US-based social media conglomerate, Facebook introduced a new shopping button in its subsidiary messenger app WhatsApp Business globally, which enables users check out available items and make purchases directly from a chat.
The new feature in the WhatsApp Business application will make it easier for individuals to explore the catalogue of a company so that they know what products or services it provides.
Earlier, people had to click on the company’s profile to see if there was a catalogue for the company.
The company stated, “Now when a person sees the shopping button, which looks like a storefront icon, they will immediately know the business has a catalogue so they can browse products and start a conversation about an item they see with just one tap”.
This would also make it easier for marketers to display their goods, which will help to increase sales.
According to data, more than 40 million people view the business catalogue each month and over 175 million people send messages to a WhatsApp Business account per day.
WhatsApp’s latest addition allows users to make purchases from the chat itself
In a recent survey, 76 percent of Indian adults said that “I am more likely to do business with/purchase from a company that I can contact via messaging than one that I cannot”.
The new shopping button is available worldwide now and will replace the voice call button in the application. In the updated version, the voice call service will be available by tapping the call button. Here the user can select either voice or video call.
The company had hinted last month about the new feature stating that “in the future, we’ll make it possible to add items to a cart and check out, all within WhatsApp”.
The social media giant has announced that it will charge companies to use WhatsApp for business, as it has expanded the way users can test available products and make purchases from the chat itself.
Around 50 million businesses message a WhatsApp Business account each day and this change would help WhatsApp continue to grow its own business while delivering and expanding encrypted end-to-end free text, video and voice calls to more than two billion users.
