The Whatsapp business app. (Photo: bangolan / Shutterstock)
No time right now?
In the future, companies will be able to sell their products directly via Whatsapp chat. Whatsapp wants to charge fees for some business features.
Whatsapp Business is expanding its range. Business customers should pay for some of the services in the future, as announced by Whatsapp. With the fee “we can further expand our own business model”, explains Whatsapp.
Catalogs are being expanded
Companies can use so-called catalogs to present their products via Whatsapp. Whatsapp wants to expand this area. Customers should also be able to buy products directly via a chat.
To this end, Whatsapp wants to introduce buy buttons, which should lead customers from other company channels to Whatsapp to complete the purchase of a product, such as Techcrunch learned from Facebook.
Whatsapp introduced a QR feature in July. Since then, customers have been able to contact the company directly via a QR code on the packaging or on the receipt.
Free hosting through Facebook
Whatsapp Business offers an API that companies can use to manage their chats. However, the companies that use this service have so far been responsible for the hosting themselves. In future, they should be able to use Facebook’s hosting infrastructure free of charge.
In order to improve the integration of chats into the company’s systems, Whatsapp claims to work with several providers.
Efficient contact with the customer
The new features are to be introduced within the next few months. “The global pandemic has made it clear that companies need fast and efficient methods to sell their products and interact with their customers,” Whatsapp writes. According to this, over 175 million people send messages via Whatsapp Business every day.