Whatsapp has announced new features on the app to help businesses enhance their shopping functions, payments and customer service. Through its blog, the Facebook owned company said that there had been a real shift towards messaging apps for personal use and that people were now relying on Whatsapp for their businesses as well.
“Many of the old ways in which people and businesses communicate are not working. While businesses spend billions of dollars annually managing phone calls, e-mails, and SMS, people do not want to wait on hold, get passed from person to person, or wonder if their messages were received.”
The Covid-19 pandemic has made it clear that businesses need fast and efficient ways to serve their customers, who now prioritize convenience over everything else.
Read: Brazil Suspends Newly Launched Whatsapp Pay
Whatsapp is one of the most popular messaging tools globally, with more than 175 million people sending messages to business accounts daily. According to its own research, the company determined that most people prefer chatting on Whatsapp and would be persuaded to buy over the app
Whatsapp announced the following features
Shopping
The messaging app said it will be expanding ways for people to check out products and make their purchases right from the app. They said they will make it easier for businesses to integrate the feature into their existing commerce and customer solutions.
Read also:Facebook Looking To Integrate Messenger With Whatsapp
Facebook Hosting Services
“Businesses have varying technology needs and want choice in the companies they work with to host and manage customer communications, particularly with remote work increasing.” Whatsapp said through its blog.
The company plans to expand partnerships with business providers they have been working with to offer more business solutions. Facebook will now offer hosting services to help business owners manage their whatsapp messages. This will make it easier for more people to start small businesses, sell products, keep their inventory up to date and quickly respond to messages.
Business Sales
Whatsapp plans to charge business customers for some of the services it offers. This will help the messaging app keep up to date with its own business while it also expands free end-to-end encrypted text, video and voice calling for its 2 billion customers.
The company said that most people will continue to use the app for personal communication between family and friends hence the need to enhance its features and protect private conversations. The new features will be rolled out globally within the next few months.
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