A business day in Lyon
WhatsApp Business API for Indian suppliers answering Lyon in French
A Lyon working day runs from India's lunchtime to its late evening. Questions arrive in French, about prices, papers and deliveries, and each needs to find the one person in your team who can answer it.
- 08:30
Kitchens and plants across Lyon open; an order update set for 08:30 left India at 13:00 IST in winter.
- 11:00
A buyer met at Sirha asks, in French, for a price on 40 cases. In India it is 15:30.
- 14:30
A food plant's quality team wants a certificate of analysis; it is 19:00 in India and the evening shift takes it.
- 18:00
Lyon offices close at 22:30 IST. Unanswered threads wait, labelled, for the morning desk in India.
For Indian food exporters, ingredient suppliers, textile makers and admissions teams with contacts in Lyon: how French WhatsApp conversations reach the right desk in India, what the CNIL allows for B2B and consumer offers, when to send on Lyon time and what each +33 message costs in rupees.
See it work
Send each Lyon conversation to the right desk in India
An Indian spice and food exporter comes home from Sirha with a list of Lyon chefs, importers and delicatessens. Their questions arrive on one WhatsApp number. Switch strategies and watch where each one lands.
Without rules, every Lyon message lands with whoever opens the inbox first, and a French price request can sit with the logistics desk until the buyer gives up. With them, the conversation reaches the person who can answer it, in the language it was written in.
On InfiQ the rules live in the shared team inbox: labels for each Sirha lead, transfers between desks and private notes, so a thread keeps its history when it changes hands.
Six Lyon conversations, three desks in India
Only agents with the required skill are eligible; the least busy of them wins.
Incoming · 0 left
- All 6 conversations have been routed.
Conversation 6 of 6 · Skills-based
Food plant near Lyon: certificate of analysis(needs documents)goes toKavya, quality documents
Skills: needs documents, and only Kavya, quality documents has it.
Ananya, French-speaking sales
2 of 3 open
- fr
- quotes
- Sirha visitor: price for 40 cases, in Frenchneeds fr
- Delicatessen in Croix-Rousse: reorderneeds quotes
Rohit, export logistics
2 of 4 open
- shipping
- Importer near Lyon: container arrival dateneeds shipping
- Restaurant group: copy of last invoice
- Full
Kavya, quality documents
2 of 2 open
- documents
- Chef: allergen sheet for the chutney rangeneeds documents
- Food plant near Lyon: certificate of analysisneeds documents
Waiting · 0
- Nobody waiting: every conversation found an agent.
| Strategy | Routed | Waiting | Skill mismatches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skills-based | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Least busy | 6 | 0 | 4 |
| Sticky | 6 | 0 | 3 |
Conversation 6 of 6, Food plant near Lyon: certificate of analysis: Skills: needs documents, and only Kavya, quality documents has it.
Lyon, and the France–India trade around it
What INSEE, the metropolis's investment agency and the two governments' trade pages say about the market an Indian supplier is writing to.
The commune of Lyon had 519,127 inhabitants in 2023 and 387,334 salaried jobs at the end of 2024, 219,514 of them in commerce, transport and services.[1]
ONLYLYON Invest counts 3.9 million people in the Lyon region, 6% of them students, and calls Lyon France's leading industrial metropolis, with 80,000 industrial jobs.[2]
The agency names health and life sciences, chemistry and the environment, technical textiles and food processing among the area's key sectors, backed by more than 13,000 researchers and 600 R&D laboratories.[2]
Sirha Lyon, the food-service show, returns to Eurexpo from 21 to 25 January 2027; its organiser cites more than 257,000 professionals and 2,300 exhibitors.[3]
France–India trade reached €17 billion in 2024. French imports from India were €9.3 billion, including €1.1 billion of textiles, clothing and leather and €653 million of pharmaceuticals, up 32%.[4]
More than 150 Indian companies operate in France, according to the French Treasury, and India's consulate in Marseille estimates about 10,000 Indian students in the country.[4],[5]
Industries
Indian senders with Lyon on the other end
The trades Lyon is known for, matched with the Indian businesses that sell into them.
