WhatsApp automation for support, leads, follow-up and commerce
Slide, by Synquic, automates WhatsApp on Meta's official WhatsApp Business Platform: menu bots and AI agents answer routine questions, leads arrive from ads, QR codes and forms, approved templates carry follow-ups, campaigns and Shopify order updates, and a shared inbox takes every conversation that needs a person. You keep your own WhatsApp Business account and number. The Slide plan covers the features, while Meta's per-message charges, which since 1 October 2026 include service replies after 1,000 free each month per number, come from a prepaid wallet.
Facts on this page were last reviewed on 11 October 2026. See the key facts and sources.
The buyer and the problem
Businesses that talk to customers on WhatsApp, or want to: support teams answering the same questions all day, sales teams handling enquiries from ads and the website, and Shopify stores sending order updates and recovery messages.
Replies depend on whoever has the phone, nothing is recorded against the customer, and follow-ups happen when someone remembers. Moving to the WhatsApp Business Platform brings Meta's rules with it: opt-in before you message someone first, approved templates outside the 24-hour window, and a charge for each message. Automation pays off only when it is built around those rules and still hands the hard conversations to a person.
Supported capabilities, mapped to the product
A shared inbox for the team
Every WhatsApp conversation lands in one inbox with assignment and notes. The inbox counts down the 24-hour reply window and offers approved templates once it has closed.
Source:Getting started guideMenu and keyword bots
Button and list questions, validated input and branching on the answer. Answers are written to contact fields, tags and lifecycle stages, and an owner can be assigned along the way.
Source:Automation builder guideAI agents that answer from your content
An AI agent replies from a knowledge base you provide and can use tools such as CRM lookups and, with a connected Shopify store, order and product searches. AI steps depend on your plan, and the agent replies in the customer's language only if its instructions say so.
Leads from ads, QR codes and forms
Click-to-WhatsApp ad referrals are captured with their source, QR codes and links start a flow, and a website chat button, native WhatsApp forms and Meta or Google lead forms feed the same automations.
Source:Meta Ads guideCampaigns and follow-ups with approved templates
Scheduled broadcasts of approved templates to tags or segments, with delayed follow-up steps and an email fallback. Unsubscribed and blocked contacts are skipped; SMS fallback works for Indian numbers only.
Shopify order and recovery journeys
About 20 store events start messages: abandoned checkout and cart, order confirmation, cash on delivery, shipped, out for delivery, delivered, review request, win-back, reorder, back in stock and price drop. "Delivered" means the fulfilment succeeded, and the cart trigger needs the storefront embed.
Source:Shopify guideOne contact record, with opt-outs honoured
Conversations, tags and fields sit on one contact, matched on phone number first. A contact who opts out is blocked and skipped on every channel, but the opt-out keyword list starts empty, so you add the words your customers use.
Source:Contacts guideTemplates in 25 languages
The template editor covers English, Arabic, Hindi and seven more Indian languages, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Malay, Indonesian and others. Free-form replies inside the 24-hour window can be in any language.
Why WhatsApp has a page for each market
Three things about WhatsApp change with the country you message: the price line, business calling and the consent law. Meta prices each message by the recipient's country code, and the lines are uneven. India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Singapore, Nigeria and South Africa each have a line of their own; Kenya shares a Rest of Africa line; Canada shares a North America line with the United States; and in the Middle East some countries stand alone while others share a Rest of Middle East line.
Calling differs too. Meta does not let Nigerian or Canadian business numbers place WhatsApp calls, although customers can still call the business. In the UAE the telecoms regulator restricts VoIP calling to licensed or approved services, so this site does not promise WhatsApp calls to UAE numbers.
Consent law is set country by country. Singapore's Do Not Call rules cover marketing sent to Singapore numbers over WhatsApp, Canada's CASL covers instant messages, South Africa's POPIA limits how a business may approach people who are not yet customers, Nigeria's GAID requires consent records for direct marketing, and Qatar's Article 22 requires prior consent for electronic marketing. Each market page exists to set out its own line, its calling position and its law, with a worked example where the market changes how a workflow runs.
Dubai has no page of its own. Numbers there are +971 and priced on the UAE line, federal law applies, and the one point specific to Dubai, the DIFC Data Protection Law for businesses registered in the DIFC, is covered on the UAE page. For the region as a whole, start with WhatsApp automation in MENA.
