A user initiates chat with your brand on WhatsApp after clicking on an ad, browses products and adds a product to cart, and is then redirected to your app or website for payment & checkout. But something interrupts the user in their purchase journey. Maybe the checkout page loads slowly. Or the app switches. Or a notification distracts them.

Every extra step in a purchase journey is a possible exit door. Most users don’t walk back in. Failed payments cost businesses $118.5 billion globally with 59% of organizations having lost customers due to failed payments.  What if a user never had to leave the conversation? No website to load. No apps to switch. And no notifications to distract.

How Can Brands Optimise In thread Customer Experience on WhatsApp

Customers expect quick and effortless interaction with brands and WhatsApp offers the ideal channel to deliver exactly that. However, if not designed right, in-thread interactions on WhatsApp can result in friction, lower engagement and adversely impact conversions.

The WhatsApp Business Platform offers a suite of features that businesses can leverage to thoughtfully design journeys that allow users to browse, engage, and complete transactions without ever leaving the chat.

In this article, we will dive deep into two of these features – WhatsApp Flows and Native Payments on WhatsApp. And how businesses can leverage them to optimise in thread experiences that effortlessly take users from browsing to purchase and drive growth.

Let’s dive in!

WhatsApp Flows and WhatsApp Native Payments Explained

What Are WhatsApp Flows?

WhatsApp Flows is a WhatsApp Businesses Messaging feature that helps brands deploy task-centric workflows and build structured interactions. With Flows, brands can define, configure, and customise rich messages experiences that give more structure and intuitiveness in the way they communicate with users. It enables brands to seamlessly generate leads, recommend products, book appointments, gather feedback, and more.

By enabling such friction-free, end-to-end journeys with WhatsApp Flows, businesses can communicate more naturally and efficiently, thereby enhancing customer experience.

What Is Native WhatsApp Payment?

WhatsApp Native Payments allows businesses to integrate with Payment Gateways (currently supported for PayU & Razorpay) and collect payments directly within WhatsApp through UPI, Credit/Debit Cards and Net Banking. It enables customers to pay directly within WhatsApp and reduces friction by removing redirects and extra steps. It is fast, seamless, and secure.

Benefits of Combining WhatsApp

Flows with Native Payments Customers expect faster, safer, and efficient buying experience. And that’s exactly what WhatsApp Flows combined with Native Payments deliver. By combining the structure of WhatsApp Flows (interactive, guided workflows) with the ease of WhatsApp Native Payments, businesses can deliver seamless end-to-end journeys — from browsing to purchase:

Enable faster checkout

Customers can browse products, customise selections, and make payments— without being redirected to external websites or payment gateways. Thus, reducing drop-offs that typically accompany multiple redirections and friction-laden checkout processes.

Enhance engagement for increased customer satisfaction

Enhance engagement by personalising buying experience for customers with product recommendations, pre-filled forms, and support, enabled by WhatsApp Forms. Pair it with hassle-free, in-chat payments to further increase customer satisfaction.

Drive higher conversions and retention

Reducing friction in the purchase journey doesn’t just impact conversions. When the purchase journey is seamless, customers don’t just buy once, they buy again. A seamless experience with secure checkout builds confidence, encourages impulse purchases, reduces abandonment, improves conversions as well as retention.

Enhance operational efficiency

WhatsApp Flows allows businesses to automate complete workflows. Identify stages in the purchase journey where you can plug in Flows, automate workflows – from product selection to checkout and payment – reduce human intervention and enhance efficiency. Free up time for your support team to focus on growth instead of solving recurring requests.

How Brands Across Industries Can Leverage Native Payment with WhatsApp Flows

Imagine planning a vacation, chatting with the travel company on WhatsApp, exploring all flight and accommodation options, and booking these within the same chat. This is what WhatsApp Flows and Payments can deliver to your customers with help from other versatile features like Catalogs, Carousels, quick replies and more. Here are some ways brands can ace the customer experience and conversions game with WhatsApp Payments and Flows:

Product Purchase Journey

Customers often visit an eCommerce brand’s chat seeking product details. A well designed flow can instantly address common querie—such as stock availability, size, and colour—ensuring a smooth experience. Plug in a product catalog of the same category and guide customers seamlessly from consideration to purchase. As customers add products to their cart, a “Buy Now” or “Checkout” button triggering payment within WhatsApp streamlines the payment process, shortening the decision-making window and increasing conversion rates.

