How to create a WhatsApp link and QR code for your store

A WhatsApp link is a single tappable URL that opens a chat with your number, with an optional message already typed and ready to send. You build it once in the format https://wa.me/<number>?text=<message>, then place it everywhere customers find you. This guide shows the exact format, how to pre-fill the message correctly, where to put the link, and how to turn it into a QR code for offline-to-chat.

If you just want a working link in ten seconds, use our free WhatsApp link generator — it handles the number format and message encoding for you. Read on for what’s happening underneath, so you can place links and QR codes that actually start conversations.

What is a WhatsApp link and what does it do?

A WhatsApp link — Meta calls it a “click to chat” link — is a URL that opens a WhatsApp conversation with your number when someone taps it. No saving your contact first, no typing the number. According to WhatsApp’s official click-to-chat guidance, the link can also carry a pre-filled message that appears in the chat’s text field, ready to send.

It works the same on phones and desktop, and with any WhatsApp account: a personal number, the free WhatsApp Business app, or a number on the WhatsApp Business Platform. That makes it the lowest-friction way to move someone from a profile, an ad, or a package into a real conversation.

What is the exact wa.me link format?

The format is https://wa.me/<number> for a plain chat, or https://wa.me/<number>?text=<url-encoded-message> to pre-fill a message. The <number> is your phone in full international format. The <message> is your greeting with every space written as %20 and punctuation URL-encoded. WhatsApp also offers an equivalent https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=<number>&text=<message> format.

Two parts matter, and both are easy to get wrong:

• The number. Use the country code plus the local number. Per WhatsApp’s official instructions, you must “omit any zeroes, brackets, or dashes,” and there is no + sign. An Indonesian number 0812-3456-7890 becomes 6281234567890; a US number (415) 555-0123 becomes 14155550123.
• The message. It has to be URL-encoded. URLs can’t hold raw spaces, so a space becomes %20, and characters like ?, &, and # must be encoded too. “Hi! I’m interested in your products” becomes Hi!%20I%27m%20interested%20in%20your%20products.

A complete, correct example:

https://wa.me/6281234567890?text=Hi!%20I%27d%20like%20to%20order

If your pre-filled message ever disappears or the link breaks, the cause is nearly always an un-encoded space. The free WhatsApp link generator encodes the message for you, so you never have to hand-type %20.

How do I pre-fill a message in the link?

Add ?text= to the end of your wa.me link, followed by the URL-encoded message you want sitting in the chat box when the customer arrives. The customer can still edit or delete it before sending — a pre-filled message is a starting prompt, not a forced first line. Good pre-fills name the product or intent so the conversation begins with context.

A pre-filled message does two useful things. It removes the “what do I even say?” hesitation that kills first messages, and it tags the conversation with intent before anyone replies. Tailor it to where the link lives:

Where the link lives	Suggested pre-filled message
Link-in-bio	Hi!%20I%20found%20you%20on%20Instagram%20and%20have%20a%20question
Product page button	Hi!%20I%20have%20a%20question%20about%20[product%20name]
Package insert	Hi!%20I%20just%20received%20my%20order%20%23[order]
Post-purchase / support	Hi!%20I%20need%20help%20with%20my%20order

When an AI agent is reading the thread, these intent-tagged openers help it route and answer correctly from the very first message.

Where should I place my WhatsApp link?

Put the link anywhere a customer is already paying attention and might want to talk: your link-in-bio, social profiles, a website chat button, email signatures, and physical touchpoints like packaging and receipts. The goal is to make “message us” a one-tap action at every point of interest, not a phone number people have to copy and dial.

The highest-return placements, roughly in order:

1. Link-in-bio. Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube bios allow one or a few links. A WhatsApp link converts better than a generic homepage because it starts a conversation instead of a browse.
2. Instagram and Facebook. Use the link in your bio, Stories link stickers, and as the destination for Click-to-WhatsApp ads so paid clicks land in a chat, not a form.
3. Website button. A persistent “Chat on WhatsApp” button or floating widget on product, cart, and contact pages catches buyers at the moment of hesitation.
4. Email and SMS signatures. Order confirmations, shipping notices, and support replies are prime spots to invite a reply on WhatsApp.
5. Package inserts and receipts. A card in the box with “Questions? Message us” turns delivery into a fresh reason to reach out — and this is where QR codes earn their keep.
6. Post-purchase pages. A thank-you or order-status page with a WhatsApp link opens the door to support, reviews, and the next order.

For Shopify stores, the same link slots into your theme, order-status page, and notification emails — see how WhatsApp fits an existing store on the WhatsApp integration page.

How do WhatsApp QR codes turn offline traffic into chats?

A QR code is simply a scannable image of a URL. Encode your full wa.me link — pre-filled message included — into a QR code, and anyone who scans it with a phone camera lands in a chat with your number and the message already typed. That bridges the physical world (packaging, posters, shelf tags, receipts) to a digital conversation in one scan.

You have two ways to make one:

• From your wa.me link. Generate the link first, then turn that exact URL into a QR code with any QR generator. Because the message is baked into the URL, the scan opens WhatsApp pre-filled — ideal when you want a specific opener like an order number or a placement label.
• From the WhatsApp Business app. The app has a built-in QR code under Settings → Business tools → QR code. Per WhatsApp’s QR code guidance, scanning it opens a chat with your business and can include a short greeting you set in the app. This is the quickest route if you don’t need a custom URL.

Print QR codes large enough to scan from a comfortable distance, keep good contrast, and add a one-line instruction like “Scan to chat on WhatsApp” so people know what it does. Use distinct pre-filled messages per placement (in-box card vs. counter poster) so you can tell where each conversation came from.

Build your link first with the free WhatsApp link generator — then drop that URL into a QR code and you’re ready for both online and offline.

What does an AI agent do once the chats start arriving?

Once links and QR codes work, the bottleneck moves from getting messages to answering them. An AI agent built in AI Studio and running on bitChat answers incoming WhatsApp chats automatically — product questions, order tracking, recommendations, data collection, and follow-ups — and writes every conversation to one customer record so nothing gets lost.

Here’s the shift in practice:

• Discovery and recommendations. The agent answers product, size, stock, and price questions from your live catalog and suggests the right item, instead of leaving a ”?” unread until someone is free.
• Orders and tracking. It can help create an order and answer “where’s my package?” with current status, turning the post-purchase QR scan into self-serve support.
• Follow-up that doesn’t slip. It picks the conversation back up — abandoned carts, restock pings, the question someone never finished asking.
• One record per customer. Every thread is saved to bitCRM, so the relationship and the data stay yours — not stranded in a marketplace or a personal phone.

When a human is genuinely needed, the agent escalates with full context. You move from “answer every message yourself” to “the agent handles the routine, you handle the exceptions.” That’s the point of getting the link right in the first place — every tap and every scan becomes a conversation that actually gets answered. Want to see how the agent is built and controlled? Start with AI Studio, or compare approaches on our comparison pages.

The fastest way to get a correct link is the free WhatsApp link generator: it builds the wa.me link with your pre-filled message and a downloadable QR code in your browser. To see how an AI agent answers the chats a link brings in, look at bitChat.