Major changes are coming to Meta owned WhatsApp as the 1 October deadline looms for businesses who have the app intergrated into their workflows.
Meta will start charging businesses for everyday customer service replies sent through the WhatsApp Business API.
Most of what's been revealed about the change so far eminates out of the US and Europe, priced in dollars, aimed at a global audience.
It has since raised questions on what does it mean for South African businesses in rand terms, and what can business owners do about it before the new fees kick in?
The expected fee of around 10–15 cents per message may seem small, it could significantly increase costs for businesses managing high volumes of customer conversations.
Helm, a local AI and customer experience company has broke down what these changes entail, which sectors will feel the most impact, and provided practical strategies that businesses can employ to mitigate costs before the new pricing model takes effect.
Arno van Huyssteen, Chief Solutions Officer at Helm, said, “Although this may appear to make WhatsApp more expensive, customer service conversations via WhatsApp will still cost approximately four times less than managing the same volume through traditional call centres. The gap may close slightly, but the overall benefits.persist.”
Under the current system, businesses could respond for free as long as a customer initiated the conversation and the reply fell within a 24-hour window, a practice that is set to end.
As the industry anticipates the official rate card from Meta, expected by 1 September, estimates indicate that service messages may align with existing utility and authentication message rates, but without the volume discounts enjoyed by those categories.
Van Huyssteen warned, “The financial impact becomes significantly relatable when we translate these changes into local currency.”
He added that proactive adjustments to message flows can substantially reduce costs before the pricing shift occurs.
Helm said he is currently engaged in discussions with Meta and Business Solution Providers (BSPs) regarding the rollout of this pricing structure and will keep clients informed of developments.
Helm recommended five practical strategies for businesses:
- Consider alternative platforms: Explore options that are zero-rated on major South African networks, thus eliminating data costs for customers and providing a low-cost channel for high-volume, simple interactions.
- Consolidate message flows: Review existing workflows to combine responses for greater efficiency, thereby decreasing the number of billable messages without sacrificing customer experience.
- Utilise WhatsApp Flows: Implement structured messaging using Flows, which allows multiple questions and inputs to occur on a single interactive screen, significantly reducing the need for repeated exchanges.
- Shift to template messages: Ensure frequent messages are categorised as templates, which still qualify for volume discounts compared to service messages.
- Leverage click-to-WhatsApp ads: Initiate conversations from Facebook or Instagram ads, which offer a 72-hour free messaging window unaffected by the new charges, creating a useful entry point for customer interactions.
A service message that hovers around 10–15 cents could become impactful when multiplied by the volume of messages.
For instance, businesses in sectors like retail, fintech, and telecom, which often require multiple replies to resolve customer queries, could face substantial new costs every month as they scale operations.
“We do not benefit from Meta's fee increase. Instead, our objective at Helm is to minimise the financial impact on our clients. We advocate for initiating these discussions now, rather than waiting for the bill to arrive,” van Huyssteen added.
ashley.lechman@nationalmg.co.za