Arattai, Zoho's instant messaging app, experienced an unexpected surge in popularity following an endorsement by Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who praised it as a locally made alternative to WhatsApp. The platform witnessed an unprecedented increase in new sign-ups, escalating from approximately 3,000 to a staggering 350,000 per day. Correspondingly, traffic on the app increased 100-fold within the first 72 hours, capturing the attention of users primarily in India, but also garnering interest on an international scale.
Accelerating Growth Amid Challenges
According to Jeri John, the Global Product Head at Arattai, the app has now surpassed 1 million monthly active users. This rapid growth prompted Zoho to intensify its infrastructure expansion to tackle challenges such as OTP delays, which were reported by users. Sridhar Vembu, the founder of Zoho, remarked on the swift installation of emergency infrastructure designed to manage potential future traffic peaks. The team is also refining the app's code to resolve any outstanding issues. A launch initially planned for November was advanced owing to the viral popularity the app experienced.
Building a Competitive Edge
Arattai is directly descended from earlier Zoho endeavors such as Zoho Chat and Zoho Cliq, with the consumer-focused messenger making its debut as a beta product in 2021. Zoho's vision encompasses creating a platform that is not only compatible with India's broad linguistic diversity but also meets accessibility needs. Analysts, however, advise caution, noting that previous Indian messaging platforms like Koo and Hike initially attracted sizeable interest only to ultimately fall short due to issues concerning monetization, operational expenses, and the prevailing network effects that bolster incumbent platforms.
Focus on Stability and Expansion
Zoho's immediate priorities include ensuring app stability and scalability. The company is actively deploying engineering and support teams to address synchronization and onboarding concerns, enhance multi-device reliability, and expand backend capabilities. While Arattai currently lacks end-to-end encryption, future updates are expected to introduce full message encryption soon. Other planned enhancements involve improved multi-device synchronization, enriched group management features, integrated payment/UPI options, and APIs supporting third-party integration. Zoho remains committed to user privacy, stating it will not engage in selling user data or incorporating advertising into its monetization strategy. Instead, the company may explore premium or paid features as potential revenue streams in the future.
Arattai benefits from Zoho's established SaaS expertise and the recent surge in local user interest. Despite these advantages, the capability of Arattai to supplant WhatsApp remains speculative, primarily due to WhatsApp's stronghold facilitated by entrenched network effects. Nonetheless, Zoho continues to prioritize values such as trust, privacy, reliability, and interoperability as it endeavors to expand the product's reach and appeal.
