WhatsApp chatbot for business in India: FAQ, qualify, and hand off

How Indian businesses run a WhatsApp chatbot on official Cloud API: knowledge-grounded FAQ, lead qualification, and handoff to a shared inbox — without inventing bot magic.

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What Indian buyers mean by WhatsApp chatbot

A WhatsApp chatbot for business in India is usually three jobs in one thread:

FAQ — hours, shipping, returns, “do you deliver to X?”
Lead qualify — city, budget, SKU, appointment slot.
Handoff — a human in a shared inbox when the bot should stop talking.

It is not a grey “auto blast 10,000 numbers” script. Those tools are unofficial. A real bot sits on Cloud API, uses your WABA, and stays inside Meta’s windows and templates.

WatsBerry is a Meta Verified Technical Provider. Bots are visual graphs (message, ask, conditions, handoff, AI intent, AI answer). Invite-only: join the waitlist.

Rule-based vs AI FAQ (what we actually ship)

Plan	Chatbot you get	What that means
Starter	2 rule-based bots	Welcome, keyword, buttons, tags, handoff. No GPT knowledge answers.
Pro / Growth	AI chatbots + knowledge base	AI Answer uses FAQs you publish; AI intent can route “where is my order?” to a secure lookup.

We do not claim an unsupervised agent that invents policy, places Shopify orders, or speaks every Indian language out of the box. Tone is WhatsApp-natural; facts come from Bot Knowledge. Product note: AI FAQ and order status.

Order lookup is scoped to the customer’s WhatsApp number. Mentioning someone else’s sequential order ID does not reveal their details.

Qualify leads, then hand off

A useful India bot is short:

Greet and offer 2–3 paths (shop, support, book).
Ask one qualify field (city, course, clinic, SKU).
Answer from knowledge or collect a WhatsApp Form (appointments can write Google Calendar).
Handoff to Conversations when the buyer wants a person.

WatsBerry also has a lead pipeline (stages and follow-ups) so a qualified chat does not die in “unread.” Bot hours live in bot settings — after hours, do not pretend a counsellor is typing.

Optional: AI suggested replies for agents still use Bot Knowledge; a human chooses send. Instagram DMs can reuse the same knowledge bot on Growth after Social auto-DMs — WhatsApp graphs stay separate unless you turn that on.

Official API rules the bot must respect

24-hour customer-care window: free-form bot and agent replies after the user messages you. Outside that window, outbound is an approved template (templates).
Marketing vs utility: a bot that later triggers “here is 20% off” is marketing, not a free FAQ. See marketing vs utility.
Opt-in: keyword JOIN / website widgets are fine; scraped CSV lists are not. DPDP checkout opt-ins.
Quality rating: loops, junk menus, and ignored STOP hurt the number the same way a bad broadcast does.

CTWA clicks should get a fast first reply (bot or ice-breaker), then a human if they ask to buy: CTWA India.

When you do not need a chatbot yet

Stay on the WhatsApp Business App if one person answers every chat and you have no FAQ load. Skip AI entirely on Starter if menus plus handoff are enough.

Do not buy a chatbot to replace Shopify cart recovery — that is a timed template sequence, not a personality.

When you want FAQ + qualify + inbox in one official workspace, join the WatsBerry beta waitlist. Compare platforms on WATI vs AiSensy vs Interakt vs WatsBerry.

Frequently asked questions

What is a WhatsApp chatbot for business in India?

Software that replies on an official WhatsApp Business Account: menus, FAQs, qualification questions, then a human in a shared inbox. It is not an unofficial WhatsApp Web auto-reply blaster.

Does WatsBerry include an AI WhatsApp chatbot?

Starter includes two rule-based chatbots (buttons, tags, handoff). GPT-powered FAQ, intent routing, and a knowledge base unlock on Pro and Growth. See /resources/ai-faq-and-order-status.

Can the bot recover Shopify carts or confirm COD?

Cart recovery and COD use approved templates and store automations, not a free-form bot inventing discounts. See /resources/shopify-cart-recovery and /resources/whatsapp-cod-confirmation-shopify.

Will a chatbot replace my support team?

No. WatsBerry bots are built to answer published FAQs and hand off. Agents still own assigned chats in the inbox.