The Way Apps Like WhatsApp, WeChat May Make Money While Providing Free Texting And Calling3748722
Ever thought just how a messaging app can make money while giving free texting and calling? WhatsApp users in India might be surprised to know that there are 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 just about the perfect example of the vast opportunity that messaging apps hold. With well over 900 million monthly active users, WeChat assists them do every thing from messaging, purchasing grocery, hailing cabs, purchasing online food and even offline payments at restaurants - this all without needing to go to another app. These services not only offer the company unbelievable customer stickiness, they also create a outstanding revenue model.
At the moment, WeChat's competition outside China this includes WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Viber and Line are behind the curve on this front, even though some have begun on the path to becoming bigger platforms. "The reason chat apps are widening beyond communications is to create a sustainable 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 being a platform for the exchange of services, payment mechanisms as well as content consumption."
WhatsApp, the largest messaging app in the world with 1.3 billion every month active users, introduced a business version in India early this week. "Based on research, we all know that people are utilizing WhatsApp to speak with businesses. make business messaging far more convenient for individuals and much more effective for businesses," a WhatsApp spokesperson said in response to ET's questions. Whatsapp Business is a different app from Whatsapp Messenger, aimed largely at giving a direct communication platform to small businesses, the majority of who might be using WhatsApp already.
Even while Whatsapp has kept the service free, it might broaden it to larger businesses with added features like analytics, by which it could charge a usage fee at a later stage, as a result creating a revenue model, segment watchers said. This also is targeted at increasing subscriber connect which it can make use of for future monetization of its other services. The bigger agenda - and a more crucial one - for these corporations is to get active users to spend far more time on the app or services and make it viable for income generation, based on specialists.
"Each and every technology company is competing for consumer stickiness, interaction as well as time spent on the app, and in order to keep them within the app's ecosystem they are widening themselves to become platforms. Just being messaging applications offering cost-free services isn't going to be a strong revenuegeneration model," said Jayanth Kolla, founding father of Bengaluru-based research firm Convergence Catalyst.
