What is a WhatsApp Chatbot? A Complete Guide

Last festive season, an entrepreneur named Sanjay Kumar launched a clearance sale campaign for his D2C brand. This campaign saw a staggering 8.50% click-through rate (CTR) in an industry that has only 0.9% as an average. while lowering their operational effort as well.

Do you know what was the force behind such high open rates? 

WhatsApp!

Yes, the Whatsapp platform that has emerged of significant importance is a method that has revolutionised how companies interact with their customers; we call this WhatsApp Campaign Interactive Messages. 

With such high numbers, it’s time for businesses to think from first principles on What is a WhatsApp Chatbot and How to Create. You ask why? We’ll say using this conversational platform you can interact with customers and convert them better. Let's dive in and explore the Benefits of WhatsApp Chatbots.

You ask why?

We’ll say using this conversational platform you can interact with customers and convert them better. 

Let's dive in!

What is a WhatsApp Chatbot?

A WhatsApp AI chatbot is an automated conversational software designed to interact with users on WhatsApp, mimicking human-like responses to queries and providing instant support.

These 24X7 active bots can be programmed to handle various tasks, from answering frequently asked questions to guiding customers through the buying process, completing transactions, and even helping them find the right resource.

Convergence of messaging apps & shopping experience

‍How does a WhatsApp chatbot work?‍

The beauty of WhatsApp AI chatbots lies in their versatility and efficiency. They offer a cost-effective solution for businesses to provide round-the-clock customer support without needing a large support team. Chatbots can understand and interpret user inputs by leveraging natural language processing (NLP) capabilities, ensuring accurate and relevant responses.

Moreover, WhatsApp chatbots can seamlessly integrate with existing CRM systems, allowing businesses to streamline data management and track customer interactions. This is complemented by the rich media capabilities of WhatsApp that allow users to share images, videos, and documents, which further enhance the chatbot's ability to engage with users effectively.

By embracing WhatsApp chatbots, businesses can not only enhance customer support, drive lead generation, improve customer engagement, and boost sales. As technology advances, chatbots become increasingly sophisticated, offering personalised experiences and building stronger connections between businesses and their customers.

The potential for growth and innovation with WhatsApp chatbots is vast, making them an indispensable tool for modern businesses seeking to thrive in the digital landscape.

WhatsApp chatbot example

To illustrate the power of WhatsApp AI chatbots, let's consider a fictional D2C brand called "EcoFresh", which sells eco-friendly household products. EcoFresh implemented a WhatsApp chatbot to enhance customer experience and automate support.

When a user inquires about their product range, the chatbot responds with relevant product information and offers a link to the website for more details. The chatbot efficiently provides shipping details and estimated delivery times if a customer has a specific question about delivery options. By integrating the chatbot with their CRM system, EcoFresh can also send personalised product recommendations based on the customer's previous purchases.

Interesting? Let’s see some of the best Whatsapp chatbots in India.

1. JioMart WhatsApp AI Chatbot:

JioMart, an e-commerce platform operated by Reliance Retail, recently introduced a new WhatsApp Chatbot that helps users to place their orders. This is possible via a digital catalogue present on WhatsApp.

The process starts by Initiating the Conversation, post which the user searches for the product and the chatbot provides recommendations (if there is previous data of the user present). This is followed by placing an order via the preferred payment mode. The user can further track his order via this chatbot itself.

2. EaseMyTrip AI Chatbot

An Indian online travel company that focuses on providing the best airfare, hotels, railways, cabs, and more. EaseMyTrip uses their Whatsapp chatbot for various reasons, like updating their users about the latest offers across their website or even offering travel packages based on the user's history, marital status, and other factors.

The best part, they also launch collaborative campaigns direct to users’ Whatsapp inboxes.

3. Lenskart AI Chatbot

Lesnkart, an eyewear retail chain brand, launched a WhatsApp chatbot in an AI-powered virtual assistant capacity that allows customers to interact with the brand directly through WhatsApp. Right from product information to buying and tacking, everything is offered on the chatbot.

Their chatbot also offers a Virtual Try-On option where users can upload their photo and virtually try different frames to see how they look.

4. Dunzo AI Chatbot

Dunzo, an Indian hyperlocal delivery service, had integrated a WhatsApp chatbot to facilitate customer interactions and offer convenient order placements.

The Dunzo WhatsApp chatbot serves as an AI-powered virtual assistant to assist users with various tasks related to ordering groceries, medicines, and other essentials.

5. Paytm AI Chatbot

Paytm for business WA chatbot is meant to target merchants for a number of campaigns. These include selling their POS machine, information about credit lines, and new products that can help the merchant increase their revenues.

