Nowadays, people are looking for alternative ways to sell their products without relying on traditional platforms such as Amazon or eBay. Telegram, being a popular messaging app, offers an opportunity for sellers to create their own store within the app. However, many people are not aware of how to create their store on Telegram or face difficulties in setting it up. They lack proper guidance and information on the process.
If you are one of those people facing these issues, don’t worry, to create a Telegram bot to have a store on Telegram is not as complicated as it may seem. In addition, you can easily open a Telegram selling group without having to make huge investments in your business. Telegram gives you a simple interface for your store while also implementing secure payment channels.
In this article, we have provided a simple solution for those who are struggling with creating their store on Telegram. By following the steps outlined above, you can create your own store on Telegram and start selling your products in no time.
With its many comprehensive features, Telegram is more than just a simple messaging app. Founded by two Russian brothers in 2013, Telegram is the 5th most downloaded app today, with over 700 million active users. Below, you can look through some of the most prominent features that are unique to Telegram.
- Telegram uses a high-level end-to-end encryption system for secret messages, which works on the cloud.
- The system doesn’t allow the secret messages to enter the cloud, instead, locates them on local computers. It also offers authentication and self-destructs of messages.
- There has a file-sending limit of 2GB, which makes it quite an effective solution against its rival WhatsApp.
- The Telegram app allows users to customize their chat backgrounds, themes, and stickers.
- There are thousands of Telegram groups covering a wide range of topics. Telegram allows up to 200,000 users per group.
- You can automate Telegram bots to perform a variety of tasks, such as answering questions, providing information, sending automated messages, and so on.
- With enough technical knowledge, you can create Telegram bots for your website or for your Telegram e-commerce store.
Telegram is used in 155 countries around the world. However, it has much higher popularity in some countries. India is at the forefront of this country which has 104 million downloads as of December 2022. This is followed by Russia, with 34 million downloads, and the United States, Indonesia, and Brazil, with about 27 million downloads.
Telegram has seen a rapid rise in active users over the last 5 years. In 2014, Telegram had only 34 million active users. This number exceeded 100 million in 2016. By 2018, Telegram had over 200 million active users. In 2020, it reached 400 million; in 2023, it reached 500 million active users worldwide. As of November 2022, Telegram has 700 million monthly active users worldwide.
It appears that the number of Telegram users is doubling every two years. Today, Telegram users account for 8.7% of the world’s population, and it is the 5th most downloaded application worldwide. According to these statistics, Telegram ranks as the 8th most popular social media platform.
With Telegram, you can communicate with customers in countries where the app is popular. There are multiple ways to use Telegram for business. But if you want to use your Telegram accounts for sales and customer support, you should create a sell Telegram bot for your company.
A Telegram Bot is an API pipe that passes messages to and from the Telegram network meaning Telegram doesn’t provide a platform for responding to messages sent to the bot.
The Telegram bots are a kind of automated program that interacts with the messaging service within Telegram. You can customize these bots for different activities.
A bot can answer questions instantly since it does not require a user to interact. The bots use an end-to-end encryption system protected by private keys. Telegram bots are open-source software and are constantly being developed in line with the needs. They are practical and useful for a multitude of reasons;
Bots can automate repetitive tasks such as sending regular messages to users or reminding employees of certain events, etc. A bot can be added to a Telegram channel or group and sends automatic messages to all members.
Bots have simple interfaces that help users perform complex tasks. Users can find detailed information about the product or service they will buy and purchase on Telegram.
Telegram bots can be used to communicate with customers and offer a variety of payment options free of commission. Thanks to Telegram’s special encryption, payment information, such as the recipient’s card information, is only displayed through the payment channel. This information cannot be accessed by sellers or even Telegram itself.
Depending on the user’s needs, bots can provide a service tailored to their specific needs. Customizing bots according to a specific need is one of the most important features that increases user satisfaction in Telegram.
A bot can be designed to provide fun and interesting activities such as quizzes, games, etc. You can find many fun and interesting activity groups on Telegram and join them, or you can create your own fun channel on Telegram.
If you have enough coding skills, you can create a Telegram store bot Python, Node.js, Java, Rust, and Elixir. However, there are also many free and paid platforms where you can organize your shop’s bot. Some of these platforms are:
Upon creating your store bot, you will need to register it to Telegram using an API key. To have an API key on Telegram, you can follow these simple few steps.
Step-1: Go to your account on Telegram and write BotFather in the search bar. Then click on the BotFather.
Step-2: Then tap on the HTTP button at the middle of the bottom.
Step-3: Then click on the search bar and write the shop name you have created before.
Step-4: You will see the HTTP API, as shown in the picture.
You can also take an API Key for your payment method from the 3-line menu at the bottom left corner.
- To do that, click the menu and tap on the /mybots. There you can arrange or edit your shop. From the payment methods menu, you can copy the Payment API, whichever you prefer for your store bot.
- To do that, click the menu and tap on the /mybots.
- There you can arrange or edit your shop.
- From the payment methods menu, you can copy the Payment API, whichever you prefer for your store bot.
There are also messaging bots that allow you to send rich media, like pictures, videos, files, etc., on the Telegram selling group. You can send broadcasts to contacts as frequently as you want. This is possible if you choose the right software for your Telegram Bot. You can also connect them to a CRM or a free messaging platform like respond.io.
To receive payments on Telegram, you need to create a commercial bot and activate it. Then, you need to choose one of the payment tools that work on Telegram. Lastly, you should create an API key and apply it to the payment section of your shopbot.
Telegram provides only encrypted transactions of payment information. It is sales channels that do the payment. So you should look for your payment provider on how to charge on Telegram. This method also provides an extremely secure payment channel without too much burden.
To create a topic in a group, you need to activate the “enable topic” option from the group settings.
To do this:
- Step-1: Click on the name of the group at the top of the Chat.
- Step-2: Then click on the 3-dot icon in the upper right menu.
- Step-3: Hit on the “Manage Group” tab,
- Step-4: Click on the “Enable the Toggle” tab and save your changes by clicking on the save button at the bottom.
- Step-5: Then, hit the 3-dot icon, select “New Topic” and write the title you want to create.
Telegram does not allow topics on some issues such as illegal, obscene, defamatory, threatening, or that promotes violence or terrorism.
On Telegram, you cannot use content that helps the sale or promotion of drugs, fundraisers, or recruits on behalf of extremist groups. You also cannot promote regulated services like pharmaceuticals, gambling, or alcohol.
To close an active shop on Telegram, you need to close the bot that is active in your shop. Here are the steps to follow:
- Step-1: Open Telegram.
- Step-2: Select chat with your bot.
- Step-3: Go to the top right corner and click the 3 dots icon.
- Step-4: Select “Delete”.
- Step-5: Confirm you want to delete the bot by clicking “Yes”.
To sell on Telegram, you should use Telegram bots. The bots offer you a wide range of customers, low cost per sale, real-time syncing of chats across desktop and mobile devices, and flexibility in communicating with customers.
If you want to learn about telegram groups please read the blog about how to find telegram group?