WhatsApp CRM · Mobile Phone & Electronics Shops
A WhatsApp CRM for mobile phone and electronics shops
Written for how mobile phone & electronics shops actually work
New-phone counters, used and reconditioned traders who also do buy-back, accessory sellers running on volume, and general electronics shops selling TVs, fans and small appliances from the same number.
Accessories and used-phone deals can be decided inside one conversation, in a matter of hours. A new phone with a trade-in or an instalment plan stretches over two or three days while the customer compares three or four shops and checks financing. Nothing here tolerates a week of silence — a competing shop with the same model is one search away — so a chat that went quiet wants a same-day or next-day nudge, and a short window after that.
March and April bring Avurudu gifting, with phones and accessories bought for children and parents, and December brings a second bonus-season spike across both new and used. Exam results weeks drive a run on entry-level and mid-range phones bought as gifts, and a popular model landing locally creates the sharpest spike of all — one to three weeks of almost nothing but availability questions.
A normal day in your inbox
- "iphone 13 available?"
- "how much"
- "128gb or 256"
- "is it original"
- "how much warranty"
- "used or new"
- "tell me last price"
- "is the one on ikman this one?"
- "can I exchange, giving my phone?"
- "do you have instalments, EMI?"
Where the deals leak
- Listing seen
- "Available? How much?"
- Variant, colour and warranty questions
- "Last price"
- Exchange or instalment talk
- Payment method agreed
- Collection or delivery
You cannot tell, out of the pile, which message is a buyer and which is a price-checker who is four shops deep. So every message gets the same rushed, generic reply — including the one person who was ready to pay today.
The second leak lands even later and hurts more: confirming a variant that sold an hour ago. Model x storage x colour multiplies into dozens of live variants, and promising one you no longer have happens exactly at the moment the customer finally stopped comparing and chose you.
A board that matches your job
Two or three people answer the same number across a week, so the board is mainly a handover tool. If the last reply is recorded as the stage, nobody has to ask the customer which storage size they wanted for the second time.
Stage 1
Just asking
A bare "available?" with no model named. Answer fast, qualify, and don't spend more than one message here.
Stage 2
Model + variant confirmed
Model, storage and colour are known. This is the first sign of a real buyer.
Stage 3
Priced
Exact number for that variant sent, with the warranty answer attached.
Stage 4
Reserved
Unit held, usually against an advance. Should never sit here for long.
Stage 5
Sold
Collected or delivered, payment settled.
Stage 6
After-sale
Case, screen protector, a battery or screen down the line. The revenue almost nobody in this trade goes back for.
Tags worth having
- New sealed
- Used / reconditioned
- Accessory
- General electronics
- Exchange / trade-in
- Instalment
- Waiting for stock
- Launch wave
Set it up once
Everything below happens inside WhatsApp Web, on the number you already use. No API, no new inbox.
Add InboxCRM to Chrome- 1
Build the variant question as your first quick reply
One saved message that asks model, storage and colour in a single line. That is the question that sorts a real buyer from a price-checker, and typing it fresh a hundred times a day is exactly why the busy shop stops asking it at all.
- 2
Write one exact warranty reply and use it every time
State the period, what it covers, and who backs it — the shop, or nobody. Save a second version for items with no warranty at all. The vague "yes there's warranty" is the reflex that gets a shop's name repeated badly in a group later.
- 3
Keep the variant on the contact, not in your head
Custom fields for model, storage, colour and payment method, filled the moment they're confirmed. When a different person picks up the chat tomorrow, the customer doesn't have to start over — and when you say a unit is reserved, it stays reserved for the right person.
- 4
Use chat tabs to separate the pile
One tab for confirmed variants, one for exchange conversations, one for people waiting on stock. During a launch week that separation is the difference between serving the wave and drowning in it.
- 5
Answer the trade-in with a range, and say why
Ask for model, storage and the condition of screen, battery and body, then give a realistic range and say the firm number comes after you've seen it. A firm figure quoted sight-unseen and lowered later reads as a bait-and-switch, even when it isn't.
- 6
Schedule one accessory message after the sale
A short message a few days after a phone goes out, asking whether they want a case or a screen protector. It's the easiest repeat revenue in this trade and almost nobody sends it.
The messages that stall a sale
“"Is it original?"”
Usually means
Fear of a counterfeit accessory, a used unit with swapped internals, or a used phone being sold as new.What works
Say what is actually checkable — the box and IMEI match, the battery health if it's used, what you tested — and offer to let them check it themselves. "100% original" with nothing behind it is exactly what a dishonest seller also says.“"How much warranty is there?"”