Why use WhatsApp chatbots?

With such enormous usage of WhatsApp AI Chatbots across industries, we’re sure you would have realised why your business should also plan to serve customers via such a tool. With that, let us lay down a few of the most significant aspects of this below:

1. Serves your customer 24X7: 

One of the most significant advantages is the ability to provide round-the-clock customer support. With WhatsApp chatbots, your business remains accessible even outside regular business hours, ensuring that your customers never feel ignored or left hanging, no matter the time zone they are in.

2. Automate queries and FAQs:

Customers expect quick and precise answers to their queries in today's fast-paced world. WhatsApp chatbots excel in providing instant responses, enhancing customer satisfaction and engagement. Customers no longer have to wait anxiously for human assistance, making their experience seamless and efficient.

3. Free up the support team’s bandwidth: 

By automating routine queries and support tasks, your customer support team can focus on more complex and critical issues. The chatbots handle common inquiries, freeing up your human agents' time, enhancing overall efficiency and allowing your team to deliver more personalised and high-quality support.

4. Lower operational costs:

Embracing chatbots brings significant cost savings to your business. By reducing the dependency on a large customer support team, you can optimise your resources and allocate human resources where they are most needed. This not only lowers operational costs but also helps achieve a better return on investment (ROI).

5. Target users with personalised offers: 

Advanced chatbots have the ability to analyse customer data and preferences. Leveraging this insight, you can deliver personalised recommendations and offers to your customers, creating a unique and tailored experience for each individual. Personalisation fosters stronger customer relationships and boosts customer loyalty, setting your business apart from the competition.

By leveraging the power of WhatsApp chatbots, your business gains a competitive edge in the market, delivering exceptional customer service, improving efficiency, and maximising cost-effectiveness. The seamless integration of chatbots into your business strategy sets the stage for elevated customer experiences and sustainable growth.

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Why Does Your Business Need a WhatsApp Chatbot?

While there are many pre-built WhatsApp AI chatbot solutions available, creating your own chatbot offers several advantages:

1. Customisation: 

Building your WhatsApp AI chatbot for website allows you to create a highly customised solution tailored precisely to your unique business needs. This level of personalisation ensures a seamless and unparalleled customer experience, setting your brand apart from competitors and resonating with your target audience.

2. Control: 

When you develop a custom chatbot, you gain complete control over its responses and behaviour. This autonomy allows you to fine-tune the chatbot's interactions to align perfectly with your brand's voice, values, and overall identity. Your chatbot becomes an authentic extension of your brand, fostering stronger connections with customers.

3. Scalability: 

A custom chatbot ensures that it can scale effortlessly alongside your business growth. As customer demands evolve, your chatbot adapts accordingly, accommodating larger user bases and increased interactions without compromising performance. The flexibility to scale empowers your business to handle peaks in customer engagement seamlessly.

4. Data Privacy: 

Creating your chatbot from scratch means you have full control over customer data handling and storage. You can implement robust data privacy measures and ensure compliance with relevant regulations, safeguarding sensitive customer information from unauthorised access or breaches. Customers trust your brand, knowing their data is in safe hands.

By building a custom WhatsApp AI chatbot for website, your business unlocks a realm of possibilities. From personalised experiences to enhanced data security and control, the benefits reverberate through every customer interaction, cementing your position as a customer-centric, forward-thinking brand. Embrace the power of customisation and watch your chatbot become an indispensable asset in your growth journey.

How to Build a WhatsApp Chatbot for Business

A WhatsApp AI chatbot for website gets seamlessly integrated into your Whatsapp Business account via a platform like Pragma. With Pragma, you can create unlimited chatbots across WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram for all possible scenarios like order status, payment issues, returns etc.

This further reduces human efforts, automating the maximum chunk of your incoming customer queries (up to 95%) and offers multi-lingual support in 16+ languages and follows up smartly with our powerful NLP

Now, let's delve into the process of creating your own WhatsApp chatbot without needing to write a single line of code. We’ve created simple steps for you to follow and embark on your chatbot journey.

Step 1: Sign up with Pragma

Visit the Pragma website and sign up for an account. Pragma offers a user-friendly interface that makes chatbot creation a breeze, even for those without technical expertise.

Step2: Connect your WhatsApp Account

Once you've signed up, you can connect your WhatsApp Business Account to Pragma directly from the dashboard. This integration allows your chatbot to interact with users on WhatsApp seamlessly, with inputs going directly from Pragma platform.

Step 3: Define Your Chatbot's Purpose and Scope

Before you start building your chatbot, it's essential for you to define its purpose and the tasks it will handle clearly, decide on the types of queries it will respond to and the topics it can provide information on like returns, tracking shipment, catalogue, or even payment related queries.

