A customer relationship can begin with a WhatsApp message. A question about a product can become an order and a conversation can become a repeat customer. Those interactions can turn a one-time purchase into a lasting relationship.
EveryBuddyEats, a Lagos food brand known for its fish and shrimps, is built around everyday customer interactions and WhatsApp Business has become central to how the brand stays connected with them. The business began with its founder, Abisoye Ogundimu, figuring out what to do next. The brand grew out of Abisoye’s willingness to reinvent. “My business had tanked and I had to do something else,” Abisoye said. She first ventured into making bags, but COVID arrived and closed that door too. “I had to look for something else, so I started to make fish and shrimps as nostalgic street food,” she said.
The WhatsApp Business App became part of the business structure early on for a practical reason. “I downloaded it because I figured it had features that made it easy to make my interface with customers feel professional,” she said. For a growing business, that structure can make a difference. Today, those features shape her everyday workflow. “Quick replies help respond to customers without me doing so much,” she said. “The catalogue is there for the customer to see and make their choices.” She also uses Meta Business Agent, an AI-powered assistant within WhatsApp Business, to handle some initial customer interactions. “The Meta Business Agent interacts with customers before a human assistant responds, and it just makes the whole process easier,” she said. “Wait time is shorter, especially as the AI assistant is up and running. Necessary questions and information are asked and noted so the order is almost complete before an actual human agent interjects.”
Abisoye also uses Instagram to reach potential customers, occasionally running ads that click to WhatsApp to promote the business. From there, customers can move directly into a conversation with her on WhatsApp. “I have an Instagram account and I run ads there sometimes. That has helped because it is connected to my WhatsApp and my WhatsApp link is on my Instagram bio,” she said.
For EveryBuddyEats, the early problems were the unglamorous ones every small operator recognises. “Writing the menu and answering customers all over again, ” she said, describing the grind that eats a founder’s day. Quick Replies solved it. “Features like quick replies make it way easier,” she said. As a result, order management has become steadier. “It’s easier to track customers via WhatsApp Business,” she said. “It’s easier to call them or leave a message that they’ll respond to more quickly than any other app. That way, they know what’s happening with their orders, they can call and communication is more efficient.”
But what has grown around EveryBuddyEats is more than order management. Over time, WhatsApp Business has also become a way for Abisoye to stay connected with a wider community. Her status is not limited to business updates. She uses it to share her views, interests and the causes she cares about. “I just don’t post about my business. I post about other topics. I see myself as a strong advocate for children and women’s rights. I believe that because of that, I have a community of people with like minds who contribute and read my status,” she said. Sometimes, the connection is even simpler. “Sometimes posts could be light-hearted and humorous and that keeps us together too,” she said.
What began as a practical decision to find another way to make a living has grown into a food business with returning customers, ongoing conversations and a community connected through WhatsApp Business.
