product availability: Keep your customers informed with order confirmations and delivery tracking. Or, notify buyers once a product is back in stock. This is a faster, simpler, and richer experience than mobile app interactions, which require users to navigate through a mobile app, click on different links, load new pages, and wait for confirmation.

As an official WhatsApp Business solutions provider, Infobip is part of the early access program. This means that we’ll be onboarding businesses and financial institutions to WhatsApp gradually, through a review process, assuring quality and value for both enterprises and customers.