How Apps Like WhatsApp, WeChat Can Make Money Whilst Offering Free Texting And Calling2729527
Ever thought just how a messaging app could make money while giving free texting and calling? WhatsApp users in India could be surprised to know that there is a lot more to messaging apps than communicating. Here's how: by offering services like digital payments, online shopping and also content.
China's WeChat is among the ultimate example of the large possibilities which messaging apps hold. With well over Nine hundred million monthly active users, WeChat helps them do almost everything from messaging, purchasing grocery, hailing cabs, ordering online food and also offline payments at restaurants - this all without having to go to another app. These services not only provide the company unbelievable customer stickiness, additionally they create a exceptional revenue model.
At the moment, WeChat's competition outside China such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Viber and Line are behind the curve on this front, even though some have begun on the road to becoming bigger platforms. "The reason chat apps are growing beyond communications is to develop a lasting monetisation strategy," said Neha Dharia, a senior analyst with a focus on messaging at London-based research firm Ovum. "Chat apps are moving away from being just a provider of communication tools chat, voice as well as video) to being a platform for the exchange of services, payment mechanisms as well as content consumption." WhatsApp, the largest messaging app on the planet with 1.3 billion every month active users, introduced a business version in India early on this week. "Based on research, we know that people are employing WhatsApp to speak with businesses. make business messaging more convenient for people and much more effective for businesses," a WhatsApp spokesman 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 smaller businesses, a lot of who may be using WhatsApp already.
Even while Whatsapp has maintained the service free, it could extend it to larger businesses with added features like analytics, by which it may well charge a usage fee at a later stage, therefore developing a revenue model, segment watchers said. This also is targeted at increasing subscriber connect which it can leverage for future monetization of its other services. The larger agenda - and a more important one - for these businesses is to get active users to invest more time on the app or services as well as make it viable for income generation, based on specialists.
"Each technology company is competing for consumer stickiness, interaction along with time spent on the app, and in order to keep them around the app's ecosystem they are broadening themselves to become platforms. Merely being messaging apps offering cost-free services will not be a good revenuegeneration model," said Jayanth Kolla, founding father of Bengaluru-based research firm Convergence Catalyst.