An enquiry from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad, from first tap to a salesperson
A furniture retailer runs a Click-to-WhatsApp ad for a new sofa range. This is how one enquiry moves through the flow it builds in Slide.
- Trigger
A customer taps the ad
The ad opens WhatsApp with a pre-filled message. Slide records the ad as the contact's source, and because the conversation started from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad, Meta does not charge for the next 72 hours once the business replies within 24.
- Customer interaction
A menu offers the next step
The bot replies with three buttons: see the range, delivery and returns, talk to sales. The customer taps "Talk to sales".
- Qualification
Two questions, saved to the contact
The bot asks for the delivery city and a budget band from a list, validates both, writes them to contact fields and tags the contact "sofa enquiry".
- Action
The AI agent answers product questions
The customer asks whether the sofa comes in a darker fabric. The AI agent answers from the knowledge base and the connected Shopify catalogue, and offers a link to the product.
- Human handoff
A salesperson takes over
When the customer asks about a custom size, a handoff step leaves the conversation in the inbox with the city, budget and question attached, and emails the sales team. A salesperson replies while the 24-hour window is still open.
- Exception
If the window closes before the next reply
Once 24 hours pass after the customer's last message, free-form text is no longer allowed. The salesperson sends an approved template with the quote instead, and the conversation reopens when the customer answers.
- Recorded outcome
The lead is recorded with its source
The contact carries the ad source, the answers, the tag and the conversation history. The automation run is logged step by step, and WhatsApp reports show whether the template was delivered and read.
An illustration of how the workflow runs, not a customer case study. Names, numbers and messages are examples.
What you need, and the launch sequence
Requirements
- A verified Meta business portfolio
Your WhatsApp Business account sits in a Meta business portfolio. Meta business verification is needed before the account can send at scale and takes several business days, so start it first.
Source:WhatsApp Business setup guideMeta Business Manager guide - A number that is not on the WhatsApp apps
The number must be able to receive an SMS or a call and cannot be registered on the WhatsApp consumer or Business app at the same time. A number on the Business app today has to be deleted from the app before you connect it.
Source:WhatsApp Business setup guide - A display name
Choose a display name that reflects the business: it is the name customers see on every message.
Source:WhatsApp Business setup guideWhatsApp Business setup guide - Approved templates
Anything sent outside the 24-hour window, and every message that starts a conversation, needs a utility, marketing or authentication template approved by Meta. Slide submits them; Meta decides.
Source:WhatsApp Business setup guideMeta: Send messages (opens in a new tab) - Opt-in from the people you message first
WhatsApp's policy requires permission, naming your business, before you start a conversation, and opt-outs must be honoured on or off WhatsApp.
Source:WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy (opens in a new tab) - A wallet balance
Per-message charges are drawn from a prepaid wallet, and sends stop when it runs out, so keep a buffer.
Source:Billing and wallet guide
Launch sequence
Start Meta business verification and, while it runs, connect the number through Meta's signup window in Slide (WhatsApp setup guide).
Choose the first job: support, lead capture, follow-up or order updates. Mark which messages fall inside the 24-hour window and which will need templates.
Build the flows in the automation builder and end every branch in an answer or a handoff step.
Add your opt-out keywords, since the list starts empty, and record where each contact's opt-in came from in a contact field.
Submit your templates and wait for Meta's approval.
Top up the wallet, test every branch from team members' phones, then publish the number, the QR code or the ad (Meta Ads guide).
WhatsApp automation by market
- WhatsApp automation in MENAHow a business serving several MENA countries runs WhatsApp on Slide: per-country pricing, restricted countries, Arabic templates and routing customers by country.
- WhatsApp automation in UAEHow UAE and Dubai businesses use Slide to qualify and route WhatsApp enquiries in Arabic and English, with UAE pricing, PDPL, DIFC and calling limits explained.
- WhatsApp automation in Saudi ArabiaHow Saudi businesses use Slide for Arabic WhatsApp order updates and cash on delivery checks from Shopify, with Saudi pricing and PDPL points explained.
- WhatsApp automation in QatarHow Qatar businesses use Slide to run consented WhatsApp follow-ups, with Article 22 marketing rules, the 2026 Qatar rate line and Arabic templates explained.
- WhatsApp automation in IndiaHow Indian businesses use Slide to capture WhatsApp leads from ads, qualify them, run campaigns with SMS fallback and take payments in the chat, billed in rupees.
