With presence on virtually all cell phones in Brazil, WhatsApp has established itself as a work tool for small and medium-sized businesses across the country. The app is installed on 99% of cell phones in Brazil and maintains 147 million users, according to the study.Digital 2024: Brazil.
For customer service specialists, what was once just an informal means of contact is now gaining a strategic role: more and more companies are automating processes, organizing their operations, and selling directly through the app.
According to the Opinion Box report, 82% of Brazilians already use WhatsApp to communicate with companies, and 60% say they have already made purchases through the app. It's no coincidence that the number of businesses using the enterprise version — WhatsApp Business — has also grown: Brazil is one of the largest markets in the world for the solution. About 70% of Brazilian companies already use the app as part of their marketing, sales, and relationship strategies, according to the 2024 Marketing and Sales Panorama by RD Station.
"Before, everything was manual. Today, I can talk to dozens of clients at the same time without making anyone wait," says Gabriel Sávio, director of a furniture store in Goiás. After automating customer service and sales through WhatsApp, he claims to have multiplied revenue by six. "Organization and agility made all the difference." He uses Poli Digital's customer service platform in his operations, a company also based in Goiás, which has chatbots, automations, and CRM for customer service.
"The platform linked to automation can be a true sales engine for a company. There is a big difference between fulfilling an order and operating an intelligent, scalable, and efficient commercial process," says Alberto Filho, CEO of Poli Digital.
Cases like Gabriel's are not isolated. A Meta (2023) survey of 6,500 adults from 13 countries, including Brazil, showed that 81% of Brazilians find it easier to send messages to a company than to access a website for that contact, and 78% say they are more likely to make a purchase when they can resolve everything there—from the first contact to payment.
Alessandra Bona, from Burntech Caldeiras Equipamentos Industriais, also a client of Poli Digital, mentions that the ability to respond to customers on the same screen, handling multiple channels at the same time, greatly facilitated daily operations. "Allowing everything to be recorded in a pre-sales funnel (messages and calls) was a decisive factor."
In addition to enhancing conversations, WhatsApp also boosts sales with integrated features. One of the most used is Click-to-WhatsApp, which turns ads on Instagram and Facebook into direct conversations on the support platform. According to Meta, more than 40% of Brazilian advertisers have already adopted this feature — a sign that WhatsApp has become a central point in the purchase journey.
Another highlight is thePoli Paya tool developed by Poli Digital that functions as an order management system directly through WhatsApp and Instagram. It allows companies to send and receive invoices directly through chat, with an integrated product catalog and shopping cart. The feature has moved approximately R$ 7 million since its launch in 2020. The conversion rate achieved with Poli Pay was 46%, double the average of traditional e-commerce.
In other words, with support and organization, we can grow even with a small team. WhatsApp is the app already in your pocket, it's agile, direct, and convenient — a huge competitive advantage, says Alessandra Bona.
Unlike robust solutions created for large companies, which are often expensive and difficult to implement, WhatsApp Business offers an affordable entry point for the digitalization of SMEs. "Automating customer service, recording chat histories, training teams, and integrating direct payment through chat. All of this is already possible and does not require significant investments," says Alberto Filho.