Usually means
They want to know what happens if it breaks in month two, not whether the word warranty appears in your reply.What works
Name the period, the covered parts, and who honours it — your shop, the local agent, or nobody. If there's none, say so plainly and offer to let them test every function before they pay.“"Is it an import, or does it have local agent guarantee?"”
Usually means
They've heard some stock comes in outside official channels and they're trying to work out whether this unit is one of them.What works
Don't assert it either way unless you can actually back it. Saying you don't have information you can confirm, and then being precise about the warranty and condition you can confirm, reads as more trustworthy than a confident guess.“"Can I exchange, giving my phone?"”
Usually means
They want a realistic sense of what their old device is worth before they commit to travelling to your shop.What works
Ask for model, storage and the condition of screen, battery and body, then give a range and be clear the firm number comes after you've seen it. That framing protects you when the condition turns out worse than described.“"Tell me the last price."”
Usually means
Often just checking a number that's already public on the listing they came from. It's a ritual, not hostility.What works
Don't discount by reflex — that trains every future buyer to ask. Add something concrete instead, like a case or a screen protector at the same price, and move toward a decision rather than into a haggle loop.
Quick replies to save first
Copy these, swap the details in [brackets], and save them as quick replies so you stop retyping them.
Vague "available?"
Hi! Which model are you looking at? If you tell me the storage — [128GB/256GB] — and the colour, I'll check and come back to you right away.
Price, once the variant is confirmed
The [model] [128GB] is Rs. [X]. Do you want the warranty and colour details, or shall I reserve one for you?
Warranty, exact
This one has [X] months of shop warranty covering [screen / battery / board]. There's no manufacturer or local agent warranty on it — I'd rather tell you that clearly up front.
Used unit, honest condition
This is a used unit. Battery health is [X]%, and the screen and body are [condition]. Want me to send a photo or a short video so you can see the actual one?
Out of stock, with a real alternative
That [model / colour] is sold out at the moment. The closest we have is [alternative]. Would you like to see it, or shall I message you first when stock comes in?
Free tools that help here: WhatsApp Link Generator, WhatsApp Text Formatter.
The parts of InboxCRM you'll use most
Quick replies
Variant question, exact warranty answer, used-condition reply and the out-of-stock alternative, each sent in seconds with a photo or video attached where it helps.
Contact notes, tags and custom fields
Model, storage, colour and payment method on the contact, so the next person to pick up the chat doesn't ask the customer the same question twice.
Pipeline board
Separates the pile — who has confirmed a variant, who is reserved, who is waiting on stock — so the one real buyer doesn't get the same rushed reply as the other ninety-nine messages.
Follow-up rules
A chat that reached Priced and went quiet comes back the same day, which is about as long as attention lasts when the price is already public somewhere else.
Messaging and funnel reports
Shows how many enquiries actually reached a confirmed variant, which is the only number that tells you whether the triage is working.
Questions from mobile phone & electronics shops
Can it track my stock levels?
Not as an inventory system. You can record what's reserved and for whom in custom fields and pipeline stages, which covers the specific failure that costs you customers — promising a colour to two people. Actual stock counts stay wherever you keep them today, whether that's a POS, a book, or the shelf.
Three of us answer the same WhatsApp number. Does that work?
It runs in desktop Chrome on WhatsApp Web, so whoever is at the counter machine sees the notes, tags and stage on each chat. That is the main benefit for a multi-person counter: the last reply is recorded, so nobody asks the customer which storage size they wanted for the second time.
Can it verify whether a phone is genuine?
No. It can't check an IMEI, confirm battery health, verify a device's import status or tell you if a part is original. Those stay entirely on you and your tools. What it does is make sure the honest answer you've already worked out gets sent quickly and consistently, instead of being retyped badly on a busy afternoon.
Can I message everyone when a new model lands?
Only people who opted in to hear from you, on a list you provide. Campaigns send slowly — around 40 an hour and 250 a day by default — with quiet hours, a cooldown per contact and a warm-up mode. That pace suits a launch announcement to past buyers. It is not a tool for messaging strangers.
Do I need the WhatsApp Business API?
No. It's a Chrome extension that works inside WhatsApp Web on the number you already use, so there's no separate account or approval process. The trade-off is that anything scheduled or automated only sends while Chrome is open with WhatsApp Web running on that computer.