What actually works on WhatsApp Business for Malaysian SMEs is unglamorous: a complete profile, fast replies built from the app’s own tools, a catalogue that ends the back-and-forth, labels that track every order, and promotions sent only to people who asked for them. What does not work is treating the app as a free broadcast channel and blasting offers at every number in your phone.

Below: the free app versus the paid platform, and the habits that turn chats into orders. WhatsApp has often launched business features in a few countries first, so check what your own app shows.

App or platform: pick the right tool first

There are two products, and most small businesses only need the first. The WhatsApp Business app was launched in January 2018 as a free app for small businesses, with WhatsApp Web support for answering chats from a computer.

The WhatsApp Business Platform is the paid, programmable version for larger volumes, where conversations you start must use approved message templates. Its pricing moved to a per-message model on 1 July 2025, charging for each delivered marketing, utility or authentication template message, according to Meta’s developer documentation. Utility templates delivered while a customer service window is open are free, the same documentation says.

That window matters on the platform. WhatsApp’s business policy lets you reply freely within 24 hours of a customer’s last message, but outside that window you may only send approved templates, as its Business Messaging Policy sets out.

A simple rule of thumb: if one or two people answer the chats and you send fewer than a few hundred messages a day, stay on the free app until it visibly holds you back.

Set up the profile like a shopfront

The business profile is often the first thing a new customer looks at. The app was built to show a business description, email or store address and website, according to WhatsApp’s launch announcement. Fill in every field, and use the same trading name customers see on your signboard, invoices and Google listing.

• Write the description as an answer to “what do you sell and where?”, not as a slogan.
• Give a full address with a landmark if you have a physical shop.
• Link to the one page that converts best, usually your shop page or menu, not your homepage.

Answer fast with the tools already in the app

Speed is the whole point of a chat channel, and the free app already includes the three tools that deliver it. Greeting messages introduce your business to a first-time customer, away messages tell people you are busy, and quick replies send saved answers to common questions, as WhatsApp described them at the app’s launch.

• Greeting message: say what details to send, such as product, quantity and delivery area, to cut a round of questions from every new chat.
• Away message: state when you will reply, so silence after hours does not look like a closed shop.
• Quick replies: save answers for prices, delivery charges, payment details and directions. If customers write in Bahasa Malaysia, English and Chinese, save each answer in all three.

On a computer, quick replies are typed with the “/” key, and the same tools work on WhatsApp Web and desktop, according to WhatsApp’s January 2019 update.

Let the catalogue do the selling

Without a catalogue, every enquiry turns into a slow exchange of photos and prices. The catalogue lets a business list each item with a price, description and product code, and customers browse it inside WhatsApp, according to WhatsApp’s catalogue announcement.

Keep it short and current: best-sellers with accurate prices beat a full stock list that is half out of date. Use the same product codes as your point-of-sale or inventory system, so an order in a chat matches a line in your stock records; our guide to the features of a good POS system in Malaysia covers that side.

Catalogues and individual items can also be shared as links on your website, Facebook and Instagram, WhatsApp announced in July 2020.

Track every order with labels

Labels let you organise chats and contacts so you can find them again, as WhatsApp explained when it brought them to desktop. The risk they address is simple: a quote sent on Tuesday can be buried under dozens of newer chats by Friday.

Set up labels that mirror your sales steps and move each chat along as it progresses:

• New enquiry for first contact.
• Quoted once you have sent a price.
• Awaiting payment after the customer confirms.
• Paid and Delivered to close the loop.

Once a week, open the Quoted label and follow up every chat in it. It is the cheapest follow-up you can run, and it reaches people who have already shown they want to buy.

Bring customers in with QR codes and pre-filled messages

Asking customers to save your number before they can message you adds a step many will skip. WhatsApp introduced business QR codes so people no longer had to add a number to their contacts: scanning one from a storefront, product packaging or receipt opens a chat, with an optional pre-filled message written by the business, according to WhatsApp’s July 2020 announcement.

That pre-filled message doubles as a free tracking tool. Create a separate code for each place you display it, each with its own opening line, such as “Hi, asking about the poster at your shop” or “Hi, about my delivery”. When chats arrive, the first line tells you which placement brought the customer in.

Put the codes on the counter, packaging and receipts. Online, a chat link on product pages does the same job, and our look at e-commerce trends in Malaysia covers how chat fits into social selling.

Promotions: opt-in or nothing

This is the step that decides whether customers trust your number. WhatsApp’s policy says a business may only contact people who have given it their number and have opted in to receive its messages, and it must respect every request to block or opt out, on or off WhatsApp, as set out in its Business Messaging Policy. The same policy leaves the method of opt-in to you, and makes you responsible for complying with the laws that apply to your communications.

In practice, ask clearly and record the answer. A line on your order form or a tick box at checkout, saying the customer agrees to receive offers on WhatsApp, is far stronger than assuming that anyone who once messaged you wants promotions.

• Send offers only when they are relevant to that customer, such as a restock of something they bought before.
• Make leaving easy, and remove anyone who asks at once.
• Watch blocks and “stop” replies; a rise is a sign you are sending too often or to the wrong people.

On the platform, the per-message charge on marketing templates adds a useful discipline: every promotional send has a cost, so it has to earn its place.

What to measure

A simple spreadsheet, filled in at the end of each week, is enough to tell you whether WhatsApp is working:

• Reply time: how long a new enquiry waits for a first human answer during opening hours.
• Enquiries by source: counted from your pre-filled QR code messages and chat links.
• Quote-to-paid rate: how many chats in the Quoted label end up in Paid.
• Opt-outs and blocks: the cost of your promotions, in customers.

The takeaway: a one-week setup

Starting from scratch, or tidying a number that grew without a plan? Work through this over a week:

1. Complete the profile: plain description, full address, best-converting link.
2. Write a greeting, an away message and quick replies for your ten most common questions.
3. Build a short catalogue with product codes that match your stock system.
4. Create labels for each sales step and review the Quoted label every week.
5. Print a separate QR code and pre-filled message for each placement.
6. Start recording opt-in for promotions at the point of sale or checkout.
7. Track the four numbers above for a month before deciding whether you need the paid platform.

Get those habits right on the free app first. The paid platform makes sense once the process works and the sheer volume of chats has become the problem.