Just how Apps Like WhatsApp, WeChat Can Make Money Even while Offering up Free Texting And Calling7974284
Ever thought how a messaging app could make money while offering free texting and calling? WhatsApp users at India could be surprised to know that there's more to messaging apps than communicating. Here is how: by offering services such as digital payments, online shopping as well as content.
China's WeChat is among the ultimate example of the vast possibilities that messaging apps hold. With more than Nine hundred million monthly active users, WeChat assists them do anything from messaging, buying grocery, hailing cabs, ordering online food and also offline payments at restaurants - this all without needing to go to another app. These kinds of services not just provide the company incredible customer stickiness, they also create a wonderful revenue model.
At this point, WeChat's opponents outside China such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Viber as well as Line are behind the curve on this front, although some have started on the way to becoming greater 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 shifting from being simply a provider of communication tools chat, voice and also 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 this week. "Based on research, we know that people are utilizing WhatsApp to speak with businesses. make business messaging far more convenient for folks and much more effective 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, many of who may be using WhatsApp already.
Whilst Whatsapp has kept the service free, it may broaden it to much larger businesses with added features such as analytics, from which it may well demand a usage fee at a later stage, thus creating a revenue model, segment watchers said. This actually also is aimed at improving subscriber connect that it can leverage for future monetization of their other services. The greater agenda - and a more important one - for these businesses is to get active users to take far more time on the app or services as well as make it viable for revenue generation, based on analysts.
"Each and every technology company is competing for consumer stickiness, interaction and also time invested on the app, and in order to keep them within the app's ecosystem they are broadening themselves to turn into platforms. Just being messaging applications offering free services is not going to be a good revenuegeneration model," said Jayanth Kolla, founder of Bengaluru-based research firm Convergence Catalyst.
