WhatsApp automation in Dubai answers customers while your team sleeps.

We set up WhatsApp auto-reply and the WhatsApp Business API for Dubai companies: product questions, order status and booking requests handled instantly, with a person one tap away.

Assistant setupFrom AED 1,450
LanguagesArabic and English
Message costsBilled at cost
Hand-offTo a named person

WhatsApp automation answers common customer questions instantly, in Arabic and English, and hands complex ones to your team. A WhatsApp assistant with catalogue answers, order status and human hand-off starts at AED 1,450. Message fees from Meta and any provider are billed to you at cost. Prices exclude VAT.

Updated · Prices in AED, excluding 5% VAT

  • Fixed price in writingScope and AED price agreed before work starts
  • You own everythingStore, domain, code and accounts in your name
  • 30-day fix windowBugs after launch are fixed at no charge
  • Reply in one working dayFrom a senior person, not a form robot
What it does

The same ten questions, answered in seconds

WhatsApp is how customers in the UAE prefer to talk to a business, and it never closes. Most inbound WhatsApp messages to a Dubai shop or trading company are repeats: is it in stock, what is the price, where is my order, do you deliver to Sharjah, what are your hours. We automate those answers from your real data, and route everything else to your team with the conversation attached.

  • Instant greeting and menu, in the language the customer writes in
  • Catalogue answers: price, size, availability, delivery
  • Order status looked up by order number
  • Opening hours, location and booking requests
  • Hand-off to a person with the full chat history
  • Out-of-hours replies that promise only what you can deliver
OpsDesk · WhatsApp
App or API

WhatsApp Business app versus the Business API

The free app is enough for a small team that answers every message by hand. The API is what you need once automation, several agents or system integration matter. Many businesses start on the app, outgrow it when volume rises or a second person needs access, and then move across. We will tell you honestly if you are not there yet.

Business appBusiness API
Auto-replyGreeting and away message onlyFull logic, lookups and menus
Team accessA few linked devicesMany agents on a shared inbox
Connect to Shopify or ERPNoYes, through integrations
Broadcasts and templatesLimited broadcast listsApproved templates, sent at scale
CatalogueBuilt-in catalogueCatalogue plus your live stock data
Running costFreePer-conversation fees plus provider fees
Best forOwner-run shopSupport team, online store, trading company

Meta sets message pricing and categories and changes them from time to time. Check the current rate card on Meta's developer pages before you budget.

Use cases

Where businesses put it to work first

01

Catalogue and product questions

Customers ask, the assistant answers from your products, prices and stock, and shares the product link.

OpsDesk · WhatsApp
02

Order status

A customer sends their order number and gets status and tracking from your store or system.

03

Abandoned cart messages

A reminder to a customer who left items behind, sent only where consent exists. See the rules below.

04

Booking and enquiry capture

Collect name, date, service and branch, and drop the lead into your CRM or sheet.

05

Payment and delivery updates

Template messages for payment links, dispatch and delivery, written once and approved by Meta.

Consent

Abandoned cart and promotional messages need opt-in

WhatsApp's business policy generally requires that you have a customer's permission before you message them, and promotional messages are typically sent as pre-approved templates. UAE rules on marketing messages also exist. We build opt-in capture into your checkout or chat, store the consent record, and honour opt-outs. We are not lawyers: ask your legal adviser to confirm what applies to your campaigns.

  • Opt-in checkbox at checkout or a first-message consent step
  • Consent logged with time and source
  • A stop keyword that removes the customer immediately
  • Template wording kept informational, not pushy
Meta's policies and UAE regulations change. Confirm current requirements with Meta's commerce policy and a qualified adviser.
opsdesk.ae/cart
Human hand-off

The assistant knows when to stop

A bot that argues with an upset customer costs more than it saves. We define triggers that pass the chat to a person: a complaint, a refund, a request for a human, a question the assistant cannot answer from your data, or two failed attempts. Your agent sees the whole conversation and picks up where the bot stopped. We test these triggers with real examples from your chat history, including angry messages, voice notes and photos of damaged items, because those are the moments that decide whether a customer stays.

  • Shared inbox with assignment and internal notes
  • Working hours and an out-of-hours promise that is honest
  • Arabic and English throughout, including right-to-left text
OpsDesk · WhatsApp
Under the hood

What we configure on your behalf

Setting up the API properly is most of the work, and most of what goes wrong later.

