WhatsApp is where your customers already talk to their friends, their family and, increasingly, the businesses they buy from. The WhatsApp Business API (also called the WhatsApp Business Platform) lets your company join those conversations at scale: notifications from your systems, two-way support handled by a team, catalogues and payments inside the chat.

Here is what launching actually involves.

Step 1: Business verification

The API runs on a Meta Business account. Meta verifies that your company is real using documents such as a GST certificate, certificate of incorporation or a utility bill matching your legal name and address. Verification usually takes a few working days; the most common delay is a mismatch between the business name on the documents and on the website.

Tip: make sure your website footer shows the legal name and address exactly as they appear on the documents.

Step 2: Choose your number

The API needs a phone number that is not already registered with the WhatsApp app. Most businesses use a new number (a virtual or landline number works). The number becomes your verified business profile with your name, logo, description, address and hours.

Step 3: Write templates that get approved

Business-initiated messages must use pre-approved templates. Meta reviews each one for category and content:

• Utility – order updates, reminders, receipts, account notices.
• Authentication – one-time passcodes, with a fixed format.
• Marketing – offers and announcements, sent only to opted-in customers.

Templates support variables, media headers (image, document, video) and buttons (quick replies, links, calls). Approval is usually fast when the text is clear and the category matches; rejections come from vague templates ("Hi {{1}}, check this out!") or marketing content filed as utility.

Step 4: Collect opt-ins

You may only start a conversation with customers who have agreed to hear from you on WhatsApp. Good opt-in points:

• A checkbox at checkout or sign-up ("Send my order updates on WhatsApp").
• A "Chat with us" button on the website that opens a WhatsApp thread.
• An SMS or email inviting the customer to reply YES.

Keep the record. It protects your number's quality rating and keeps you compliant.

Step 5: Connect your systems and your team

Notifications should fire from the systems that know the event: your order platform, booking tool or billing software. Replies should land in a shared team inbox where agents can pick them up, or in an automation that handles the routine questions and hands over the rest. Our WhatsApp Business API service includes both.

Which use cases to start with

1. Order and delivery updates with a Track order button. Highest engagement, lowest risk.
2. Appointment reminders with Confirm / Reschedule quick replies.
3. Support conversations routed to your team, with a chatbot for FAQs.
4. OTP via authentication templates, with SMS as fallback.
5. Catalogue messages once the basics are running.

Quality rating: the metric that matters

WhatsApp scores every business number on how customers react: blocks and reports lower the rating, useful replies raise it. A low rating limits how many conversations you can start per day. The way to keep it high is simple: message people who asked to hear from you, about things they care about, at a sensible frequency.

Ready to launch? Talk to an expert and we will take you from verification to your first live conversation.