Automated WhatsApp marketing for retail, grocery, wholesalers and businesses: turn messages into sales

Why WhatsApp is the most powerful marketing channel in 2026

There is a marketing channel with a 98% open rate (Source: Spoki, benchmark on 4,500+ active clients, May 2026), read within minutes of receipt, used daily by 91% of Italians with a smartphone. It's called WhatsApp.

For comparison, email marketing sits at 21% average open rate. Yet most Italian shops, retail chains, grocery brands, wholesalers and distributors still use WhatsApp in an artisanal way: messages copy-pasted one by one, 256-contact broadcast lists, no automation, no integration with their systems.

68% of Italians say they prefer being contacted by companies via instant messages rather than calls or email (Source: Auditel-Censis Report 2026). Your customers want to hear from you on WhatsApp. The question is: can you do it in a structured, automated and scalable way?

WhatsApp Business App vs WhatsApp Business API

The WhatsApp Business App is free, installs on the phone and is enough for those handling a few dozen conversations a day. The WhatsApp Business API is the infrastructure for serious automation, CRM integration, broadcasts to thousands of contacts and multi-operator management.

At Badil we work with the WhatsApp Business API: the only solution enabling real automation, broadcasts to thousands of contacts, personalized messages per store or customer type and full integration with existing systems.

What automated WhatsApp marketing means for your business

Automated WhatsApp marketing is not blasting messages hoping someone reads them. It means building intelligent communication flows that work for you — even when the store is closed, at night, on weekends.

Large-scale broadcasts

No more 256 contacts at a time. With the WhatsApp Business API you can reach thousands of customers with a single send, segmented by store, purchase category or past behavior.

Store-specific personalized content

With Badil's WhatsApp marketing, integrated with inpublish Suite, you can create local communications for each store and send them to customers in that specific geographic area.

Interactive digital flyers and catalogues in one click

You created your interactive flyer on inpublish? One click and you send it on WhatsApp to all your customers. The link opens directly in the chat, the customer browses the catalogue, clicks the product and orders — without leaving WhatsApp.

B2B orders directly in chat

For wholesalers, distributors and companies with reseller networks, WhatsApp becomes the primary channel for order collection. The reseller writes in chat, the system replies with the updated catalogue, customer-specific pricing and order confirmation — all automatic, all tracked, all integrated with the ERP.

Automations active 24/7

The customer writes at 10:30pm asking about a product. The system replies automatically, offers active promotions and, if the customer wants to proceed, guides them to the order. No operator needed. No customer lost after hours.

Integration with inpublish Suite: the flyer that becomes a sales system

The real differentiator is not WhatsApp alone. It's the integration between automated WhatsApp marketing and inpublish Suite — the platform to create interactive digital flyers and catalogues.

The flow: create the flyer or catalogue on inpublish in a few clicks, distribute it via WhatsApp with an automated message to your store's customers. They browse, click, and the order comes directly to you. A complete system: from promotion creation to customer delivery to order collection — one flow, measurable, automatic.

The WhatsApp marketing numbers

• 98% — WhatsApp message open rate (Spoki, May 2026).
• 21% — average email marketing open rate (Lorenzini, 2026).
• 45–60% — click rate per WhatsApp message received (GetItSMS, 2026).
• +34% — average conversion increase for those integrating WhatsApp Business (Tready, March 2026).
• €23 — average revenue generated for every euro invested in WhatsApp marketing (Spoki, 2026).
• 68% — Italians who prefer instant messages to calls or email (Auditel-Censis 2026).
• 91% — Italians with smartphones using WhatsApp daily (Tready, 2026).

Who is Badil's automated WhatsApp marketing for

No industry is excluded. If you have customers — you need automated WhatsApp marketing. Retail and physical stores, grocery chains with multiple stores, wholesalers and distributors, franchising and brands, e-commerce and online sales: any company with a customer database benefits.

How to start: the journey with Badil

We analyze your current situation, then set up the system: WhatsApp Business API, inpublish Suite integration, custom automated flows, Meta-approved message templates with your brand. Then we train you to manage it independently — or we run it for you with periodic reports.

Conclusion

WhatsApp is the marketing channel with the highest open rate that exists — 98% vs 21% for email. 91% of Italians use it every day. Your customers read it.