In March, Facebook added a shopping feature to Instagram that lets users click on a ‘checkout’ option on items tagged for sale and pay for them directly within the app. After that, Facebook now launches a catalogue feature for its messaging app WhatsApp, extending its services to e-commerce.
This new WhatsApp Business App allows the users to display a ‘mobile storefront’ showcasing their wares with images and prices. However, the transactions still occur elsewhere. Amrit Pal, Product Manager at WhatsApp says that they are opening commerce as a new chapter. “We hear from businesses every day that WhatsApp is where they meet their customers, rather than sending them to a website,” adds Pal.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook has disclosed his plans to shift the company’s focus to private chats, adding bots and augmented reality tools to encourage businesses to communicate with consumers on its messaging services.
The company mentioned last year that it would start charging businesses for sending marketing and customer service messages on WhatApp at a fixed rate for confirmed delivery, ranging from 0.5 cents to 9 cents per message depending on the country.
According to the company’s spokesperson, WhatApp’s new catalogue feature is available for users in Brazil, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Britain, and the United States and will be rolled out around the world in the next few weeks.
