How Mudah.my, Malaysia’s largest recommerce marketplace uses WhatsApp strategy

Mudah.my is the largest and most popular recommerce marketplace in Malaysia offering a reliable platform for car transactions, property sales, rentals, purchases, and various other categories like gadgets, pets, and jobs.

With an astonishing reach that sees millions of buyers and sellers converging on their website each month, Mudah.my has truly solidified its status as a central hub for recommerce in Malaysia. A striking testament to their success is the astounding 70% average read rate they have achieved, an accomplishment made possible through their adoption of a comprehensive WhatsApp Business API solution via SleekFlow.

Online marketplaces have provided opportunities for businesses and consumers to access the most favourable transactions. Mudah.my, a popular online marketplace in Malaysia, provides consumers with a convenient platform to purchase and sell second-hand items. Owners have the opportunity to generate additional cash by selling unused items, while cost-conscious customers can conveniently obtain these items with clear visibility.

Challenges of a marketplace business

In need of an efficient process for a large number of enquiries

Since buyers and sellers on Mudah.my frequently reside in various regions, online transactions are common. Once the listing is published, those interested in the product will contact the seller for additional information and pricing. The process is direct and uncomplicated; however, for significant purchases requiring a financial commitment, such as automobiles and houses, buyers are typically more cautious and frequently need to schedule a viewing or test drive prior to making a decision. 

In addition to assisting private sellers, Mudah.my also publishes inventories from its own car dealership programme in search of car buyers. With millions of listings on Mudah.my, coordinating with all sellers and customers individually can be time-consuming and prone to error.

Lack of a broadcast channel for two-way communication

Mudah.my also uses eDM and SMS broadcast messages for announcements, but they noticed that users rarely reply to them on these channels. They knew they needed another option like WhatsApp to make it more convenient for the buyers and sellers.

Mudah.my employs various communication channels, including eDM and SMS broadcast messages for making announcements. However, the platform has observed a limited response rate from users through these channels. Recognizing the necessity for an alternative means of communication to enhance convenience for both buyers and sellers, Mudah.my sought the integration of WhatsApp into their communication.

Mudah.my initially explored another WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (BSP). However, they soon discovered that this particular BSP offered only a restricted set of features, lacking the crucial capability of enabling concurrent collaboration on WhatsApp conversations. This limitation resulted in extended response times for some customers, making it challenging for the manager to maintain a comprehensive record of the conversation history, thereby affecting the assurance of consistent high-quality service. Consequently, Mudah.my decided to explore SleekFlow's solution as a more promising alternative.

SleekFlow’s WhatsApp Business solution for a marketplace business

Mudah.my now uses SleekFlow’s comprehensive solution to integrate WhatsApp Business API into their online marketplace.

1. Boosting credibility with a green tick verified official WhatsApp Business account

Users of online marketplaces are always looking for security and reliability. With SleekFlow, Mudah.my has managed to get the green tick verification on their WhatsApp Business account to demonstrate authenticity and credibility. Sellers and buyers can now respond at ease if they’re interested and share their personal information with the peace of mind that their details are passed to a trusted business while the chat is being protected by end-to-end encryption.

“WhatsApp is the favourite messaging app in Malaysia. As compared to other channels, WhatsApp Business API is the one that offers us the highest response rate,” Sher Mei, User Success Manager of Mudah.my shared.

2. Attracting new leads with the WhatsApp button alongside the product listing

With the addition of a WhatsApp icon to each product listing, Mudah.my has been able to generate more high-quality leads from its website. Car purchasers are more likely to initiate a conversation via WhatsApp to request additional information and schedule an appointment. This demonstrates that enabling prospective customers to communicate with their brand via their preferred messaging application has increased user accessibility.

3. Automating appointment booking and customer surveys for the car inspection program

Mudah certified is a new programme introduced by Mudah.my in which Mudah Auto inspects and guarantees vehicles. It is designed to facilitate the buying and selling of secondhand cars hassle-free. In accordance with this, Mudah.my has implemented an automated chat flow that enables interested buyers to effortlessly schedule a test drive appointment on WhatsApp. 

The automated setting will also send a follow-up message to the customer after the journey has concluded to simply collect their feedback. Not only is the process cost-effective and time-saving, but this mass communication instrument also fosters long-term customer loyalty and trust. "I would say that everything is now more standardised and organised because we can save all of our frequently used template messages."

4. Broadcasting WhatsApp messages for effective 2-way communication

With an open platform, Mudah.my attracts a diverse consumer base, including small local enterprises and independent, aspiring entrepreneurs. Often, merchants that advertise job vacancies on Mudah.my may require assistance in generating satisfactory outcomes for their listings. The SleekFlow platform integrates the WhatsApp Broadcast feature to disseminate crucial messages to merchants, enlightening them on how to attain their objectives using these advertisements. It also educates them on the guidelines for ad creatives and the employment regulations in Malaysia. 

Using interactive message features like chat buttons and list messages on the WhatsApp Business API has increased our reply rate for broadcasts by at least 30%

Sher Mei

User Success Manager at Mudah.my

5. Unifying WhatsApp communications and auto-assign messages for productive collaboration

Mudah.my additionally utilises SleekFlow Inbox to consolidate and respond to all WhatsApp conversations. After receiving the broadcast messages, users of the platform may require assistance or further elaboration to meet their specific requirements. Mudah.my can then use SleekFlow to automate the assignment of these WhatsApp messages to agents, ensuring that the workload is distributed equitably. When necessary, the internal team can collaborate simultaneously on the same WhatsApp conversation in order to provide precise and prompt assistance to users.

For example, if a new user is interested in selling their car, they may first reach out to arrange an appointment for inspection and evaluation. To ensure that the customer receives near-immediate responses, Mudah.my’s team may take turns replying to customers, so that they get an appointment as soon as possible. They may also pass conversations to a teammate who’s proficient in the users’ preferred languages.

I would recommend the WhatsApp chat collaborator function to others. It’s one of the features that has helped us the most.

Sher Mei

User Success Manager at Mudah.my

6. Building a trusted 2-factor authentication process via WhatsApp

To enhance and improve their services, Mudah.my had to implement specific updates to their PRO Niaga system, an open virtual marketplace for entrepreneurs to sell efficiently. During the five-month period from April to August 2023, they needed to ensure that PRO Niaga users had a secure login to the portal. Using WhatsApp Business API on SleekFlow, Mudah.my created a streamlined 2-factor authentication process by requesting a security code that was sent to the user's WhatsApp via WhatsApp Broadcast upon login. 

Generating over 600 high-quality leads in 3 months and a 30% increase in reply rate with a comprehensive WhatsApp strategy 

Mudah.my has managed to collect 646 leads in just 3 months and observed at least a 30% increase in reply rate using the WhatsApp strategy via SleekFlow. On average, they have acquired 250 weekly new leads for the Mudah Certified Project and other initiatives. The integration and automation features have helped create authentic customer interactions with a seamless workflow.

“WhatsApp is the most efficient means of communication with customers. I believe that a solid WhatsApp strategy is essential. It's how you show your consumers that you care about them and that there's no distance between you and them."

SleekFlow is fantastic. The service is both effective and efficient. They always respond promptly to my messages.

Sher Mei

User Success Manager at Mudah.my

About Mudah.my

Mudah.my Sdn. Bhd. is Malaysia’s leading marketplace that offers a simple and convenient platform for people to sell or find almost anything - Everything Also Mudah. Mudah.my is part of Carousell Group, the leading multi-category platform for secondhand in Greater Southeast Asia on a mission to inspire the world to start selling, and to make secondhand the first choice.