Step 4: Design the Conversation Flow

Using Pragma's intuitive visual editor, design the conversation flow of your chatbot. Drag and drop chat elements to create quick replies by using shortcuts and existing templates to answer users’ queries, offering an interactive and engaging conversation.

Step 5: Add Natural Language Processing (NLP)

To make your chatbot more human-like and capable of understanding user inputs, leverage Pragma's NLP capabilities. This ensures that your chatbot comprehends various phrasings and responds appropriately.

Step 6: Test Your Chatbot

Once you've completed the design, thoroughly test your chatbot to ensure it functions flawlessly. Pragma lets you preview and test your chatbot in real time before deploying it.

Step 7: Deploy Your WhatsApp Chatbot

After successful testing, deploy your chatbot to your WhatsApp Business Account. Now, your chatbot is ready to assist your customers on WhatsApp, providing them with quick and accurate responses.

WhatsApp Chatbot Best Practices and Message Templates

Using WhatsApp chatbots effectively requires more than just building one—it’s essential to follow best practices to ensure smooth interaction and customer satisfaction. Here are some key strategies and message templates to make the most of your WhatsApp chatbot:

Best Practices for WhatsApp Chatbots

1. Set Clear Expectations
   • Inform users at the start of the conversation that they are interacting with a chatbot and outline what the bot can help them with.
2. Offer Easy Escalation to Human Agents
   • Provide an option for users to connect with a human agent if the bot cannot resolve their issue.
3. Use Natural Language Processing (NLP)
   • Train your chatbot to recognise and respond to natural language to create a more human-like conversation experience.
4. Personalise Responses
   • Use customer names and past interactions to deliver personalised messages that improve engagement.
5. Comply with WhatsApp’s Guidelines
   • Ensure your bot follows WhatsApp’s policies on messaging frequency and content to avoid penalties or account restrictions.
6. Keep Messages Short and Simple
   • WhatsApp is a fast-paced messaging platform, so concise and clear responses are essential to keep users engaged.
7. Test and Optimise Frequently
   • Regularly review conversations to identify improvement areas and update templates or scripts as needed.

Message Templates for WhatsApp Chatbots

Below are some template examples to get started with WhatsApp chatbot messaging:

1. Welcome Message

“Hi [Customer Name]! 👋 Welcome to [Your Business]. How can I assist you today?”

2. Order Confirmation Message

“Thank you for your purchase, [Customer Name]! 🎉 Your order [Order ID] has been confirmed. We’ll notify you when it’s on the way.”

3. Abandoned Cart Reminder

“Hi [Customer Name], we noticed you left some items in your cart. Don’t miss out! Use code SAVE10 for a 10% discount at checkout.”

4. Appointment Reminder

“This is a reminder for your appointment with [Business Name] on [Date] at [Time]. Reply with ‘Confirm’ or ‘Reschedule’ if needed.”

5. Customer Support Follow-Up

“Hi [Customer Name], we wanted to check in and ensure your issue was resolved. Is there anything else we can help you with?”

Challenges in WhatsApp Chatbot Implementation

While WhatsApp chatbots can greatly enhance customer experience, businesses may face challenges during implementation. Here are some common obstacles and how to overcome them:

1. Initial Setup Complexity
   • Challenge: Setting up the chatbot requires technical expertise to integrate with WhatsApp Business API.
   • Solution: Work with experienced developers or use chatbot-building platforms with pre-built WhatsApp integrations.
2. Message Limitations and Compliance
   • Challenge: WhatsApp restricts the types of messages businesses can send, particularly unsolicited ones.
   • Solution: Focus on sending customer-initiated messages and ensure compliance with WhatsApp’s message policy.
3. Handling Complex Queries
   • Challenge: Bots may struggle with understanding nuanced or complex customer issues.
   • Solution: Use NLP and provide easy handoffs to human agents for difficult conversations.
4. Bot Fatigue
   • Challenge: Users may get frustrated if the chatbot is repetitive or unhelpful.
   • Solution: Optimise conversations through regular review and A/B testing to improve responses and performance.
5. Security and Data Privacy Issues
   • Challenge: Handling sensitive data over WhatsApp requires robust security measures and compliance with GDPR.

Solution: Use end-to-end encryption and ensure users are aware of how their data will be used.

