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As the eCommerce industry grows astonishingly, businesses are witnessing a significant shift in how they operate and interact with customers. However, this rapid expansion brings with it certain challenges that eCommerce businesses must overcome to thrive in this competitive landscape.
With millions of businesses vying for attention across all niches, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for individual eCommerce stores to stand out.
WhatsApp, one of the most popular texting platforms, has evolved beyond just messaging to become a powerful platform for eCommerce.
If you want to maximise the potential of your eCommerce business, start leveraging WhatsApp Business API’s features, which help you improve your customer experience, manage orders, showcase products, promote deals, and boost sales.
WhatsApp also helps recover abandoned carts, provides personalised shopping experiences, and engages with customers instantly.
So, without further ado, let’s delve into the world of WhatsApp eCommerce and learn some of the game-changing WhatsApp eCommerce strategies that can help multiply your lead generation and conversions.
Running an eCommerce business isn’t an easy job, as it comes with numerous challenges. So, let’s know more about them in detail-
Ever wondered why your customers add items to their cart only to get distracted and abandon the purchase?
Abandoned carts are like missed opportunities.
eCommerce businesses often face this issue as shoppers change their minds or are distracted, or it might happen due to technical errors.
You might be amazed to know that the global online shopping cart abandonment rate reached 70.19% in 2023, crossing the 70% mark for the first time in a decade.
Making customers come back to purchase can be daunting in the eCommerce industry. Along with enticing new customers, it is crucial to retain existing customers.
Thus, getting re-orders can be a massive issue if customers don’t come back to make a second purchase.
Many customers prefer cash on delivery, but this has various drawbacks for eCommerce businesses. Numerous customers refuse COD orders upon delivery, which might lead to inconvenience and extra costs for your business.
You might run various ad campaigns on different platforms, such as Facebook, Google, Instagram, etc., requiring a significant investment to run them.
But, it can be disappointing when users click on the ads and visit your website but leave without buying anything. The reason behind it can be a disparity between the ad and website content or a problem with your targeting.
Internal image text- Craft Potent WhatsApp eCommerce Strategies That Drive Sales
In the fast-paced world of eCommerce, staying ahead of your competition is not important but essential. For this, you need to embrace innovative solutions.
Let’s dive and get informed about how the WhatsApp messaging platform can transform your online business-
The best way to recover abandoned carts is by using WhatsApp. Do this by setting up automated messages to remind customers about their abandoned carts.
For example, you can write something like this to your prospect:
“Hi Nia! 😊 Looks like you left some awesome items in your cart. Your new pair of shoes is waiting for you! Want to complete your purchase now?”
Add a direct link to their cart, and you’ve just made it incredibly easy for them to complete their purchase. It’s like having a friendly shop assistant right in their pocket!
Personalising these messages using the customer’s name, product name, cart value, and other parameters helps establish a connection and describe the value of your products.
Sending these notifications is one of the best WhatsApp eCommerce strategies. This gentle reminder often persuades users to return to their cart and purchase the product.
Thus, WhatsApp, in a way, helps you recover a great percentage of potentially lost customers.
Do not send one-off abandoned cart reminders. Instead, a multi-step abandoned cart reminder can help you recover almost 100% of your sales!
Nobody likes to be left in the dark about their orders. By integrating WhatsApp with your eCommerce platform, you can automatically send order confirmations, shipping details, payment status, and other notifications to your customers.
The major benefit of this WhatsApp marketing strategy is that it keeps your customers informed and engaged throughout their buying journey.
Let’s understand this with the help of an example.
Suppose you run an online grocery store. When customers make purchases, they expect to receive an immediate confirmation.
By using WhatsApp’s automatic notifications, you can inform them about the payment received, order confirmation, and delivery status. This will help enhance their trust and engagement with your brand.
Cash on delivery orders see the highest number of cancellations and returns. Various customers choose COD, but at the time, they refuse to take the order or pay for it. This is called Return to Origin (RTO) issues.
The order is returned, and the eCommerce business owner must incur double shipping charges.
You can limit these risks by sending a WhatsApp verification message after they process the COD order. For example, set up an automated WhatsApp reminder for COD orders to ensure the buyer ‘remembers’ having purchased from your store.
Furthermore, you can minimise these losses; the best approach is to provide instant discounts to customers through WhatsApp during their purchase, particularly when they are about to order COD. This can be bait for customers to buy pre-paid orders to avail themselves of extra discounts.
This innovative template, recently launched by Meta, is getting a lot of attention these days.
Carousel templates let you send up to 10 scrollable cards. Each card can feature images or videos, detailed descriptions, and two buttons that could link to replies, phone numbers, or URLs. By offering all the information in a compact format, carousel templates improve interaction.
The best part?
It enables you to convey a lot of information in one single message, making it more efficient and impactful.
Using carousels to present newly launched products, exclusive offers, upsell items, etc., can be a great marketing strategy for your eCommerce business.
To make things easier for customers, you can create multi-product catalogues and send them through WhatsApp. This platform allows your customers to browse catalogues, learn more about your products, add items to their carts, and complete purchases without leaving WhatsApp.
