Industries / Distribution and dealer networks
WhatsApp for distribution
WhatsApp for distributors and dealer networks
B2B orders already arrive on WhatsApp. The problem is that they arrive on individual handsets, where nobody else can see them and nothing survives a resignation.
In distribution the channel is already decided: dealers send orders on WhatsApp because it is what they use. What is not decided is whose phone they land on.
That is the actual failure. An order sits in one salesman’s chat, dispatch cannot see it, the dealer chases the salesman rather than the company, and when that salesman leaves the relationship leaves with the handset.
What it looks like in practice
Orders on a company number, not a personal one
Dealers message one number the whole team works. The order is visible to whoever is on shift, assignment decides who owns it, and the history stays with the dealer rather than with an employee.
Shared inbox →Dispatch updates that go out as a run
A dispatch batch becomes an approved utility template to the dealers it concerns, with a delivery status per recipient rather than a hope that everyone was told.
Campaigns →Order and stock lookups without a call
A dealer asks where an order is or whether a line is in stock, and the answer comes from your ERP through a custom action — the real quantity, not a callback promise.
Answers from your systems →Territories that stay separate
Custom roles and per-resource permissions keep a regional team to its own dealers, which matters more in distribution than almost anywhere else because the relationships are the asset.
Roles and access →Worth knowing before you start
The constraints that catch teams in this industry specifically.
- Dealer networks are the case where multiple WhatsApp numbers stop being a luxury — one per region or per division is common, and per-number pricing is what makes that expensive elsewhere.
- B2B does not exempt you from opt-in. A dealer agreement is a commercial relationship, not by itself the WhatsApp consent Meta asks for.
- Order confirmations and dispatch notices are utility messages. Scheme announcements and price promotions are marketing, and dealers report them like anyone else when they arrive unasked.
- The handset problem is a data problem too: conversations on a personal phone are not exportable, auditable or transferable, and no policy fixes that after the fact.
Questions
Can each region have its own WhatsApp number?
Yes, and every plan carries unlimited WhatsApp numbers — including the entry tier. That is deliberate: distribution is the shape of business most often penalised by per-number pricing elsewhere.
Can dealers place orders through WhatsApp?
They can supply the order through a form or a flow, and a custom action can post it into your system where that system has an API. What the product does not do is replace your ERP’s order logic — it collects and hands over.
What happens to conversations when a salesman leaves?
They stay. The conversation belongs to the number and the workspace rather than to a handset, which is the difference between a channel your company owns and one an employee does.
Other industries
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Tell us what your team is dealing with.
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