The Way Apps Like WhatsApp, WeChat Helps Make Money Whilst Offering Free Texting And Calling8681830
Have you ever wondered the way a messaging app can make money while giving free texting and calling? WhatsApp users in India might be surprised to learn that there are much 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 one of the best example of the great potential that messaging apps hold. With over 900 million monthly active users, WeChat assists them do every thing from messaging, buying grocery, hailing cabs, purchasing online food as well as offline payments at restaurants - this all without needing to go to another app. These kinds of services not merely offer the company unbelievable customer stickiness, in addition they create a exceptional revenue model.
At this point, WeChat's competitors outside China including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Viber and also Line are behind the curve on this front, although some have started on the way to becoming bigger 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 away from being just a provider of communication tools chat, voice and video) to becoming a platform for the exchange of services, payment mechanisms and also content consumption."
WhatsApp, the largest messaging app in the world with 1.3 billion monthly active users, introduced a business version in India early on this week. "Based on research, we know that people WhatsApp to speak with businesses. make business messaging more convenient for individuals and much more efficient for businesses," a WhatsApp spokesman said in respond to ET's questions. Whatsapp Business is a different app from Whatsapp Messenger, aimed mainly at giving a direct communication platform to small enterprises, the majority of who may be using WhatsApp already.
Even while Whatsapp has kept the service free, it could broaden it to bigger businesses with added features like analytics, in which it may well demand a usage fee at a later stage, hence developing a revenue model, segment watchers said. This actually also is geared 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 firms is to get active users to take far more time on the app or services as well as make it viable for profit generation, based on experts.
"Every single technology company is competing for consumer stickiness, interaction along with 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 apps that provide cost-free services certainly won't be a solid revenuegeneration model," said Jayanth Kolla, founder of Bengaluru-based research firm Convergence Catalyst.
