WhatsApp messaging to cost more for businesses in Meta's new pricing model
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Businesses using WhatsApp for commercial messaging will likely see their monthly bills go up significantly as the Meta unit is changing its pricing model globally.Experts said this may trigger some businesses to reallocate their commercial messaging volumes to other channels such as the traditional SMS and Google RCS. But Nikila Srinivasan, vice-president, Business Messaging at Meta, told ET that volume-based tiers under the new model will now make the prices even more attractive.Beginning July 1, WhatsApp will start charging per-message rates instead of per-conversation, according to the latest pricing update on its website. Previously, all marketing messages in a 24-hour chat window were cumulatively priced at Rs 0.78. Now, every message will be priced at Rs 0.78, meaning that billable volumes for businesses will go up.For utility messaging such as 'Thank you for shopping with us", WhatsApp will now charge Rs 0.11 per message, compared with the price with no limit on the number of messages in a 24-hour chat window. Still, WhatsApp's new pricing for utility messaging is cheaper than traditional SMS services at Rs 0.12-0.15, and also RCS, which is priced at Rs 0.20-0.25 in India.'The reason for us to do this is to simplify the pricing structure. It's how most businesses think of how they allocate their budgets and per message pricing just makes it a lot simpler for them because it brings more predictability. It's more valuable and utilitarian,' Srinivasan said.Service aggregators, though, said enterprises now may look at reducing dependence on WhatsApp and reallocate volumes to cheaper channels. India and Brazil are the largest revenue markets for WhatsApp with India historically having among the cheapest pricing, data showed.'Enterprises will take some time to adjust to the change because communication budgets do not change monthly,' said the founder of a communications firm. 'Hence, we expect some reallocation towards other channels or simple cut-down on marketing campaigns. But WhatsApp is emerging as a sticky channel and enterprises will need to address their needs where the customers are.'These changes come after a series of price cuts in the last 12 months as WhatsApp aggressively fought away competition from rival channels globally. For instance, in August 2024, WhatsApp cut business messaging prices by 16–97% in several countries, including by 63% in India.WhatsApp, for the first time, has also introduced volume-based pricing. For instance, starting July 1, businesses which send up to 25 million messages per month will be billed at Rs 0.115 per message, while volumes beyond 300 million will be billed at Rs 0.080, according to a company blog. There is tiered pricing in between with the rate per message reducing with increase in volume.The goal of these changes is to enhance user engagement, said Beerud Sheth, cofounder and chief executive of communication services company Gupshup.'Interactive messages that generate user responses will prove to be cost-effective, as compared to one-way business messages. Therefore, businesses have to adapt. They have to focus on engaging the customer, rather than bombarding them with marketing messages,' he said.
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