Connecting WhatsApp

Why WhatsApp

Many suppliers, especially factories in Asia and Latin America, answer WhatsApp faster than email, and some never see an RFQ that landed in spam. RFQs and follow-ups still go out by email. When a supplier goes quiet, you can nudge them on WhatsApp with a short message that points to the request. The supplier can answer right in WhatsApp, and the reply shows up on the supplier thread next to the email conversation.

Buyer24 never messages a supplier on WhatsApp on its own. You decide when, and you see the text before it goes. See Using WhatsApp with suppliers.

A contact can be reached on WhatsApp when it has a WhatsApp entry under Messaging on the contact, with the country code (for example +86 138 0013 8000). The Phone field alone doesn't count. See Managing Your Supplier Directory.

You have two options:

Only Organization Admins can connect a number or switch WhatsApp off.

Before you start

You need:

• A Meta business portfolio for your company. You can create one while you create the app in step 1; it doesn't need a Facebook page.
• A phone number for WhatsApp Business that is not already registered on the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business phone app. A landline works; Meta can call it with the code.
• To message any supplier, your business must be verified by Meta (Business settings → Security Centre → Start verification). Until then Meta limits you to a test number that can only message up to five phone numbers you register.

Step 1: Create a Meta app

1. Go to developers.facebook.com/apps and choose Create app.
2. Pick the use case Connect with customers through WhatsApp and select your business portfolio.
3. Give the app any name, for example "Buyer24". Nobody outside your company sees it.

Step 2: Add your phone number

1. In the app, open WhatsApp → API Setup.
2. Choose Add phone number, enter the display name suppliers will see, and confirm the number with the code Meta sends by SMS or call.

To try things first, Meta gives you a test number on the same page. Add your own phone under To to receive test messages.

Step 3: Create a permanent access token

The Generate token button on the API Setup page makes a token that expires within hours, so Buyer24 won't accept it. Create one for a system user instead:

1. Open Business settings → System users and choose Add. Name it, for example "Buyer24", with the Employee role. An Admin system user can reach everything in your business portfolio. An Employee reaches only what you assign in the next step.
2. Choose Assign assets and give the system user only what Buyer24 needs:

- Apps: the app from step 1, with Full control. It is the app you created for Buyer24, and the token is issued through it.

- WhatsApp accounts: your WhatsApp account, with Partial access. Turn on only the permissions for messages, message templates and phone numbers. Leave everything else off, including managing the account, its users and its payment settings. Meta words these permissions slightly differently from time to time. Choose the closest match.

1. Choose Generate token, select your app, set Token expiration to Never, and tick whatsapp_business_messaging and whatsapp_business_management.
2. Copy the token. Meta shows it only once.

What this lets Buyer24 do, and what it doesn't:

You can take access back at any time. Disconnect on the card deletes the token from Buyer24, and deleting the system user in Meta revokes the token everywhere.

Step 4: Copy the app secret

In the app, open App settings → Basic, choose Show next to App secret, and copy it. Buyer24 uses it to check that replies really come from Meta.

Step 5: Connect in Buyer24

1. Open Connections (in the Assistant sidebar) and find WhatsApp Business under Channels.
2. Choose Connect (or Use your own number if Buyer24's number is on), review the permissions, and continue.
3. Paste the access token and the app secret, then choose Connect.

Leave Phone number ID empty unless your WhatsApp account has more than one number. If it does, Buyer24 lists them and asks which one to use.

What Buyer24 sets up for you

When you connect, Buyer24:

• Finds your number and its WhatsApp account from the token.
• Sets up replies. It points this number's webhook at Buyer24, so supplier replies and files land on the right thread. Other WhatsApp integrations on the same app keep their own settings.
• Submits the message template. WhatsApp only lets a business start a conversation with an approved template. Buyer24 submits its rfq_request template, in English, with a View request button that opens the request in the supplier portal. It is a short pointer to the RFQ; the full request reaches the supplier by email in their own language:

> Hello, Your Company is requesting a quote:

>

> 500 steel brackets, powder-coated black, delivered to Austin by November 15

>

> Reply here with your price and lead time, or tap the button to see the full request.

>

> [ View request ]

Meta usually reviews templates within minutes to a day. After a supplier writes back, Buyer24 can message them freely for 24 hours.

The WhatsApp card on the Connections page shows the result:

Using WhatsApp with suppliers

Nudge a silent supplier

Once the RFQ email has gone out on a supplier thread, open the thread's ⋮ menu and choose Nudge on WhatsApp. The dialog shows:

• To: every contact on the thread that has a WhatsApp number
• Summary line: the one-line description of what you're asking for. Edit it, or click Use the summary already sent
• What they will receive: a preview of the message, with its View request button

Click Send WhatsApp. The nudge appears on the thread, and if Meta refuses it, the thread shows Meta's reason. Anyone in your organization can send a nudge.

The reminder picker

When you wrote last and the supplier has been quiet for two days or more, the thread and the Conversation Board offer Send reminder. It asks How do you want to remind them?:

• WhatsApp, marked Recommended when a nudge can go. It opens the nudge dialog above
• Email, a prefilled reminder you can edit before sending

When WhatsApp can't go, the option is greyed out with the reason: the RFQ email hasn't gone out on this thread yet, or no contact on the thread has a WhatsApp number. If WhatsApp isn't on for your organization, Send reminder goes straight to email.

Chatting with a supplier

All WhatsApp messages with a supplier show on its thread as one WhatsApp chat row. Open it to read the conversation as chat bubbles.

For 24 hours after the supplier's last WhatsApp message, Reply opens a WhatsApp box with Send on WhatsApp (the box shows how many hours are left) or Reply by email. WhatsApp replies are text only; send files by email. Your text is translated into the contact's language unless you turn on Don't translate — send as written.

Outside those 24 hours, WhatsApp allows only the approved template, so replies go by email until the supplier writes back on WhatsApp. The window belongs to the number the supplier wrote to: after switching from Buyer24's number to your own, the next message starts with the template again.

Replies about several requests

A supplier may have more than one open request from you. If they reply to one of your request's messages, the reply goes to that request. Otherwise Buyer24 sends them a short Which request is this about? list to pick from, at most once an hour. This is the only WhatsApp message Buyer24 sends without someone on your team choosing to.

Troubleshooting

Costs and privacy

• Your own number: Meta bills your business directly at Meta's prices for the supplier's country. Every nudge is a template message, which Meta charges for. Chat replies within 24 hours of a supplier's message are generally free; see Meta's current WhatsApp pricing for details.
• Buyer24's number: Buyer24 pays Meta's charges. Ask us how it fits your plan.
• Your access token and app secret are stored encrypted and never shown again. Disconnect on the card removes them, and deleting the system user in Meta revokes the token.
• Buyer24 messages a supplier on WhatsApp only when someone on your team sends a nudge or a chat reply, plus the Which request is this about? list for a supplier who wrote in. RFQs and follow-ups go by email.

See also: Connections & Connected Stores, Connecting Your Email.