- 01
Food, spice and ingredient exporters
Sirha gathers Lyon's chefs, distributors and caterers each edition, and the follow-up runs for months afterwards.[3]
On WhatsApp: Price requests answered in French · Allergen and specification sheets on request · Order and container arrival updates
- 02
Ingredient suppliers to food-processing plants
The agency names food processing among the area's key sectors, and a plant's quality team wants each batch's papers before it accepts the delivery.[2]
On WhatsApp: Certificates of analysis on request · Batch dispatch notices · Audit and visit scheduling
- 03
- 04
Universities and admissions counsellors
Students make up 6% of the Lyon region's population, and Indian families follow every step of an application from home.[2]
On WhatsApp: Application and visa document reminders · Fee and deadline notices to parents · Arrival checklists
Prices in ₹ and EUR
What a message to a Lyon number costs
French numbers are billed at the France line of Meta's rate card: ₹2.64 for an order or arrival update, ₹7.56 for a new range or a show invitation, ₹2.64 for a login code and ₹2.64 for a service reply, in rupees before GST. Plans start at ₹999 a month.
Snapshot rates · as of 20 Oct 2026, 00:02 UTC
Lite
₹999 / month≈ €9.38 EUR
₹833 / month, billed yearly≈ €7.83 EUR
Growth
₹2,999 / month≈ €28.17 EUR
₹2,499 / month, billed yearly≈ €23.48 EUR
Enterprise
Custom volume pricing, custom SLA and dedicated infrastructure.
Per message to Lyon · France
| Category | ₹ INR | EUR |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | ₹7.5588 | €0.0710 |
| Utility | ₹2.6393 | €0.0248 |
| Authentication | ₹2.6393 | €0.0248 |
| Service | ₹2.6393 | €0.0248 |
Per-message rates for all 47 markets, in ₹ and EUR
| Market | Marketing | Utility | Authentication | Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | €0.0511₹5.4352 | €0.0215₹2.2874 | €0.0215₹2.2874 | €0.0215₹2.2874 |
| Bangladesh | €0.0605₹6.4397 | €0.0031₹0.3254 | €0.0031₹0.3254 | €0.0031₹0.3254 |
| Brazil | €0.0516₹5.4970 | €0.0056₹0.5981 | €0.0056₹0.5981 | €0.0056₹0.5981 |
| Chile | €0.0734₹7.8162 | €0.0165₹1.7585 | €0.0165₹1.7585 | €0.0165₹1.7585 |
| Colombia | €0.0103₹1.0993 | €0.0007₹0.0706 | €0.0007₹0.0706 | €0.0007₹0.0706 |
| Egypt | €0.0532₹5.6629 | €0.0030₹0.3167 | €0.0030₹0.3167 | €0.0030₹0.3167 |
| France | €0.0710₹7.5588 | €0.0248₹2.6393 | €0.0248₹2.6393 | €0.0248₹2.6393 |
| Germany | €0.113₹12.0088 | €0.0455₹4.8386 | €0.0455₹4.8386 | €0.0455₹4.8386 |
| Hong Kong | €0.0605₹6.4397 | €0.0215₹2.2867 | €0.0215₹2.2867 | €0.0215₹2.2867 |
| Hungary | €0.0710₹7.5596 | €0.0288₹3.0700 | €0.0288₹3.0700 | €0.0288₹3.0700 |
| India | €0.0089₹0.9435 | €0.0018₹0.1941 | €0.0013₹0.1402 | €0.0014₹0.1450 |
| Indonesia | €0.0339₹3.6133 | €0.0206₹2.1979 | €0.0206₹2.1979 | €0.0206₹2.1979 |
| Iraq | €0.0282₹2.9992 | €0.0065₹0.6943 | €0.0065₹0.6943 | €0.0065₹0.6943 |
| Israel | €0.0292₹3.1045 | €0.0044₹0.4662 | €0.0044₹0.4662 | €0.0044₹0.4662 |
| Italy | €0.0656₹6.9847 | €0.0248₹2.6369 | €0.0248₹2.6369 | €0.0248₹2.6369 |
| Kazakhstan | €0.0499₹5.3098 | €0.0149₹1.5824 | €0.0149₹1.5824 | €0.0149₹1.5824 |
| Kuwait | €0.0654₹6.9671 | €0.0363₹3.8671 | €0.0363₹3.8671 | €0.0363₹3.8671 |
