WhatsApp integration for e-commerce stores - Here's how!

The integration of WhatsApp into your company's e-commerce system offers numerous advantages and opens up a wide range of communication, customer loyalty and marketing opportunities. Thanks to the integration into the respective e-commerce platform, companies can communicate with their customers and prospects via WhatsApp. This means that you no longer have to switch back and forth between different applications, but can consolidate all communication in one central location and also take advantage of the ever-popular WhatsApp Messenger: WhatsApp as a channel for customer communication is in fact perfectly suited for selling products and services, for customer advice, for effective marketing measures and, last but not least, for building long-term customer relationships.

The user atmosphere on WhatsApp is much more personal than with e-mails, and response times are generally shorter. This creates an extremely personal customer relationship on WhatsApp. And your company benefits from this: With WhatsApp, you can influence the primarily emotional purchase decision of consumers in your favor, bind your customers to your company in the long term, and thus significantly increase customer lifetime value.

Through additional marketing via WhatsApp newsletter, you can also use upselling and cross-selling potentials and significantly increase your sales. You can find out more about the topic "Why WhatsApp?

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In this article, you will learn how to successfully integrate WhatsApp into your respective e-commerce system to optimize your business processes and sales and work more efficiently.

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What are e-commerce software systems?

E-commerce software systems are specially developed platforms that help companies sell their products or services online. These software solutions offer a wide range of functions that cover the entire e-commerce process, from product display to payment and shipping management.

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The main functions of an e-commerce software system include:

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Product catalog: Companies can present their entire product catalog online, describe products, upload images and specify prices. This gives customers a comprehensive overview of the product range.

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Shopping cart and checkout: The software enables customers to add products to their virtual shopping cart and complete the purchase process. The checkout process is optimized to increase the conversion rate and reduce the bounce rate.

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Payment integration: E-commerce software systems offer various payment options to enable customers to make their purchases conveniently and securely. This includes credit cards, PayPal, bank transfer and other payment methods.

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Shipping and logistics: The software enables management of shipping options, shipping cost calculations, and shipment tracking to ensure smooth delivery of products.

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Inventory management: Companies can manage inventory through the software to ensure that the right products are available at the right time.

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WhatsApp integration for your e-commerce software: benefits and use cases

Integrating WhatsApp into an e-commerce system offers numerous advantages and opens up a wide range of use cases for businesses. Here are the most important aspects you should consider:

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Efficient communication and improved customer satisfaction: By integrating WhatsApp into an e-commerce system, you can simplify your communication across channels and offer your customers a convenient way to contact you. Since WhatsApp is a widely used messaging platform, you can quickly answer customer queries, share information, and provide support, leading to improved customer satisfaction.

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‍Effective sales through precise customer advice: When customers need support with their purchase decision, it is important that advice is provided as promptly and precisely as possible. On WhatsApp, response times are shorter and you can use message templates to let customers specify their inquiry and thus automatically assign it to the right employee. The personal user atmosphere also makes it easier to influence consumers' predominantly emotional purchase decisions. This can lead to more sales and you can also use upselling and cross-selling opportunities in your online store.

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Marketing with WhatsApp Newsletters: With WhatsApp you have the possibility to send automated and personalized marketing newsletters. The difference to email: Due to the personal user atmosphere and the fact that recipients on WhatsApp don't receive newsletters from dozens of companies every day, open, response and conversion rates are significantly higher than with emails. The open rates are consistently over 90%, some companies even reach up to 98% - these are values that are almost impossible to achieve with email newsletters nowadays.

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Long-term customer loyalty: The personal atmosphere of WhatsApp and the regular sending of customer information and personalized newsletters allow you to build a close customer relationship and respond individually to your customers' needs. This increases customer loyalty in the long term and can significantly increase customer lifetime value.

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How can you link WhatsApp to your online store?

To integrate WhatsApp into your e-commerce software, you need direct or indirect access to the WhatsApp API interface. Direct access to the WhatsApp API is only provided by the parent company Meta to a few large, very well-known companies. Therefore, most companies have to use the API interface of a third-party provider. With Mateo, you can access the WhatsApp API and use all relevant features that are technically feasible with the API: You can do WhatsApp newsletter marketing, send WhatsApp messages on predefined events in a fully automated way, create message templates and much more. In addition, Mateo's central inbox integrates various other message channels besides WhatsApp, such as Facebook, Instagram, email and SMS. You can also significantly improve your Google reviews through automated review management and integrate over 6,000 apps into Mateo's communication software. With Mateo, WhatsApp and their e-commerce software are linked through Zapier software. You can find out how this works in the following paragraph!
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Thanks to Mateo and Zapier, you can integrate WhatsApp with over 250 e-commerce systems and thousands of other apps. Without the WhatsApp Business API interface, linking is not possible.

Here you can find an overview of all applications that can be linked to Mateo through Zapier. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us or book a free consultation appointment directly.

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Which e-commerce systems are supported by Mateo's WhatsApp integration?

