WhatsApp Launches 'Verification Tick' For SMEs

WhatsApp on Thursday launched its verification tick for small and medium enterprises in India. This was just one of the key announcements made by Meta India aimed at boosting the country's small and medium enterprises.

The technology conglomerate also unveiled a slew of other fresh features on the application to promote ease of doing business.

At WhatsApp Business Summit, held in Mumbai on Thursday, parent Meta came up with the new Meta-verified badges for Indian SMEs that will not just give more visibility to emerging brands but will also equip them with "efficiency tools" to make any professional or financial transaction better on the app.

The verification tick will show across WhatsApp channels and business pages on the app.

Meta India also announced new features that allow businesses to customise messages with assistance from AI. It will help businesses to give a personal touch to their conversations with customers by helping them give required product recommendations, schedule deliveries, send wishes on important days, etc.

Some other features include enabling AI-backed voice assistants for companies to address customers' queries and helping companies strengthen in-house communication with employees.

The messaging platform also announced a new initiative, WhatsApp Bharat Yatra, under which it will train over 20,000 SMEs in at least 10 cities of India to grow their businesses through the app.

"We want them (SMEs) to set up their business accounts, help them create catalogues, educate them on WhatsApp ads and much more," said Sandhya Devanathan, vice president at Meta India.

"Meta is also building a resource centre on the app and on the website, which will help as a tutorial for the brands," she added.

According to WhatsApp, there is fresh data that two out of three Indians prefer interacting with businesses through messaging.

Now, it is not just being used for messaging or chatting, but businesses also use it in their day-to-day operations.

The Meta India VP sees a lot of untapped potential in India's 450 million non-savvy digital users, who go digital for messaging, social media interactions, entertainment, and payments but not for trade or business. This is against the 200 million savvy digital users who shop on e-commerce platforms and websites.

Meanwhile, over 650 million users use applications only for messaging and social interactions, according to data shared by WhatsApp and Bain & Co.

The company also showcased several case studies of Indian enterprises, which have used WhatsApp to boost sales, curtail operational costs, and provide better customer satisfaction.

For instance, Maruti Suzuki has shown a 10.5% increase in its test drive requests through WhatsApp.

Apollo Diagnostics showed a 49% increase in booking for services like blood tests and a 72% increase in its revenue per year by incorporating a more engaging appointment scheduling experience through WhatsApp Flows.

Jewellery giant Tanishq has generated Rs 4.1 crore in revenue from WhatsApp, followed by an improved return on advertisement spend with WhatsApp, according to the report.

According to Slurrp Farm Co-founder Shauvari Malik, the kid food company has been able to establish a personalised, direct connection with customers with the use of WhatsApp for payments, marketing, and featuring their content in a more effective way. As a result, the company is willing to incorporate more AI-backed assistance into its system.

"Chatbot is better as a placeholder; it makes communication two-way, and WhatsApp has largely replaced emails and SMSes," Malik told NDTV Profit.

"Three million of our customers, which is 90% (of the total), actually interact with us through WhatsApp. The cost of opening a branch will be around Rs 15 lakh per annum, but I can interact with the same number of customers through WhatsApp without opening a branch, which is a significant cost reduction," Tarun Chugh, chief executive officer at Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Ltd., told this business news channel.

He added that the company is using "knowledge" chatbots and their customised Bajaj Allianz Life GPT app to help and communicate with customers efficiently, the use of which will only expand in the future.

Companies are also able to communicate in various vernacular languages. "Four out of 10 completed overall transactions have happened over vernacular mediums, which has only enhanced our businesses. We are planning to add two more vernacular languages to interact with customers on WhatsApp, thereby totalling them to six," Chugh added.