Reading time: 2 minutes
During F8, an event showcasing the latest from the Facebook family, the company's CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced new e-commerce features for WhatsApp.
In the coming months, the app will release a feature that allows stores and businesses using WhatsApp Business to showcase their product and service catalogs directly in the app through a standardized interface.
This feature will likely be provided through Facebook Business, which shares the product catalog with the Instagram business account and the company's Facebook page.
“In one year, millions of small businesses use WhatsApp Business to communicate with their customers. Now, we are launching a new tool, Product Catalog. You will be able to easily see what each business has available,” said the Facebook founder.
“This will be especially important for all businesses that do not have an online presence [such as their own website] and that are increasingly using private platforms to interact with their customers,” he concluded.
Payments
In addition to the catalog, a payment solution that is under development and very similar to the one offered by WeChat, a competitor with a strong presence in Asia, was also presented. In the example shown at the event, it is possible to see a conversation where the consumer requests a product and the merchant sends a payment request.
This feature is being tested in India among WhatsApp users, and the feedback has been very positive. The solution is nothing innovative, as the app's competitors already operate with much broader and validated features in other markets.
What changes?
E-commerce through messaging apps and social networks has been happening for several years. The platforms are slowly adapting to try to capture the value generated by these transactions by limiting the free inclusion of vendors and controlling interactions.
The payment method will likely charge fees from sellers and facilitate the transactions that naturally occur on the platforms. An example of this is Instagram and WhatsApp (both owned by Facebook) turning into marketplaces to monetize their user base without relying exclusively on ads.
For merchants, all that remains is to wait for the features to arrive here and for the integrations to contribute to operational efficiency.