Appointment Scheduling

We already know how WhatsApp Flows streamlines appointment scheduling experience for brands across beauty, healthcare, personal care, etc., to increase bookings. The flipside of bookings is cancellations/no-shows. By enabling customers to pre-pay for the appointment they want to schedule within the chat via Native Payments, businesses can reduce no shows and cancellations. Especially when there is cancellation charges involved.

Subscription Renewal Reminders

Think about gyms, OTT platforms, or meal subscription plans. Customers often intend to renew but forget until their subscription expires. Emails go unread, SMS alerts get ignored, and businesses lose recurring revenue. A problem expected to cost subscription companies over £102 billion in 2025.

On WhatsApp:

• Business can send a friendly reminder before the renewal date.
• Customers can select existing plan or choose to modify it via WhatsApp Flows
• A direct payment link lets customers renew with one tap.

Abandoned Cart Recovery

Cart abandonment is a silent revenue killer. A customer adds a smartwatch to their cart but never checks out. Instead of hoping they return, businesses can automate a WhatsApp reminder:

• A personalised message nudges them back into the chat
• WhatsApp Flows gathers / confirms necessary details like address, preferred delivery time, etc.
• A one-tap payment button triggers direct payment and checkout

EMI & Premium Payments

Loan EMI and policy premiums contribute significantly to the recurring revenue of BFSI businesses. To streamline collections, businesses can leverage automated payment reminders, allowing customers to effortlessly select their desired service—such as personal loans, business loans, investment plans or insurance policies—using quick replies and pre-filled forms in Flows. This seamlessly directs them to a pay now option within WhatsApp. By integrating reminders, flows, and payments, BFSI brands can enhance the payment experience, drive seamless transactions, and reduce non-repayment rates.

End-to-End Journey via Digital Storefronts on WhatsApp

The WhatsApp Business Platform empowers brands across industries to seamlessly initiate and complete user journeys within WhatsApp.

While WhatsApp Flows and Native Payments independently offer structured and frictionless experiences, their true potential is unlocked when combined with features like Click-to-WhatsApp (CTWA) Ads, catalogs, carousels, quick replies, CTA, etc. Together, these capabilities transform WhatsApp into a fully functional digital storefront, enabling customer acquisition and driving conversions and retention:

• Generate leads with Click-to-WhatsApp ads
• Customers land directly on the brand’s verified WhatsApp channel and initiate chat
• Chatbot/AI agent gathers key details & guides users
• Showcase products via menus, catalogs, or carousels
• Add to cart triggers checkout Flow: address, order summary, delivery
• Native payments enable seamless checkout
• Order confirmation & tracking in the same chat

By enabling end-to-end customer journeys on WhatsApp, businesses can eliminate reliance on websites or apps, which require significant investment in time, money, and maintenance. While delivering a store-like experience that engages, converts and retains.

Enable End-to-End Journey Creation on WhatsApp with Karix

Karix makes it easy for you to create WhatsApp journeys that put customers front and centre. Imagine your customers browsing products, buying, and seeking support on the same chat window.

With Karix, you can leverage WhatsApp’s rich features like carousels, menu options, lists, product catalogs and more to create journeys that are not only functional but also engaging. When combined with Flows and Native Payments, these features make conversations intuitive, puts your products in the forefront, guides customers seamlessly from one stage of the funnel to the next, and helps convert users effortlessly.

Whether it’s a simple lead collection process or appointment booking, an engaging purchase journey or a complex payment use case – Karix enables businesses to create journeys that guide and engage users end to-end. You can capture user information, preferences, and payments right within WhatsApp, eliminating the need for external redirections. Karix makes it all possible and delightful.

Conclusion

WhatsApp is constantly evolving and innovating to make the user experience more convenient and seamless. One such innovation is Native Payments, which allows customers to complete transactions within the app. Combined with interactive

WhatsApp Flows, as a business, you can craft experiences that delight, streamline payments and help accelerate growth.

Want to see how Karix can help you achieve conversations-driven growth with WhatsApp? Visit www.karix.com or write to us at marketing@karix.com to book a strategy session.