‍WithMateo, you can integrate WhatsApp into all apps that are connected in Zapier. That's currently over 6,000 different software programs. Among them are currently 251 e-commerce systems. Here you can find an overview of all supported e-commerce software.

An overview of the most popular e-commerce systems supported by Zapier.

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If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us or book a free consultation appointment directly.

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Link and use WhatsApp and your e-commerce system with Mateo and Zapier

A short digression: What is Zapier and how does it work?

Zapier is a powerful software tool that allows automating recurring tasks between different applications. With Zapier, you can connect over 6,000 apps and create workflows without requiring extensive programming skills. This automation saves you time and resources by eliminating manual tasks and allowing you to seamlessly share data between different platforms. Zapier supports a wide range of apps and services, giving you the ability to share data between your favorite tools to make your workflows more efficient. You can automate various actions such as sending emails, entering data in spreadsheets, sending notifications in messaging apps or scheduling social media posts. Zapier thus allows you to focus on more important tasks by automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks. A particularly interesting feature is the ability to send automated WhatsApp messages when predefined events occur in other software apps.
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Requirements for the integration of WhatsApp into your online store

There is an access to the WhatsApp API interface, e.g. via Mateo's professional messaging tool
You have an e-commerce software supported by Zapier that is connected to your business processes
You have access to a Zapier account with permission to edit zaps
You have formulated WhatsApp message templates for the intended use (e.g. an order confirmation), submitted them to Meta and got them approved

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Requirements not met? We are happy to support you! Simply write to us via our web widget or arrange a free consultation appointment.

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Instructions: Link WhatsApp and your e-commerce software

All requirements met? Then you can start linking WhatsApp, Mateo and your e-commerce software
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Log in to Zapier
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Create a new "Zap" with the button in the left corner
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Select your e-commerce software (e.g. Shopify) as "Trigger" if you want to send a WhatsApp message on certain events in an e-commerce system (e.g. when an order is placed) or as "Action" if you want to perform an action in your e-commerce system on incoming WhatsApp messages
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Accordingly, select your WhatsApp Business API provider (e.g. Mateo) as "Action" (e.g. Send WhatsApp message template "Order confirmation") or as "Trigger".
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Confirm the new Zap and make it live
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Congratulations! Fully automated WhatsApp messages are now sent. For example, customers receive an order confirmation and shipping information via WhatsApp for each new order.

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Procedure of sending an automated WhatsApp message — Example of the process of sending a WhatsApp message automated with Mateo. The trigger here is a new order via Shopify.

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Other advantages of Mateo

Mateo has much more to offer than just the integration of WhatsApp into various e-commerce systems. Our customers particularly appreciate the following advantages:

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Central user interface

In addition to WhatsApp Business API, Mateo bundles many other communication channels such as email, Instagram, Google Business Chat, SMS or Facebook Messenger in a central inbox. On the intuitive and clear user interface, you will find various helpful tools for particularly efficient customer communication. For your customers, a web widget with the message channels you support is available for particularly easy contact.

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Custom Message Templates

Thanks to various message templates that can be created individually, the amount of paperwork is minimized and the efficiency of customer communication is increased. This means that personnel resources in the service area can be deployed elsewhere.

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WhatsApp & SMS Marketing Newsletter

With Mateo's WhatsApp API solution, newsletters can be sent in a GDPR-compliant manner. Due to the first-class open rate of 98% for WhatsApp messages, marketing can thus be done much better than via email or other channels. With Mateo, you can also send your marketing newsletters automatically via SMS.
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More positive Google reviews

With Mateo, you create an outstanding customer experience. Mateo can automatically request online reviews from your customers. The more reviews you have, the better you will be found on Google, for example. Reviews also create trust in your company.

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Privacy

Mateo's messaging tool is compatible with all German and European legally binding data protection requirements. If the law changes, the software will be revised accordingly. For absolutely secure customer communication, all messages are encrypted end-to-end. You can read all the info about the GDPR when using WhatsApp in our article"WhatsApp Business and GDPR". This will help you avoid the warnings, severe penalties and expensive legal costs that often occur in the event of non-compliance with the GDPR (= use of the standard WhatsApp Business app).

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Scalability for all company sizes

The scalability of the messaging tool has been confirmed by the large number of companies already using Mateo with great satisfaction. Whether customers have just a few employees or many hundreds, the software works smoothly and, depending on the package, with an unlimited number of end devices, users and phone numbers. The fact that Mateo significantly reduces the workload in the customer service area opens up new growth opportunities for many companies.

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Low cost provider for WhatsApp Business API

With an entry-level price of just 79 euros per month, Mateo is a cost-effective provider for WhatsApp Business API solutions on the German market. Combined with the integration of additional communication channels and various helpful tools, Mateo offers excellent value for money. Mateo's personal customer support assists companies with every step of the integration, ensuring very low barriers to entry.

WhatsApp integration for e-commerce software and online stores [July 2023].