- WhatsApp automation in SingaporeHow Singapore businesses use Slide for WhatsApp campaigns and replies, with Do Not Call checks, Spam Control Act rules, the 2026 rate line and four languages.
- WhatsApp automation in NigeriaHow businesses in Nigeria use Slide for WhatsApp order updates, support and consented marketing, with GAID consent records, no outbound +234 calls and USD billing.
- WhatsApp automation in KenyaHow Kenyan businesses use Slide for WhatsApp reorder reminders, campaigns and replies, with the opt-out that Kenya's regulations require in every marketing message.
- WhatsApp automation in South AfricaHow South African businesses use Slide to answer WhatsApp enquiries, ask once for marketing consent as POPIA section 69 allows, and send offers only to those who agreed.
- WhatsApp automation in CanadaHow Canadian businesses use Slide for WhatsApp support and follow-up in English and French, with CASL consent and unsubscribes, and no outbound calls from +1 numbers.
Workflows by market
- Customer service in UAEHow UAE businesses use Slide to answer WhatsApp support questions in Arabic and English, route cases to a bilingual teammate, and what service replies now cost.
- Customer service in IndiaHow Indian businesses use Slide to answer WhatsApp support questions with bots and AI, hand the rest to a team inbox, and what it costs since October 2026.
- Sales conversion in IndiaHow Indian sales teams use Slide to follow up WhatsApp quotes on time, hand negotiation to a person, and collect an advance with an in-chat payment request.
- Customer retention in IndiaHow Indian brands use Slide for WhatsApp reorder reminders and win-back campaigns to past customers, with consent, opt-outs and India-only SMS fallback.
- Sales conversion in SingaporeHow Singapore businesses use Slide to follow up WhatsApp leads, record consent in the chat for the Do Not Call rules, and hand interested buyers to sales.
- Customer service in NigeriaHow Nigerian businesses use Slide to answer WhatsApp support chats, turn call-back requests into a handoff, and plan for templates, consent and USD billing.
- Sales conversion in CanadaHow Canadian businesses use Slide to follow up WhatsApp leads within CASL implied-consent limits, ask for express consent in time, and hand buyers to sales.
What these claims rest on
- WhatsApp connects through Meta Embedded Signup, and the business keeps its account and number
Slide connects to the WhatsApp Business Platform through a Meta-hosted signup window. The business keeps ownership of its WhatsApp Business account and phone number.
- From 1 October 2026 Meta charges for service messages and for utility messages inside the 24-hour window
"Effective October 1, 2026, Meta will charge for service messages, which have not been charged since November 2024." Rates match utility and authentication rates for the market, with no volume tiers. Meta's main pricing page still shows the older "free" wording.
- Conversations started from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or Page button are free for 72 hours
When a customer messages from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page call to action and the business replies within 24 hours, messages are free for 72 hours. Unchanged by the 1 October 2026 update.
- Go Waka Travels runs menu-driven WhatsApp enquiry journeys with handoff
Published setup: 27 automations live on WhatsApp, separate journeys per package type, handoff that carries the collected answers. The page states its figures describe the setup, not an outcome.
- Realty Nexa answers and qualifies property enquiries on WhatsApp, then routes them
Published setup: 9 automations live on WhatsApp; budget, location and timeline collected in the opening exchange; routing by the collected answers.
- Cleanse Ayurveda runs post-purchase journeys after the order
Published setup: 4 automations live; the store connected so post-purchase guidance runs on WhatsApp, Instagram and email.
How the cost is made up
There are two separate costs. The Slide plan sets which features you get: a workspace created with an Indian number is billed in rupees and every other workspace in US dollars, plans and current prices are on the pricing page, paid plans start with a 14-day trial, and AI steps depend on the plan. Outside India, confirm the payment method with the Slide team before you subscribe.
WhatsApp usage is charged by Meta per message, by category (marketing, utility or authentication) and by the recipient's country, and drawn from your Slide wallet. Messages customers send you are free. The exact per-message price for your account is shown in the wallet, and sends stop when the balance runs out.
Since 1 October 2026 Meta also charges for service replies, the free-form messages you send inside the 24-hour window, at the utility or authentication rate for the market, after the first 1,000 each month for every business number. Utility templates sent inside the window are charged too. A conversation that starts from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page button stays free for 72 hours when you reply within 24.
When this fits, and what it does not do
A good fit when
- Customers already write to you on WhatsApp and more than one person needs to answer.
