Just how Apps Like WhatsApp, WeChat May Make Money Even while Offering Free Texting And Calling402770
Ever thought how a messaging app could make money while offering free texting and calling? WhatsApp users at India might be surprised to discover that there is more to messaging apps than communicating. Here is how: by offering services such as digital payments, online shopping and content.
China's WeChat is one of the ultimate example of the large potential which messaging apps hold. With well over 900 million monthly active users, WeChat enables them to do every thing from messaging, buying grocery, hailing cabs, ordering online food as well as offline payments at restaurants - all this without having to go to another app. These kinds of services not merely provide the company outstanding customer stickiness, in addition they create a exceptional revenue model.
For now, WeChat's rivals outside China this includes WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Viber as well as Line are behind the curve on this front, although some have begun on the way to becoming larger platforms. "The actual 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 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 biggest messaging app on earth 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 using WhatsApp to speak with businesses. make business messaging less difficult for folks and more productive for businesses," a WhatsApp spokesman said in respond to ET's questions. Whatsapp Business is a separate app from Whatsapp Messenger, aimed mainly at giving a direct communicating platform to small businesses, a lot of who may be using WhatsApp already.
Even while Whatsapp has kept the service free, it may extend it to bigger businesses with added features for example analytics, in which it could charge a usage fee at a later stage, thus developing a revenue model, segment watchers said. This also is aimed at raising subscriber connect which it can make use of for future monetization of their other services. The greater agenda - and a more important one - for these companies is to get active users to invest much more time on the app or services and also make it viable for revenue generation, based on analysts.
"Every technology company is competing for consumer stickiness, interaction and also time spent on the app, and in order to keep them in the app's ecosystem they are broadening themselves to turn into platforms. Just being messaging applications that provide cost-free services won't be a good revenuegeneration model," said Jayanth Kolla, founder of Bengaluru-based research firm Convergence Catalyst.
