+20% conversions by following up every lead in seconds.
A fast-growing French e-commerce brand turned “leave your number” into sales. An automated WhatsApp agent starts the conversation within seconds, recommends the right subscription, and keeps selling after checkout.
What it was. What it is now.
- Phone numbers captured on the site, then nobody followed up quickly
- Pre-purchase questions (which litter, how much, the smell) had no one to answer them
- Customers sometimes picked the wrong product for their household
- Sales and support lived in separate places, so customers repeated themselves
- Every new lead messaged on WhatsApp straight away
- Instant answers, and the right plan recommended in the chat
- Matched to the right product before they buy
- One continuous conversation, from first message to after-sales
Pacha sells “the colour-changing litter” for cats, on subscription, in France and beyond, and is now expanding into the UK. Visitors were already leaving their phone number on the site — the brand was good at getting interest.
A subscription product raises questions: which litter type suits my cat, how much will I use, what about the smell? Nobody was there to answer them at the moment the customer was interested, and a phone number on its own doesn’t sell anything. Founder Thomas Cazenave-Vergez wanted a second touch point: someone who messages every new lead straight away, answers their questions, recommends the right plan, and stays on after they buy.
The conversation was easy to imagine. WhatsApp’s rules weren’t.
WhatsApp polices business messaging strictly: messaging customers first, templates and the 24-hour reply window are all governed by Meta’s rules. Getting a brand to start sales conversations within those rules took real negotiation of WhatsApp’s commerce policy.
Every phone number also had to keep one continuous conversation across the website and WhatsApp, so the agent never started from zero, in French, German or English, including in awkward moments like a customer unhappy with a batch.
What we found first
We followed a lead from the moment a visitor leaves their phone number to their second order, and looked at where each one went quiet.
| What we found | What it cost | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| Phone numbers were captured on the site, then nobody followed up quickly | Ad-funded leads going cold | Automated: Every new lead messaged on WhatsApp straight away |
| Pre-purchase questions (which litter, how much, what about the smell?) had no one to answer them at the moment of interest | Subscriptions not started | Automated: Instant answers and the right plan, recommended in the chat |
| Customers sometimes picked the wrong product for their household | Returns and unhappy first orders | Automated: Matched to the right product before they buy |
| Sales and support lived in separate places | Customers repeating themselves | Automated: One continuous conversation per customer, from first message to after-sales |
| Three languages across the markets | Separate handling for each market | Automated: French, German and English in one agent |
| Numbers without WhatsApp | Leads the agent can’t reach | Parked: an SMS fallback designed for the next phase |
Estimates are the working figures we used to rank the list, not numbers reported by the client.
One WhatsApp thread, from lead to after-sales
For customers, and for the business
- Leave your number, and Pacha messages you on WhatsApp, the app you already use
- Ask anything in French, German or English, including informal product names
- Recommended the right subscription for your cat and household, and sent straight to it
- After you buy, the same conversation becomes your support line
- +20% conversions from captured leads, engaged while they’re still interested
- Higher order values: the agent upsells and cross-sells naturally
- Fewer returns: customers matched to the right product before they buy
- Every customer keeps one continuous conversation, so the brand remembers them
Five steps, one thread
- Leave a numberA visitor leaves their phone number on the site.
- Open the conversationThe agent messages first, within Meta’s rules for business messaging.
- Qualify and recommendCat, household, preferences → the right subscription, with a link.
- Follow upUpsell and cross-sell where it genuinely helps.
- Support after the saleSame thread, a person steps in only when needed.
Timeline: Mar 2024 → live, work continued through Aug 2024 · Founder-led: designed and built.
Leads going cold after they leave their number?
Thirty minutes with the founder. You’ll leave knowing where the hours go, and whether an audit makes sense.