‘With WhatsApp Business, we see significant opportunity to bridge digital divide in India’: Meta exec Ravi Garg

Adding features to WhatsApp Business 

To enhance the user experience, WhatsApp Business has, over time, introduced rich media capabilities as well as Flows for complex interactions like booking tickets or making reservations, native payment integration, automated customer service solutions, and bringing in support for as many as 13 Indian languages. 

“If you want to buy something from a website, that website can now generate a catalogue on WhatsApp and provide a full shopping experience, including native payments. If you want to book a movie ticket, you can now pick your seat directly on WhatsApp,” Garg said.

Garg also said that WhatsApp Business will get voice calling soon. “While chatting, if it’s not possible to explain everything in text, users will be able to trigger a phone call on WhatsApp that the business can respond to,” Garg explained.

Ravi Garg believes the large swathe of Indian businesses willing to experiment with conversational platforms offers Meta a unique opportunity. (Image: Meta)

Talking about features, Garg also said that Meta will soon be integrating AI capabilities. According to him, AI will be transformative for conversations, especially for markets like India where people may not be tech-savvy or comfortable typing in English. “They’ll be able to use voice in their local language, and AI will interpret what they want, get the right information from the business, and send it back,” he said.

However, Garg said businesses should use the tool in the right manner. “Some businesses think of WhatsApp as SMS and want to send multiple messages. This doesn’t work because users don’t want spam on WhatsApp. Businesses need to learn to personalise every conversation and create cohorts of their customers to send relevant messages,” he explained.

WhatsApp as a business tool

Meta caters to different business segments. At present, it focuses on two main solutions – WhatsApp Business Platform aimed at large and mid-size enterprises that require extensive automation, and WhatsApp Small Business App, designed for small businesses with simpler needs. Both platforms aim to offer rich, two-way conversations between businesses and customers. 

Garg also shared a few WhatsApp Business success stories. Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance reported a 14 per cent increase in new policy leads after using business messaging to drive insurance renewals and engagements. Another company, W, a clothing brand, built an AI agent on WhatsApp that allowed customers to try on clothes simply by clicking a selfie, resulting in 65 per cent more engagement.

On privacy concerns

Data privacy has been one of the big concerns with digital messaging platforms. When asked about privacy and guardrails on WhatsApp Business, Garg explained, “Every message on WhatsApp is end-to-end encrypted, including business messages. Even Meta cannot read these messages.” 

Garg also said, “Opt-ins are mandatory – no business can reach out to a user unless the user has given consent. We do a strong verification process before businesses can be onboard on our platform. Users can block or report businesses. If we see a certain fraction of people reporting a business, we take action.”