Just how Apps Like WhatsApp, WeChat May Make Money While Offering Free Texting And Calling4123451
Ever thought about just how a messaging app could make money while giving free texting and calling? WhatsApp users in India may be surprised to find out there is far more to messaging apps than communicating. Here's how: by offering services for example digital payments, online shopping as well as content.
China's WeChat is among the perfect example of the great possibilities that messaging apps hold. With over Nine hundred million monthly active users, WeChat enables them do every thing from messaging, purchasing grocery, hailing cabs, buying online food and even offline payments at restaurants - all of this without needing to go to another app. These services not merely offer the company incredible customer stickiness, additionally they create a wonderful 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, even though some have begun on the way to becoming bigger platforms. "The actual reason chat apps are widening beyond communications is to build 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 and video) to becoming a platform for the exchange of services, payment mechanisms and content consumption."
WhatsApp, the biggest 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 all know that people are utilizing WhatsApp to speak to businesses. make business messaging far more convenient for folks and more productive 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 smaller businesses, the majority of who might be using WhatsApp already.
Whilst Whatsapp has maintained the service free, it may expand it to bigger businesses with added features such as analytics, by which it may well demand a usage fee at a later stage, as a result making a revenue model, segment watchers said. This actually also is aimed at raising subscriber connect that it can make use of for future monetization of its other services. The greater agenda - and a more crucial one - for these firms is to get active users to spend a lot more time on the app or services and also make it viable for revenue generation, based on experts.
"Each technology company is vying for consumer stickiness, interaction and time spent on the app, and in order to keep them within the app's ecosystem they're widening themselves to turn into platforms. Merely being messaging apps that offer free services certainly won't be a strong revenuegeneration model," said Jayanth Kolla, founding father of Bengaluru-based research firm Convergence Catalyst.
