Two products, one name
WhatsApp offers two business products. The WhatsApp Business app is a free app for a shop owner or a small team talking to customers by hand. The WhatsApp Business Platform is for businesses that connect WhatsApp to software and send messages at scale. For most single-shop owners, the app is where to start.
What the app gives you
From WhatsApp's own description:
- A business profile with your description, email, website, address and other details.
- A catalogue, where customers can browse, select and share your products or services.
- A greeting message and an away message that reply automatically, including when you are unavailable.
- Quick replies: saved answers to common questions.
- Labels and lists to sort chats and contacts so you remember to follow up.
- Customer notes.
- Measurement tools that show statistics about your conversations and sent messages.
- Click-to-WhatsApp ads that start a chat.
- A way to restore a personal WhatsApp backup and move chats, media and contacts to the business app.
A simple set-up for a salon or clinic (our advice)
Fill in the profile completely, with hours and address. Write a greeting that says what the shop does and how to book. Add an away message that gives your opening time. Save quick replies for the questions you answer every day, such as price, location and parking. Use labels like new, confirmed and follow-up, and look at them at the end of each day.
Where the app stops
The app is made for people typing. If you want software to send reminders, or you want many team members and systems to share one number, you are into the WhatsApp Business Platform. That brings the Business Messaging Policy: you may contact only people who opted in, you must make opting out easy, and conversations you start must use approved message templates. Replies inside the 24-hour window do not need a template.
Rules that apply in both
Do not message people who did not agree to hear from you. Honour every block and opt-out. Keep your profile accurate and do not share one customer's chat with another. Our guide on messaging customers without getting blocked goes through the policy in detail. If more than one person uses the shop phone, agree who answers during which hours, so that customers never get two different answers to the same question.
Fill in your business profile and write one greeting message today.
How this post was made: an AI drafted it from the official pages listed under Sources, every figure was checked against those pages, and the Reveaxa team approved it before it was published. Our own advice is marked as such. If a source changes, we update the post and its date.
Reveaxa guide reference: RVX-B-whatsapp-business-app-for-small-shops