WhatsApp Business for Shops in Lebanon: The Setup Guide

Three Different Things Called WhatsApp

• WhatsApp: the personal app. Fine for friends, wrong for a shop: no business profile, no catalog, no automatic replies.
• WhatsApp Business app: free, made for one owner or a small team answering by hand. This is what most shops in Lebanon need.
• WhatsApp Business Platform (the API): no app at all. Software answers and sends messages for you, through a provider, and Meta charges per message for some message types. This is what an AI agent or a large team uses.

Set It Up in Fifteen Minutes

1. Download WhatsApp Business from Google Play or the App Store. It is a separate app with a "B" on the icon.
2. Choose the number. Use the shop's number, not your personal one. A landline works too: choose "Call me" to receive the code by voice. If the number is already on personal WhatsApp, the app offers to move the account and its chats; back up first.
3. Fill in the business profile: name, category, address, opening hours, website and a short description. This is the first thing a new customer sees.
4. Add your catalog: a photo, a name and a price for each product or service. Customers can browse it inside the chat and send you the item they want.
5. Write quick replies for the questions you answer every day (price list, location, delivery, opening hours). Type "/" in a chat to insert one.
6. Turn on the greeting and away messages, so a customer who writes at 11pm is told when you will reply.
7. Use labels (new order, pending payment, paid) to keep track of who is waiting for what.
8. Open it on the computer: Settings, Linked devices, then scan the code at web.whatsapp.com. Up to four linked devices can answer alongside the phone.

Moving to a New Phone Without Losing Chats

• Back up first: Settings, Chats, Chat backup (Google account on Android, iCloud on iPhone).
• Same kind of phone: install the app on the new phone, register the same number, and restore the backup when asked. Or use Settings, Chats, Transfer chats and scan the QR code with the new phone.
• Android to iPhone or the reverse: use the transfer option the app shows during setup on the new phone; a backup from one system cannot be restored on the other.
• Keep the SIM active until the new phone is working. The code arrives by SMS or call on that number.

Protect the Number: It Is Your Shop

• Turn on two-step verification (Settings, Account, Two-step verification) and add an email address, so a forgotten PIN can be reset.
• Never give anyone the 6-digit code that arrives by SMS, whatever the reason they give. That code is the account.
• WhatsApp support is only inside the app: Settings, Help, Contact us. Nobody from WhatsApp will call you or message you asking for a code.
• If the account has already been taken, our free WhatsApp account recovery assistant gives the exact steps.

Where the Free App Stops Being Enough

• Somebody still has to answer. Quick replies save typing, but a person has to be awake to send them. The away message tells the customer to wait; it does not answer the question.
• The same questions, every day: how much, are you open, do you deliver, can I book.
• Messages arrive when you are closed. A customer who asks at night and gets no answer often buys elsewhere by morning.

That is the point where an AI agent earns its place: it answers from your own prices, hours and services, in Lebanese Arabic and English, at any hour, and hands the chat to you when a person is needed. AIWAP does this on your website for $39 a month after a 3-day free trial, with WhatsApp available as an optional paid add-on. More on the AI chatbot for Lebanese businesses.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is WhatsApp Business free?

The WhatsApp Business app is free to download and use on Android and iPhone. The WhatsApp Business Platform, the version for software and larger teams, is charged by Meta per message for certain message types and is used through a provider.

Can I use WhatsApp Business and personal WhatsApp on the same phone?

Yes, as two separate apps with two different numbers. One number cannot be registered on both apps at the same time.

How do I move WhatsApp to a new phone without losing chats?

Back up first (Settings, Chats, Chat backup), then on the new phone install the same app, register the same number and restore the backup when asked. Between two phones of the same kind you can also use Settings, Chats, Transfer chats and scan the QR code.

How do I contact WhatsApp Business support?

Inside the app: Settings, Help, Contact us. WhatsApp does not phone businesses and never asks for your 6-digit code or your PIN. Anyone who does is trying to steal the account.

Can several employees answer the same WhatsApp Business number?

Yes. The app allows linked devices, so the same number can be open on up to four other devices, such as WhatsApp Web on a computer, alongside the phone.

Related: AI WhatsApp chatbots for small businesses in Lebanon and digital marketing with AI.