The Way Apps Like WhatsApp, WeChat Could Make Money Even while Providing Free Texting And Calling7743558
Have you ever wondered just how a messaging app could make money whilst providing free texting and calling? WhatsApp users in India could be surprised to find out that there are more to messaging apps than communicating. Here's how: by providing services such as digital payments, online shopping and content.
China's WeChat is just about the perfect example of the vast possibilities that messaging apps hold. With more than 900 million monthly active users, WeChat assists them do every thing from messaging, purchasing grocery, hailing cabs, ordering online food and even offline payments at restaurants - this all without having to go to another app. These kinds of services not merely provide the company unbelievable customer stickiness, they also create a wonderful revenue model.
For now, WeChat's competition outside China this includes WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Viber and also Line are behind the curve on this front, even though some have started on the way to becoming greater platforms. "The reason chat apps are growing 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 shifting away from being merely 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 largest 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 employing WhatsApp to speak with businesses. make business messaging more convenient for people and more effective for businesses," a WhatsApp representative said in respond to ET's questions. Whatsapp Business is a separate app from Whatsapp Messenger, aimed mainly at giving a direct communication platform to small businesses, the majority of who might be using WhatsApp already.
Whilst Whatsapp has maintained the service free, it could broaden it to much larger businesses with added features such as analytics, from which it may well charge a usage fee at a later stage, hence making a revenue model, segment watchers said. This actually also is geared at raising subscriber connect which it can leverage for future monetization of their other services. The greater agenda - and a more crucial one - for these corporations 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.
"Every single technology company is competing for consumer stickiness, interaction and also time invested on the app, and in order to keep them in the app's ecosystem they're widening themselves to become platforms. Merely being messaging applications offering cost-free services won't be a strong revenuegeneration model," said Jayanth Kolla, founder of Bengaluru-based research firm Convergence Catalyst.