- Most questions or enquiries follow a pattern a menu or an AI agent can handle.
- A Shopify store that wants order updates, cart recovery and win-back messages on WhatsApp.
- Leads from ads, QR codes or lead forms that need an answer while the person is still interested.
Needs a person when
- Complaints, refunds, damaged goods and anything that needs judgement.
- A cash-on-delivery order a customer confirms or cancels in the chat: the reply does not update the Shopify order, so someone has to.
- A question the bot cannot classify, or a customer who asks for a person.
Not established by this page
- Any change in response time, conversion or revenue: Slide publishes no measured outcomes.
- Where customer data is hosted. Ask the Slide team before you sign.
- Whether a card issued outside India is accepted for a subscription: confirm the payment method with the Slide team.
Direct answers
What can Slide automate on WhatsApp?
Support, lead capture, follow-up and commerce. Menu and keyword bots and an AI agent answer routine questions, leads arrive from Click-to-WhatsApp ads, QR codes, links and lead forms, campaigns send approved templates to tags or segments, and Shopify events send order, delivery and recovery messages. Everything that needs a person reaches a shared inbox with assignment and notes.
Source:Automation builder guideAutomation builder guideMeta Ads guideCampaigns guideShopify guideGetting started guideWhat do we need before we can connect our WhatsApp number?
A Meta business portfolio, Meta business verification before you send at scale (allow several business days), a number that is not registered on the WhatsApp consumer or Business app, and a display name that reflects the business. You connect the number through Meta's signup window inside Slide and keep ownership of the account and the number. Templates for messages outside the 24-hour window are approved by Meta, not by Slide.
Source:WhatsApp Business setup guideMeta Business Manager guideWhatsApp Business setup guideWhatsApp Business setup guideHow long does it take to go live?
Most of the time is Meta's: business verification takes several business days and every template waits for Meta's approval. Building the flows is quicker. Synquic says its team migrates contacts for free on every plan and aims to have a first automation live within one business day, with dedicated onboarding on Pro and Enterprise; Meta's approvals sit outside that timing.
Source:Meta Business Manager guideWhatsApp Business setup guideHow much does WhatsApp automation cost now that Meta charges for service replies?
You pay for the Slide plan, in rupees or US dollars depending on the number the workspace was created with, plus Meta's per-message charges from a prepaid wallet. Since 1 October 2026 Meta charges for service replies inside the 24-hour window at the utility or authentication rate for the market, after 1,000 free each month per business number. Template messages are charged by category and by the recipient's country, and conversations that start from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad are free for 72 hours when you reply within 24 hours. The exact rate for your account is shown in the wallet.
Source:Slide pricingBilling and wallet guideBilling and wallet guideMeta: Pricing for non-template messages (opens in a new tab)WhatsApp Business: FAQ (opens in a new tab)Meta: WhatsApp pricing (opens in a new tab)Meta: WhatsApp pricing (opens in a new tab)Can we message customers who have not written to us first?
Only with an approved template, and only if the person has opted in to hear from your business. Campaigns send approved templates to tags or segments and skip unsubscribed and blocked contacts. Slide blocks a contact who opts out, on every channel, but the opt-out keyword list starts empty, so add your keywords before the first campaign.
Source:WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy (opens in a new tab)WhatsApp Business setup guideCampaigns guideHow does handoff to a person work, and does the bot stop?
A handoff step leaves the conversation in the shared inbox with everything the customer already said and emails the team; alerts are by email only. It does not pause automations for good: a new message from the customer can start an automation again, and there is no step that hands the conversation back to the bot. Design each flow to stop at the handoff rather than ask further questions.
Source:Automation builder guideGetting started guideWhich tools does WhatsApp automation connect to?
Shopify (store events and AI order and product searches), HubSpot with two-way contact sync, Google Sheets and Forms, Meta lead ads, Cal.com for booking a given date and time, outbound webhooks and a public API at https://api.slide.cx/v1. Cal.com bookings have no availability lookup and no automatic reminder before the appointment. WooCommerce, Zoho, Salesforce, Calendly and Google Calendar are not built.
Source:Integrations guideShopify guideAPI referenceIntegrations guideWhich languages can templates and replies use?
Free-form replies inside the 24-hour window can be in any language. Templates can be written in the 25 languages of Slide's editor, including English, Arabic, Hindi, French, Spanish, Malay and Indonesian; Swahili, Afrikaans, isiZulu, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Urdu and Punjabi are not in the list. The AI agent answers in the customer's language only if its instructions tell it to, and the Slide dashboard is in English.
