Wholesale buying and marketing group Sugro is offering b2b.store’s B2B WhatsApp to its members to further extend the group’s suite of digital solutions.

Sugro is offering the popular messaging service to its wholesalers as a great way to increase engagement with customers and communicate promotions.

B2B WhatsApp uses WhatsApp Business API technology, which is a more powerful version of the consumer-messaging app most people are familiar with and can be adapted to carry out several business functions specific to wholesalers.

B2B WhatsApp can be used to share marketing, deals and advertising, for payment and credit control, and as a destination for ordering products – all in a secure one-to-one environment.

“B2B WhatsApp is a powerful tool that can be used in a variety of ways, and we believe it could be a real asset to our wholesaler members and their customers. The aim is to deploy WhatsApp solution across over 16,000 retail stores which the Group Members supply products to on a regular basis.” said Sugro’s Head of Commercial and Marketing, Yulia Petitt.

“We see WhatsApp as a great means to get messages out to customers quickly in a secure environment that can track engagement through read receipts and clicks.”

“The benefit of using WhatsApp in comparison to other communication methods, such as SMS and email, is that we can send a variety of multi-format messages to customers at scale on a platform that we know the vast majority of people are using regularly throughout the day. The challenge is always guaranteeing we get eyes on messages and promotions we send so WhatsApp ticks this box in a way we haven’t been able to previously.”

To further enhance the impact of B2B WhatsApp, b2b.store’s service is tailored to wholesalers with the ability to offer customer segmentation, one-tap reordering or ‘add to basket’ buttons directly from the message, and an in-app open banking payment solution.

Early adopters of the technology are already seeing a glimpse of what B2B WhatsApp can achieve, with 31% of messages read within the first 10 minutes of being sent and rising to 55% within the first hour. Users have also recorded a 99.75% retention rate of customers in the channels, indicating the popularity of the method.

“Almost everyone uses WhatsApp on a daily basis, with 80% of the UK’s phone users downloading the app that shows why it’s the place to be,” said b2b.store CEO Rob Mannion.

“While a lot of people are more familiar with the free versions of WhatsApp, our adaptation of the more advanced WhatsApp Business API technology supercharges what can be achieved – especially for wholesalers like those in Sugro’s membership."

“We’ve been working with the technology for several months and have found early adopters have adapted WhatsApp to their needs in different ways that goes to show how powerful this could be for the sector.”