Key Metrics for WhatsApp Chatbots

To ensure your WhatsApp chatbot performs well, it’s important to track and analyse key metrics regularly. Below are the most relevant KPIs to monitor:

1. First Response Time (FRT)
   • Measures how quickly the chatbot responds to an initial query. A fast FRT indicates a responsive system and keeps customers engaged.
2. Chatbot Resolution Rate
   • Tracks the percentage of queries the chatbot resolves without needing human intervention. A higher resolution rate reflects better bot efficiency.
3. Escalation Rate
   • The number of conversations handed off to a human agent. A high escalation rate may indicate that the bot needs better training.
4. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
   • After interactions, businesses can ask customers to rate their experience. High CSAT scores reflect a positive user experience with the bot.
5. Abandonment Rate
   • Measures how many users leave a conversation before the issue is resolved. High abandonment rates suggest frustration or poor bot performance.
6. Re-engagement Rate
   • Tracks how often customers return to interact with the bot. A higher re-engagement rate indicates that customers find value in the chatbot.
7. Message Success Rate
   • This metric measures how many messages are successfully delivered and read by users, helping you assess the effectiveness of your communication.
8. Conversion Rate

If your chatbot supports sales, this metric tracks how many interactions lead to successful purchases or bookings.

Top 5 benefits of using WhatsApp chatbots

As we have already seen, a WhatsApp chatbot can open new doors for your business. Be it interacting seamlessly with customers in tracking orders, helping them walk through your product catalogue or even making them choose the best payment option, a WhatsApp Chatbot can perform all these tasks.

The best part is - it reduces the bandwidth of the customer support team by automating responses to customer queries, and the team can focus on much more important tasks - bringing in more business.

So, to help you source your next investment in the field of automating your customer support, it's essential to choose the right platform. Pragma's WhatsApp Business Suite offers a range of benefits that can take your customer support and engagement to new heights:

1. Automate over 75% of Support: 

With automation in sales, marketing, and customer support teams, you can increase marketing and sales qualified leads, freeing up your team's time for more critical tasks.

2. 3X Customer Experience: 

Offer instant support and query resolution with a best-in-class user experience, 24/7, to over 2 billion WhatsApp users worldwide.

3. Boost Support Team's Productivity by 2x:

Empower your support team by automating quick responses to specific questions, allowing them to focus on more critical aspects of customer service.

4. Focused Buying Experience:

Customers can browse, place orders, make payments, and track their orders, all within WhatsApp, providing a seamless and convenient buying journey.

5. Improve Conversions: 

Leverage WhatsApp's high campaign open rates, easy access to catalogs, and seamless payment options to enhance conversions and drive revenue growth.

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Conclusion

That’s All, Folks!

With WhatsApp chatbots being a game-changer product for businesses, platforms like Pragma have made it even easier to help you create your own chatbot. Whether you are a D2C brand, an e-commerce business, or a service provider, integrating a WhatsApp chatbot into your strategy can significantly benefit your operations and customer satisfaction. Enhance your service with WhatsApp for Customer Support

Start creating your WhatsApp chatbot with Pragma today and watch how you can automate things to a large extent with better revenue inflows, reaching new heights. 

How about we help your sales team to hit the targets for this quarter?emember, the future of customer engagement lies in AI-powered chatbots, and WhatsApp chatbots are leading the way! Stay ahead of the curve and provide exceptional customer experiences with your very own WhatsApp chatbot. Until next time, stay safe, and take care!

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FAQs:

What is a WhatsApp Chatbot, and why is it essential for my D2C business?

Answer: A WhatsApp chatbot is an automated conversational software designed to interact with users on WhatsApp, by enabling 24/7 customer support, automating queries, lowering operational costs, and delivering personalised offers

How does a WhatsApp Chatbot work, and what tasks can it handle?

Answer: A WhatsApp chatbot uses natural language processing (NLP) capabilities to understand user inputs and provide relevant responses. It can handle various tasks, including acting as a support agent, guiding customers through the buying process, completing transactions, etc.

Why should my D2C brand consider creating our own WhatsApp Chatbot?

Answer: Creating a custom WhatsApp chatbot offers several advantages, including complete customisation, full control over responses, and robust data privacy measures for handling customer information securely.

Can I create WhatsApp Chatbot without coding?

Answer: Yes, with a platform like Pragma, you can create a WhatsApp chatbot without coding. Simply, after signing up on Pragma, you can connect your WhatsApp business account, and define the chatbot's purpose and scope. Post this, you can easily design the conversation flow, add natural language processing (NLP) capabilities, test the chatbot, and deploy it to your WhatsApp Business Account.

Why should a D2C brand choose Pragma for its WhatsApp Chatbot integration?

Answer: Pragma's WhatsApp Business Suite offers numerous benefits, including automating over 75% of support tasks, delivering 3X customer experience, and boosting support team productivity by 2X while offering a focused buying experience with order tracking options for the customer.