| Malaysia | €0.0711₹7.5644 | €0.0116₹1.2314 | €0.0116₹1.2314 | €0.0116₹1.2314 |
| Mexico | €0.0328₹3.4877 | €0.0070₹0.7471 | €0.0070₹0.7471 | €0.0070₹0.7471 |
| Morocco | €0.0342₹3.6425 | €0.0190₹2.0218 | €0.0190₹2.0218 | €0.0190₹2.0218 |
| Netherlands | €0.132₹14.0494 | €0.0413₹4.3987 | €0.0413₹4.3987 | €0.0413₹4.3987 |
| Nepal | €0.0605₹6.4397 | €0.0028₹0.2990 | €0.0028₹0.2990 | €0.0028₹0.2990 |
| Nigeria | €0.0427₹4.5421 | €0.0055₹0.5898 | €0.0055₹0.5898 | €0.0055₹0.5898 |
| Oman | €0.0282₹2.9992 | €0.0204₹2.1709 | €0.0204₹2.1709 | €0.0204₹2.1709 |
| Pakistan | €0.0391₹4.1620 | €0.0124₹1.3200 | €0.0124₹1.3200 | €0.0124₹1.3200 |
| Peru | €0.0581₹6.1843 | €0.0248₹2.6392 | €0.0248₹2.6392 | €0.0248₹2.6392 |
| Poland | €0.0302₹3.2105 | €0.0101₹1.0702 | €0.0101₹1.0702 | €0.0101₹1.0702 |
| Qatar | €0.0282₹2.9992 | €0.0099₹1.0547 | €0.0099₹1.0547 | €0.0099₹1.0547 |
| Romania | €0.0710₹7.5596 | €0.0239₹2.5436 | €0.0239₹2.5436 | €0.0239₹2.5436 |
| Russia | €0.0662₹7.0520 | €0.0330₹3.5173 | €0.0330₹3.5173 | €0.0330₹3.5173 |
| Saudi Arabia | €0.0475₹5.0537 | €0.0088₹0.9401 | €0.0088₹0.9401 | €0.0088₹0.9401 |
| Singapore | €0.0605₹6.4397 | €0.0132₹1.4072 | €0.0132₹1.4072 | €0.0132₹1.4072 |
| South Africa | €0.0314₹3.3385 | €0.0079₹0.8369 | €0.0079₹0.8369 | €0.0079₹0.8369 |
| Spain | €0.0584₹6.2161 | €0.0165₹1.7578 | €0.0165₹1.7578 | €0.0165₹1.7578 |
| Sri Lanka | €0.0605₹6.4397 | €0.0017₹0.1759 | €0.0017₹0.1759 | €0.0017₹0.1759 |
| Turkey | €0.0090₹0.9587 | €0.0007₹0.0792 | €0.0007₹0.0792 | €0.0007₹0.0792 |
| Ukraine | €0.0710₹7.5596 | €0.0246₹2.6138 | €0.0246₹2.6138 | €0.0246₹2.6138 |
| United Arab Emirates | €0.0475₹5.0537 | €0.0130₹1.3811 | €0.0130₹1.3811 | €0.0130₹1.3811 |
| United Kingdom | €0.0524₹5.5795 | €0.0182₹1.9346 | €0.0182₹1.9346 | €0.0182₹1.9346 |
| North America | €0.0206₹2.1976 | €0.0028₹0.2989 | €0.0028₹0.2989 | €0.0028₹0.2989 |
| Rest of Africa | €0.0186₹1.9796 | €0.0033₹0.3516 | €0.0033₹0.3516 | €0.0033₹0.3516 |
| Rest of Asia Pacific | €0.0696₹7.4057 | €0.0093₹0.9938 | €0.0093₹0.9938 | €0.0093₹0.9938 |
| Rest of Central & Eastern Europe | €0.0710₹7.5596 | €0.0175₹1.8595 | €0.0175₹1.8595 | €0.0175₹1.8595 |
| Rest of Latin America | €0.0611₹6.5048 | €0.0093₹0.9934 | €0.0093₹0.9934 | €0.0093₹0.9934 |
| Rest of Middle East | €0.0324₹3.4490 | €0.0075₹0.7998 | €0.0075₹0.7998 | €0.0075₹0.7998 |
| Rest of Western Europe | €0.0489₹5.2054 | €0.0141₹1.5019 | €0.0141₹1.5019 | €0.0141₹1.5019 |
| Other | €0.0499₹5.3098 | €0.0064₹0.6769 | €0.0064₹0.6769 | €0.0064₹0.6769 |
Plan prices are monthly, in rupees, excluding GST; yearly billing is two months free. Messages are charged per delivered message on top of the plan, at the rate for the recipient’s country. Full details: InfiQ pricing. A parent in India paying a Lyon student's fees on a +91 number is charged the India rate, ₹0.19 for a utility reminder. Euro amounts in the converter are indicative; InfiQ invoices in rupees.
Work out your own monthly cost by message type.
Calculate your exact costOn InfiQ
What an Indian supplier runs on InfiQ for Lyon
French conversations, three desks and a five-hour stretch of the Indian evening.