Source:Automation builder guideDo we keep our number and contacts if we leave Slide?
You keep ownership of your WhatsApp Business account and phone number, because Slide connects through Meta's signup window rather than taking them over. Contacts are a different matter: they can be imported into Slide, but there is no contacts export today. Ask the Slide team how your data would be returned before you sign.
Source:WhatsApp Business setup guideContacts guideKey facts: WhatsApp automation
Slide is a reasonable fit for a business that wants WhatsApp support, lead capture, follow-up and Shopify order messages in one place, on its own WhatsApp Business account, with a shared inbox for the conversations a bot should not close. It is a weaker fit if you need a ticketing system with SLAs, templates in a language outside the editor's 25, a store platform other than Shopify, a contacts export, or a bot that stays paused after every handoff. Whichever platform you choose, Meta's verification and template approvals set the pace of the launch.
- Product
- Slide (also "Slide by Synquic"), a platform for automating customer messaging across channelsSource:About Synquic
- Company
- SynquicSource:About Synquic
- Channel
- WhatsAppSource:WhatsApp Business setup guide
- Connection
- Through Meta's Embedded Signup on the WhatsApp Business Platform; the business keeps its WhatsApp Business account and numberSource:WhatsApp Business setup guide
- Prerequisites
- A Meta business portfolio, Meta business verification before sending at scale, a phone number not registered on the WhatsApp apps, and Meta-approved templates for messages outside the 24-hour windowSource:WhatsApp Business setup guideMeta Business Manager guideWhatsApp Business setup guide
- Human handoff
- An automation step hands the conversation to the team in the shared inbox with the collected answers and notifies them by email. It does not pause automations permanently, and there is no hand-back stepSource:Automation builder guide
- WhatsApp usage charges
- Meta charges per message by category and by the recipient's country. Since 1 October 2026 service replies are charged too, after 1,000 free each month per business number. In Slide these charges come from the prepaid wallet, separately from the planSource:Meta: WhatsApp pricing (opens in a new tab)Meta: Pricing for non-template messages (opens in a new tab)WhatsApp Business: FAQ (opens in a new tab)Billing and wallet guide
- Free entry point
- Conversations that start from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page button are free for 72 hours when the business replies within 24 hoursSource:Meta: WhatsApp pricing (opens in a new tab)
- Slide billing
- In Indian rupees for a workspace created with an Indian number and in US dollars for every other workspace; plans and prices are on the pricing pageSource:Billing and wallet guideSlide pricing
- Verified integrations
- Shopify, HubSpot, Google Sheets and Forms, Meta lead ads, Cal.com, outbound webhooks and a public API. WooCommerce, Zoho, Salesforce, Calendly and Google Calendar are not builtSource:Integrations guideAPI reference
- Template languages
- 25 in Slide's editor, including English, Arabic, Hindi, French and Malay. Swahili, Afrikaans, isiZulu, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Urdu and Punjabi are not in the list
- Limitations
- Opt-out keyword list starts empty; SMS fallback and in-chat payment requests for Indian numbers only; address requests for Indian and Singapore numbers only; no contacts export; English-only dashboard; handoff alerts by email onlySource:Contacts guideAutomation builder guide
- Pricing source
- The current pricing page, slide.synquic.com/pricingSource:Slide pricing
- Last factual review
Where to go next
- Instagram automationSlide turns Instagram comments, story replies and DMs into conversations within Meta's 24-hour window. What it needs, what it cannot do, and where local law changes it.
- Email automationSlide sends email sequences and campaigns from your own domain, with unsubscribe and bounce handling. What it needs, what it costs, its gaps and where law differs.
- WhatsApp Business setup guideStep by step, from connecting the account to the first send.
- Slide pricingCurrent plans, what each includes, and how channel usage is charged.
- Retail and ecommerce teamsHow retail and ecommerce teams use messaging automation.
- Slide for healthcareThe separate healthcare product, with scheduling and reminders.
- Customer serviceAnswer routine questions automatically and hand the rest to your team with the context attached.
- Ecommerce recoveryRecover abandoned checkouts and keep buyers informed after they order.
Connect your number and build the first flow
Start on the free plan and connect your WhatsApp Business number, or book a demo to map your first workflow, its templates and its handoff with the Slide team.