In recent years, WhatsApp has gone from being just a communication channel between people to a relevant space for interaction between brands and consumers. With this movement, new demands have emerged: if customers want to resolve everything there, why not sell in a structured way in the same environment?
The most common answer was automation. But what many e-commerce businesses realized—sometimes belatedly—is that automation isn't the same as conversion.
Artificial intelligence, when used solely to speed up responses, doesn't necessarily generate sales. It's necessary to go further: structure an operation that combines context, personalization, and business intelligence to transform conversations into real business opportunities.
The transition from support channel to sales channel
In Brazil, WhatsApp is the most widely used app. But most brands still view the channel as an extension of customer service, not a sales engine.
The big turning point happens when you change the question: instead of "how do I serve better?", we start to reflect on "how can I sell better in this channel?"
This shift in mindset opens the way for the use of artificial intelligence as a tool to support consultative selling, whether done by a human team or independent agents.
LIVE!, a well-established brand in the fitness fashion segment, faced a challenging situation: the WhatsApp channel already represented an important part of customer communication, but the model did not scale with the agility that the business demanded.
The company decided to restructure the channel, adopting an AI-centric approach, with two main focuses:
- Support the human team ( personal shoppers ) with intelligence, to respond faster and in a personalized way;
- Automate part of the conversations , maintaining the brand language and focusing on performance.
With this change, LIVE! was able to significantly increase agent productivity, reduce average response times, and keep the customer experience at its core—without sacrificing conversion. Data indicates consistent growth in WhatsApp sales and an improvement in satisfaction rates.
These indicators reinforce the importance of not treating WhatsApp as just another point of contact. It can and should be a structured customer acquisition and retention channel, as long as it's supported by data, strategy, and applicable technology.
Purposeful AI: Neither hype nor miracle
Artificial intelligence in e-commerce is far from a magic solution. It requires clear goal definition, language curation, platform integration, and, above all, continuous learning. Success isn't about "having AI," but about using AI purposefully.
Brands that move in this direction are able to scale their operations and build a more consistent and efficient relationship with their consumers.
WhatsApp is now much more than a support channel. For those who know how to structure, test, and measure it, it can become one of the main sales channels for Brazilian digital retail.
