Enquiries and orders at any hour
Customers message your business number to ask what an item costs or whether it is in stock, and place an order. The conversation does not wait for the office to open.
Conversational Sales & Operations · Zimbabwe
WhatsApp Business Chatbots
WhatsApp Chatbots
Sell and capture work over WhatsApp, at any hour.
A chatbot on your WhatsApp Business number that lets customers ask a price, request a quote and place an order outside office hours, and lets your own staff raise quotes, capture sales orders and record stock takes from a phone.
Overview
Sell and capture work over WhatsApp, at any hour.
A great deal of business conversation in Zimbabwe already happens on WhatsApp. A chatbot built on the WhatsApp Business API lets that conversation do real work. A customer can check a price, ask for a quote or place an order at nine in the evening without ringing an office that is closed. The same bot faces inwards too: a rep raises a quote standing in the customer yard, a storeman sends counts through as he works along a shelf. Where your business system supports it, the quote or order is raised there directly; where it does not, the detail reaches your team ready to action. Payment is not handled in the bot — that stays with whatever process you use today.
Who it is for
- Businesses taking orders and enquiries outside office hours
- Distributors and wholesalers whose reps quote and sell away from a desk
- Operations that count stock across branches, vehicles or storerooms
Core capabilities
What we can help you put in place.
Quotes requested in chat
A customer sends the items and quantities they want priced. The request becomes a quote with your pricing applied, ready for someone to check and send back.
Sales orders from the field
Reps capture an order against a customer account from wherever they are standing, instead of writing it down and rekeying it at the end of the run.
Stock takes from a phone
Staff count a shelf, bin or vehicle and send the figures through WhatsApp. Counts arrive as a sheet to be checked against the system, with no new hardware and nothing to install.
Connected to your business system
Item lists, prices and customer accounts come from your business system through a supported connection. Where that system allows it, quotes and orders are written back; where it does not, they reach your team with the detail already captured.
How the workflow works
Follow the operational process.
A typical workflow, aligned to the agreed scope and configuration.
- 01
Map the conversations
Agree what the bot should handle for customers and for staff, and where a real person must take over.
- 02
Set up the number
Register the business number on the WhatsApp Business API and configure the message templates it needs.
- 03
Connect the business system
Establish the connection for items, prices and customer accounts, and confirm what may be written back.
- 04
Pilot, then widen
Run with one team or one customer group, adjust the conversation flow on what you learn, then extend it.
Reporting & visibility
What the engagement can deliver.
Conversation design
The agreed flows for each audience, including where a conversation is handed to a person.
Working chatbot on your number
The configured bot on your registered WhatsApp Business number, connected to your business system.
Conversation and transaction log
A record of what was asked, quoted, ordered or counted, and what reached the business system.
Configuration & connections
Start with your requirements.
Scope depends on your business system and what it allows to be read and written, on the WhatsApp Business API approval for your number, and on which conversations you want handled automatically rather than by a person. Africube confirms the connection method, the message templates required and the handover points before implementation.
- The business system holding your items, prices and customer accounts, and how it is hosted
- A business phone number that can be registered on the WhatsApp Business API
- Your price list structure and any customer-specific pricing rules
- A decision on which conversations a person should take over, and who that person is
Useful answers
Before your demonstration.
Does the chatbot take payment?
No. The bot handles enquiries, quotes, orders and stock counts. Payment stays with whatever process you use today and happens outside the conversation.
Can our own staff use it, not just customers?
Yes, and that is often where it earns its keep first. Reps raise quotes and capture sales orders from the field, and storemen record stock counts from a phone, without a separate application to roll out and train people on.
Do the orders reach our system automatically?
Where your business system supports being written to, the quote or order is raised in it directly. Where it does not, the request reaches your team with the detail already captured, ready to raise. Which of the two applies is confirmed against your system before implementation.
Related solutions
Explore the next part of the picture.
These offerings address related needs. Any connection between systems is assessed and scoped separately.
Business Systems Integration
Systems & API Integration
Connect applications around defined data flows, field mappings and business rules, with compatibility assessed for the systems you use.
Explore solution
Field Sales, Van Sales & Distribution Management
Route Sales
Manage field sales, customer coverage and distribution from vehicle loading to route reconciliation.
Explore solution
Inventory & Warehouse Management
Inventory Management
Connect purchasing, receiving, warehouse movements and stock reporting in an inventory management system for Zimbabwean businesses.
Explore solutionYour next step
See how it fits your operation.
Tell us what you use today, what needs to work better and where you want to go.