The Way Apps Like WhatsApp, WeChat May Make Money Whilst Offering Free Texting And Calling1810725
Ever thought about the way a messaging app could make money whilst giving free texting and calling? WhatsApp users at India could be surprised to discover that there is more to messaging apps than communicating. Here's how: by providing services such as digital payments, online shopping as well as content.
China's WeChat is among the best example of the vast possibilities that messaging apps hold. With more than Nine hundred million monthly active users, WeChat enables them to do almost everything from messaging, buying grocery, hailing cabs, buying online food and also offline payments at restaurants - all this without having to go to another app. These types of services not only offer the company extraordinary customer stickiness, they also create a wonderful revenue model.
At this point, WeChat's competitors outside China including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Viber as well as Line are behind the curve on this front, although some have started on the path to becoming bigger platforms. "The reason chat apps are expanding beyond communications is to create a lasting monetisation strategy," said Neha Dharia, a senior analyst with a focus on messaging at London-based research firm Ovum. "Chat apps are shifting from being just a provider of communication tools chat, voice as well as video) to becoming a platform for the exchange of services, payment mechanisms and content consumption." WhatsApp, the largest messaging app in the world with 1.3 billion every month active users, introduced a business version in India early this week. "Based on research, we realize that people are utilizing WhatsApp to speak with businesses. make business messaging less difficult for individuals and more efficient for businesses," a WhatsApp representative said in response to ET's questions. Whatsapp Business is a different app from Whatsapp Messenger, aimed mostly at giving a direct communication platform to small enterprises, many of who might be using WhatsApp already.
Whilst Whatsapp has maintained the service free, it could expand it to larger businesses with added features like analytics, by which it may well charge a usage fee at a later stage, thus creating a revenue model, segment watchers said. This also is targeted at improving subscriber connect that it can leverage for future monetization of its other services. The larger agenda - and a more crucial one - for these corporations is to get active users to take much more time on the app or services and make it viable for profit generation, based on analysts.
"Every technology company is competing for consumer stickiness, interaction as well as time spent on the app, and in order to keep them in the app's ecosystem they're widening themselves to become platforms. Just being messaging applications that provide free services will not be a solid revenuegeneration model," said Jayanth Kolla, founder of Bengaluru-based research firm Convergence Catalyst.
