Setting up branches & teams

1.Branch, team, or department?

Yapp doesn't force the word "branch" on you. In Settings → Group label you choose what these groups are called across the whole app and the customer menu: Branch (for shops), Team, or Department (for a Sales / Support / Accounts setup). Pick the one that fits your business — everything below works the same way whatever you call it.

2.Adding one

Click Add and fill in:

• Name — what staff and customers see, e.g. "Sandton Branch" or "Sales".
• Short code — a quick key like S1. It identifies the branch and powers its QR code, so keep it short and unique.
• Colour — a dot to tell branches apart at a glance in the dashboard.
• Province — used by the "find a store" menu so customers can pick their region first (leave blank for a team/department).

3.Three kinds of group

When you add a group, two tick-boxes decide how it behaves in the menu:

• A physical branch (the default) — appears in the built-in "find a store" flow, where customers browse by province to their nearest one. You can give it trading hours, an address and a phone number (see below).
• Head office / "chat to an agent" — tick this for a group that isn't a physical shop but a "talk to a person" option. It shows at the top of the menu as the direct line to your team.
• Team / department — tick this for groups like Sales or Logistics. They're routed to from the menu but hidden from the store finder (they're not places customers visit).

4.Shared queue vs Assigned

Each group works one of two ways — switch it with the Change button on the branch row:

• Shared — the whole branch sees one queue and anyone can pick up any chat. Best for a shop counter where whoever's free replies.
• Assigned — agents claim a chat and it becomes theirs. Best when you want clear ownership and accountability per agent.

You can mix and match — a busy branch on Shared, a specialist team on Assigned.

5.Trading hours, address & phone

For a physical branch, click Info to add its trading hours, address, and a phone number. When a customer picks that branch in the store finder, they get a neat card: Chat (talk to a person), Hours, Location (opens a maps link), and Call (a normal phone call to that branch). Leave a field blank and that option simply doesn't show.

6.QR codes & the website button

Once your public WhatsApp number is set (Settings → WhatsApp connection), each branch gets a printable QR code — stick it on the counter or a poster and a customer who scans it lands straight in that branch's chat, skipping the menu. There's also a ready-made "Chat to us" button you can paste onto your website or email signature. Both are Pro features.

7.Removing a branch — two ways

• Deactivate — hides it from the customer menu and the transfer list but keeps its chat history. Reversible anytime. This is what you want in almost every case (e.g. a branch closes for renovations).
• Delete — permanent, and only allowed when the branch has no staff accounts and no chats, so nothing gets orphaned. Move those first, or just deactivate.

8.What's next

With your branches in place, the menu is ready to build. Read Building your WhatsApp menu next — or if you're using the built-in menu, you're already done: it adapts to your branches automatically.