Account

  • Meta business verification support
  • Display name and number setup
  • Quality and messaging-limit monitoring

Content

  • Greeting, menu and fallback replies
  • Utility, authentication and marketing templates
  • Arabic and English wording review

Data

  • Catalogue sync from Shopify, WooCommerce or our ERP
  • Order lookup by number and phone
  • Lead capture into sheet or CRM

Operations

  • Shared inbox with assignment
  • Business hours and holiday rules
  • Monthly report: volumes, hand-offs, unanswered
Setup

Live in about two weeks

  1. Day 1 to 3

    Scope and accounts

    We list your top questions, choose the provider and verify your business account and number with Meta.

  2. Day 4 to 8

    Flows and content

    Answers, menus and templates are written in Arabic and English and submitted for template approval.

  3. Day 9 to 11

    Connect your data

    Catalogue, stock and orders are connected from your store or system through their APIs.

  4. Day 12 to 14

    Test and launch

    Your team tests real conversations, we tune the hand-off rules, then switch on.

Pricing

Setup is fixed. Running costs are billed at cost.

We do not mark up Meta or provider fees. You see the invoice we receive. The setup price covers one number, one language pair and the flows listed; extra numbers, branches or integrations are quoted separately before work starts, so there are no surprises on the final invoice. Most small shops spend a modest monthly amount on messages, though your figure depends on volume and message type.

wa

WhatsApp assistant

AED 1,450from

Auto-reply and API setup for one number.

  • Business API onboarding
  • Catalogue and FAQ answers
  • Order status lookup
  • Human hand-off and inbox
  • Arabic and English
  • Up to 5 message templates
ai

AI assistant that acts

AED 14,500from

Takes actions such as quotes and bookings.

  • Everything in the assistant
  • Free-text understanding
  • Creates orders, bookings, tickets
  • Guardrails and review queue

Running costs, billed at cost: Meta conversation fees and any messaging-provider subscription. They depend on volume and message type. Prices exclude 5% VAT.

Who we are not for

When we are the wrong choice.

A fair view, so you do not pay for more than you need.

01

A few messages a day

WhatsApp Business quick replies and away messages are free and enough at that volume.

02

You want to send bulk promotions

We build replies and hand-off, not mass marketing. Meta's rules on marketing messages are strict and each one is charged.

03

No one to take over the hard chats

The assistant hands complex chats to a person. If no one answers them, customers wait longer than before.

Based in Dubai, working remotely

Zelqori is a Dubai-based ecommerce and performance marketing agency.

Zelqori builds ecommerce websites and runs performance marketing for premium brands across Dubai, the rest of the UAE, the GCC and globally. We are based in Dubai and work remotely by design: projects run on Gulf Standard Time over Google Meet, WhatsApp and a shared project channel, and we meet clients in Dubai by appointment.

  • Based in DubaiDubai time (GST), replies within one working day
  • Remote by designGoogle Meet and WhatsApp, meetings in Dubai by appointment
  • Dubai, GCC, globalUAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and beyond
  • One teamThe store, the ads and the tracking built by the same people

A store only sells when the right people see it. See our performance marketing →

Design studies

Work that shows how we think.

Stores and systems we designed and engineered to show how we approach a brief like yours.

Questions

Answers before you call.

Prices are in AED and exclude 5% VAT.

Setup of a WhatsApp assistant with catalogue answers, order status and human hand-off starts at AED 1,450. Running costs are separate and billed to you at cost: Meta's message fees and any provider subscription. Prices exclude 5% VAT.

If you only need a greeting and away message, the free Business app is enough. You need the API for automated answers with lookups, several agents on one number, template messages at scale, and connection to your store or ERP.

Yes. Menus, templates and answers are written in both Arabic and English, and the assistant replies in the language the customer uses. A native reviewer checks the Arabic before launch.

Yes, where the customer has given permission to be contacted. Meta's policy generally requires opt-in and approved templates for business-initiated messages. We build consent capture and opt-out handling; confirm your obligations with Meta's policy and your adviser.

It says so and passes the chat to a person with the full history. Triggers include complaints, refunds, a request for a human and repeated misunderstandings. Out of hours, it tells the customer when someone will reply.

There are three layers: our setup from AED 1,450, a platform subscription, and Meta's per-message fees. Meta changes its fees, so check its pricing page before you buy (checked October 2026). We bill running costs to you at cost, with no mark-up on Meta's fee. Our blog post breaks the layers down.

About two weeks for a standard assistant. The longest step is usually Meta's business verification and template approval, which we cannot control, so we start it on day one.

Yes, and we recommend saying so in the greeting. People accept a fast automated answer when they can reach a person easily, and they dislike being misled.

Start a project

Tell us your ten most repeated questions

Send them over. We will show you which ones can be answered automatically, what it costs to run, and where a person should stay in the loop.

Fixed quote in AED, in writing. Reply within one working day.

Get a fixed quoteWhatsApp