Just how Apps Like WhatsApp, WeChat May Make Money Whilst Offering up Free Texting And Calling7501640
Ever wondered how a messaging app could make money while providing free texting and calling? WhatsApp users at India might be surprised to find out 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 just about the ultimate example of the vast possibilities which messaging apps hold. With over 900 million monthly active users, WeChat assists them to do anything from messaging, purchasing grocery, hailing cabs, purchasing online food as well as offline payments at restaurants - all of this without having to go to another app. These services not just provide the company outstanding customer stickiness, additionally they create a outstanding revenue model.
For now, WeChat's competitors outside China this includes WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Viber and also Line are behind the curve on this front, although some have begun on the road to becoming bigger platforms. "The reason chat apps are widening beyond communications is to create 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 as well as content consumption." WhatsApp, the biggest 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 WhatsApp to speak with businesses. make business messaging more convenient for individuals and more efficient for businesses," a WhatsApp spokesperson said in respond 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 might be using WhatsApp already.
Even while Whatsapp has kept the service free, it could extend it to much larger businesses with added features for example analytics, from which it may well charge a usage fee at a later stage, therefore making a revenue model, segment watchers said. This also is aimed at increasing subscriber connect which it can make use of for future monetization of its other services. The greater agenda - and a more important one - for these firms is to get active users to invest far more time on the app or services and make it viable for income generation, based on analysts.
"Every technology company is vying for consumer stickiness, interaction as well as time invested on the app, and in order to keep them in the app's ecosystem they're widening themselves to become platforms. Simply being messaging applications offering cost-free services certainly won't be a good revenuegeneration model," said Jayanth Kolla, founder of Bengaluru-based research firm Convergence Catalyst.