This feature is very convenient for customers as they can do everything on one platform, making it easy to convert leads and boost sales.
Another noteworthy feature of WhatsApp is that it enables businesses to update their catalogues to reflect changes in product offerings. This real-time updating of the product offering, price, or promotions ensures that customers always have access to the updated information, fostering a sense of trust and reliability.
Although it is one of the most underutilised features, it enables you to create a hassle-free buying journey for your customers.
Pro Tip: Use good-quality images and short product descriptions to create an immersive and attractive shopping experience for customers.
This WhatsApp feature is an added advantage for both eCommerce businesses and users. The more options you provide, the happier the customer becomes. It will be easier for them to make payments, which will elevate your conversion rate.
The best part about the WhatsApp payment feature is that it lets customers pay through different channels such as UPI (Gpay, Paytm, Phonepe), Cards (debit/ credit cards), and Net Banking, streamlining the payment process directly within the app.
Furthermore, your customers don’t need to leave the app and go to another platform to complete the transaction, which reduces drop-offs during shopping.
Click-to-WhatsApp ads are an excellent way to make your marketing campaign more interactive. There are various ways to increase engagement through these ad campaigns. First, as soon as the customer clicks on the ad, they should receive a welcome message and opt-in.
After opt-in, offer them the option to continue shopping on WhatsApp and set up an automated workflow that will provide them with the updated catalogue, deals, and discounts.
Here are some of the significant benefits of running these ads-
Thus, providing businesses with instant customer connections to personalised shopping experiences, these ads act as a powerful tool to drive growth and customer satisfaction.
Adding a WhatsApp Button widget on your eCommerce website will not only guide your customers to make their buying journey easy but also enhance their shopping experience by giving them access with a single click, which ultimately drives your business forward.
An added advantage of this button is that it enables you to keep customers engaged even after they leave the website.
Using this button, customers can directly chat with you, which can turn their buying experience into a positive one.
Additionally, WhatsApp for eCommerce makes it easy for customers to inquire about products, get assistance, or place orders. So, if you add a well-designed add-to-cart button, it can serve as a clear call to action, guiding customers through their shopping journey.
In a world where digital noise is at an all-time high, sharing your website links across all platforms can be a great opportunity to stand out from competitors and earn loyalty.
By integrating WhatsApp across all platforms, you can directly interact with your customers in a way that is both instant and personal.
Another benefit is that your potential or existing customers will be able to send direct messages using WhatsApp. This will boost engagement and nurture relationships with your customers.
By placing WhatsApp links on your social media profiles, you’re giving customers the royal treatment. They can reach out through their preferred platform anytime and anywhere.
Purchasing is just one step in the customer’s buying journey. However, you also need to provide post-purchase services by offering excellent customer support.
Note: Do not overlook post-purchase services, as they can make or break your eCommerce business.
You can use WhatsApp chatbots to provide round-the-clock support to your customers.
There are various benefits of these chatbots, as customers get instant solutions to their common queries without having to wait.
Plus, these chatbots support multiple languages, which can widen your support without paying hefty salaries to personnel and handle hundreds of queries simultaneously without breaking the bank.
Today, many eCommerce businesses are using WhatsApp chatbots because they offer personalised recommendations tailored to their customers’ purchase and browsing history and preferences, which can help increase sales tremendously.
By now, you know the benefits of using WhatsApp for eCommerce businesses, but how to get started? Go through the below points:
WhatsApp offers two tools to market your eCommerce Business-
You can use the WhatsApp Business app for free. Here is how to use WhatsApp business for eCommerce-
Step 1- Download the WhatsApp business app
Step 2- Create your WhatsApp business profile, and add a business name, category, profile photo, business description and address
Step 3- It allows you to customise business working hours and add automated welcome messages and product catalogues.
This is it! Your WhatsApp business account is now set up and ready to use for your eCommerce business.
Let’s dig in to know the various benefits of using it-
Here are some potential drawbacks of using WhatsApp Business app-
Mid and large-sized organisations primarily use this WhatsApp tool to enhance their customer service operations and boost WhatsApp sales.
WhatsApp Business API can be used for many purposes, such as:
Here are the steps to set up a WhatsApp Business API-
Step 1- Choose a trusted Business Solution Provider (BSP).
Step 2- Submit your business details to the BSP; they will forward it to WhatsApp.
Step 3- Wait for the approval from WhatsApp, as it can take some time.
Step 4- Once you get the approval, you can create your WhatsApp business profile.
A lot of businesses do not opt for this tool because-
WhatsApp is more than just a messaging app—it’s a powerful platform that can transform your eCommerce business. From creating stunning product catalogues to providing top-notch customer support, the possibilities are endless.
Remember, the key to success on WhatsApp is to be genuine, responsive, and valuable to your customers. Start small, try different approaches, and watch your business grow.
Ready to take your eCommerce game to the next level with WhatsApp? Don’t wait. Your customers are just a message away!
Start Leveraging WhatsApp Today!
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