The Way In Which Apps Like WhatsApp, WeChat Could Make Money Even while Offering Free Texting And Calling8732212
Have you ever wondered just how a messaging app can make money while providing free texting and calling? WhatsApp users at India could be surprised to find out that there is far more to messaging apps than communicating. Here's how: by providing services like digital payments, online shopping and also content.
China's WeChat is probably the ultimate example of the huge potential that messaging apps hold. With well over Nine hundred million monthly active users, WeChat assists them to do almost everything from messaging, purchasing grocery, hailing cabs, ordering online food as well as offline payments at restaurants - this all without having to go to another app. These kinds of services not only offer the company unbelievable customer stickiness, in addition they create a exceptional revenue model.
Right now, WeChat's rivals outside China such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Viber and Line are behind the curve on this front, although some have begun on the path to becoming larger platforms. "The actual reason chat apps are growing beyond communications is to develop a sustainable 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 simply a provider of communication tools chat, voice as well as video) to being a platform for the exchange of services, payment mechanisms and also content consumption." WhatsApp, the largest messaging app on earth with 1.3 billion monthly active users, introduced a business version in India early this week. "Based on research, we know that people are utilizing WhatsApp to talk to businesses. make business messaging less difficult for people and more effective for businesses," a WhatsApp representative said in response to ET's questions. Whatsapp Business is a separate app from Whatsapp Messenger, aimed largely at giving a direct communication platform to small businesses, many of who may be using WhatsApp already.
While Whatsapp has kept the service free, it may broaden it to bigger businesses with added features like analytics, from which it may well demand a usage fee at a later stage, thus making a revenue model, segment watchers said. This also is aimed at raising subscriber connect which it can leverage for future monetization of their other services. The bigger agenda - and a more crucial one - for these corporations is to get active users to take more time on the app or services and also make it viable for profit generation, based on specialists.
"Each and every technology company is vying for consumer stickiness, interaction and time spent on the app, and in order to keep them in the app's ecosystem they're widening themselves to turn into platforms. Simply being messaging applications that offer free services certainly won't be a strong revenuegeneration model," said Jayanth Kolla, founding father of Bengaluru-based research firm Convergence Catalyst.