- Shared team inbox
One WhatsApp number answered by a team: 10 users on Lite and 25 on Growth, agent and manager roles, transfers, private notes, labels and canned replies.
Route French price requests, paperwork and delivery questions to different desks, and keep a returning Lyon buyer with the same seller.
- InfiQ Flows chatbot builder
A no-code builder for automated conversations (27 blocks, versioned publishing with rollback), priced per flow; the Growth plan includes one.
An automated flow can hand over a standard allergen or specification sheet late in the Indian evening, and pass anything else to a person.
- Template manager and library
Draft, submit and track WhatsApp message templates for Meta's approval, starting from a library of 1,000+ ready templates in 27 categories.
Prepare fr and en versions of order, arrival and certificate templates and track them through Meta's approval before Sirha.
- Consent records and opt-out enforcement
Each contact's opt-in source and time are recorded, STOP replies are enforced at platform level (even against later imports), and the audit trail exports.
Each Lyon contact's WhatsApp opt-in is kept with its source and time, so professional and consumer lists stay apart.
Nearby
City pages near Lyon
Nearest first, in France and the neighbouring countries.
The consent rules and the France rate are the same across the country; the France guide covers them, while each city page looks at its own trades.
Guides for Lyon teams
Questions Lyon businesses ask
- Q1
We exhibit at Sirha Lyon from 21 to 25 January 2027. How should French-speaking visitors reach our sellers in India on WhatsApp?
Put a QR code on the stand that opens a WhatsApp chat with a pre-filled French request, and route chats tagged French to your French-speaking seller. Because the visitor writes first, your team can answer freely for 24 hours; ask in that chat whether they want order updates or news later, and record the answer.
- Q2
A Lyon restaurant group already buys our spices. Can we send its chefs our new range on WhatsApp without asking first?
French law is more relaxed for professionals than for consumers: the CNIL lets a business prospect professionals about their work if it names itself and offers a simple, free way to refuse. Meta still requires an opt-in before you send a template, so ask the chefs first; the offer is a marketing template at ₹7.56.
- Q3
Our spice unit supplies food-processing plants around Lyon. Can certificates of analysis go out on WhatsApp?
Yes. When a plant's quality team asks, your quality desk can send the certificate as a document in the open 24-hour window. For a certificate that should travel with every batch, approve a utility template with a document header, ₹2.64 per delivered message to a French number, sent when the batch ships.
- Q4
A parent in Pune pays the fees of a student in Lyon who now has a French +33 number. Which number should get the fee reminder?
Whichever person opted in to receive it, and many institutions send to both. The reminder to the parent's +91 number is charged at the India rate, ₹0.19; to the student's +33 number, ₹2.64. Store both numbers with their country codes and the consent for each.
- Q5
A Lyon buyer writes at 17:00, which is 21:30 in India in winter. Must someone answer tonight?
Not necessarily. The buyer's message opens a 24-hour window, so a reply from your morning desk in India, before 17:00 Lyon time the next day, is still a free-text service reply at ₹2.64. A short automated acknowledgement from a flow tells the buyer when to expect an answer.
- Q6
Our technical-textile company has a sales office near Lyon as well as its plant in India. Which entity should hold the WhatsApp account?
InfiQ serves India-based businesses: it invoices in rupees with GST and keeps customer data in India, so the Indian company is the natural account holder and can message French numbers at the France rate. If the account must belong to the business based in Lyon, talk to sales about whether InfiQ fits.
Sources
Facts on this page were checked against these sources on the dates shown. Page updated 2026-10-20.
- [1]Dossier complet: commune de Lyon (69123) · INSEE · read 2026-10-20
- [2]Invest in Lyon: key figures and sectors · ONLYLYON Invest (Aderly) · read 2026-10-20
- [3]Sirha Lyon, 21–25 January 2027 · Sirha Food (GL events) · read 2026-10-20
- [4]Inde: relations bilatérales · Direction générale du Trésor · read 2026-10-20
- [5]India–France Bilateral Brief (updated 6 October 2026) · Consulate General of India, Marseille · read 2026-10-20
- [6]La prospection commerciale par SMS-MMS · CNIL · read 2026-10-20
- [7]tzdb 'europe' file: Europe/Paris and the EU summer-time rule · IANA Time Zone Database · read 2026-10-20
Answer Lyon in French, from India
Start a 7-day Lite trial, no card needed, set up routing for your French-speaking desk, and send your first fr templates once Meta business verification is complete. If your business is based in Lyon, talk to sales about whether InfiQ fits.
