1. Away and greeting messages in the WhatsApp Business app
The free WhatsApp Business app lets you set a greeting message for new customers, an away message outside your business hours, and quick replies (saved answers you send with a shortcut). It takes five minutes to set up and costs nothing.
- Good for: telling customers you'll reply soon, sharing your opening hours, catalog link or bank details.
- Limits: the message is the same for everyone. It can't answer "ada saiz M?" or "berapa harga ke Sabah?", so the customer still waits for you.
2. Rule-based chatbots (menus and keywords)
Chatbot tools connect to the WhatsApp Business Platform (the official API from Meta) and reply with menus such as "Press 1 for prices, 2 for delivery". They can show product lists and collect simple details.
- Good for: fixed questions with fixed answers, like opening hours, delivery areas or order status.
- Limits: customers type freely, often mixing English, Malay and Chinese in one message. Anything outside the menu breaks the flow, and someone has to build and update every path.
3. An AI sales assistant
An AI assistant reads the customer's message the way a person would and answers from your own product catalog. A good one does more than answer: it recommends items, builds the cart, sends a payment link and hands the chat to you when needed.
- Good for: product questions, sizes, stock, delivery fees and turning chats into paid orders, at any hour and in the customer's language.
- What to check: prices and stock must come from your catalog, never from the AI's memory; it must hand over complaints and unusual requests to a person; and it must use the official WhatsApp Business Platform, not an unofficial tool that can get your number banned.
Which one should you choose?
| Away message | Chatbot | AI sales assistant | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Answers product questions | No | Only menu items | Yes, from your catalog |
| Understands mixed languages | No | Rarely | Yes |
| Takes orders and payment | No | Sometimes, with setup | Yes |
| Setup effort | Minutes | Days to build flows | Upload your catalog |
| Hands over to you | Not needed | Manually | Automatically when unsure |
If you get only a few messages a week, the free away message is enough. If chats are where most of your orders come from, and you miss sales at night or during busy drops, an AI sales assistant is the option that actually replies with the answer.
Rules to know before you automate
- Use the official WhatsApp Business app or WhatsApp Business Platform. Unofficial automation tools break WhatsApp's terms and numbers get banned.
- On the Business Platform you can reply freely within 24 hours of the customer's last message. After that, only pre-approved template messages are allowed.
- Only message customers who contacted you or agreed to hear from you, and stop when they ask.
Common questions
Is the WhatsApp Business app auto reply free?
Yes. Greeting messages, away messages and quick replies are built into the free WhatsApp Business app.
Can a WhatsApp chatbot reply in Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese?
Menu chatbots only reply in the languages you build them in. An AI assistant can read and reply in English, Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia and Chinese, including mixed messages.
Will automating WhatsApp get my number banned?
Not if you use Meta's official tools and follow the messaging rules: reply within the 24-hour window, use approved templates after that, and don't send unwanted messages. Unofficial tools are what usually get numbers banned.