Communication has come a long way and with the smartphone our ways of communicating are changing from talking to texting. “We have seen an increase in questions through our Facebook pages. Texting lowers the communication barriers, people just want to send a message and get a quick response” says Nicole Corvellec, Marketing Manager of Budget Marine Group. “We want to convenience our customers in this trend by introducing WhatsApp numbers in all our locations.”
WhatsApp Business, launched in 2018, is the most popular messaging service accommodating customers’ desire to interact with businesses in a more convenient way. The application allows the sending of text messages and voice calls, as well as video calls, images and other media such as documents. Budget Marine St.Maarten and Grenada were the first to launch this service in their location.
“This social media tool is fast, simple and user friendly, once the customer has our number saved and the app downloaded on their respective device.” says Trisha Celestine of Budget Marine Grenada. “The majority of customers contacting us through WhatsApp send us photos of the actual item they’re looking for to see whether it is available in the store, others send the item codes that they are looking for and also seek out our prices.”, Celestine continues. “When customers send actual photos of items they’re interested in, it is easier to pinpoint the product and provide feedback quickly. If we do not carry the item we can also easily share these images with our suppliers, to inquire for special orders.”
Ellen van Holland-Little of Budget Marine St. Maarten agrees: “The response so far is tremendous; in the first two months of having our WhatsApp number we have already received 330 inquiries. Most of the messages coming in are pricing or availability requests. People usually know what they want and asking a quick question avoids them from using their limited data plan for downloading websites and navigating pages. Another obvious advantage is that customers receive confirmation that they will be able to get what they want when they visit the store. ”
Budget Marine stores that have a WhatsApp contact number are: Aruba (+1-297-737-3796), Antigua (+1-268-764-8625), Bonaire (+599-700-7500), Curacao (+5999-266779), Grenada (+1-473-418-3933), St. Kitts (+1-869-660-8933), St. Maarten (+1-721-559-2863) and Trinidad (+1-868-280-8015).
