The figures – published in Mobilesquared’s latest Databook & Report, WhatsApp Business Messaging Traffic & Spend Forecasts, by country & region (2019-24) – focused on take up in the medium to large business segment, of which 55,000 could be users by 2024.
Total enterprise spend on WhatsApp Business by medium and large businesses is forecast to grow from $38.7 million in 2019 to $3.6 billion by 2024, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 151%.
The 10 markets with the largest spend (India, Brazil, Germany, South Africa, Mexico, USA, Argentina, UK, Russia and Italy) together accounted for 68% of the total spend in 2019.
Further, in terms of the consumers these enterprises could reach, almost half the world is expected to be using the messaging platform by mid-decade, with predictions for more than 3.1 billion users by 2024.
“WhatsApp is the only rich messaging channel businesses currently want to know about, but that is in the context of P2A communications between a consumer and a brand,” said Gavin Patterson, chief data analyst at Mobilesquared.
“What we expect to emerge in the coming years is that outbound A2P traffic will centre on SMS and RCS, with inbound P2A traffic split between WhatsApp, ABC and RCS – with WhatsApp likely to become a dominant force,” Patterson added
WhatsApp Business APIs, which are currently available from over 60 partners, permit inbound traffic, such as customer care enquiries initiated by customers via WhatsApp, and outbound traffic, such as updates and alerts sent to customers who have already contacted a business via WhatsApp.
