Facebook is leaving no stone unturned to turn WhatsApp into a business tool. The company is adding in-app shopping features in its messaging app. It will enable users to buy products directly from chats. The company says it will expand ways for people to check out available products and make purchases right from a chat. The new feature is claimed to help small businesses who have been most impacted in this time.
With WhatsApp shopping directly from chats, people will not have to wait on hold, get passed from person to person, or wonder if their messages were received. During the pandemic, WhatsApp has become a convenient resource whilst helping 175 million people every day message a WhatsApp Business account.
Facebook says people prefer to message a business to get help and they’re more likely to make a purchase when they can do so. Hence, the new WhatsApp shopping directly from the chats feature will improve existing commerce and customer solutions.
The details provided by Facebook on the WhatsApp blog are thin, but it has also released a promotional video that shows the new feature in action.
The video shows how transactions might go down. There is a user who messages a business, which can reply with a link to a product catalog. Following this, the shopper can add items to their cart and checkout from the app.
The messaging app has had a catalog feature in the past, but it was limited. Facebook has been making a big push to expand its shopping features across its suite of apps including WhatsApp and Instagram. Earlier this week, the company rolled out customer service chats for Instagram DMs with Messenger API.
It also recently launched Facebook Shops that allow businesses to create product catalogs, which can work across Facebook and Instagram.