Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg just announced exciting developments coming our way this year. Surprisingly, the subject of these developments is not Facebook, but the popular messaging platform it owns – WhatsApp. WhatsApp has become almost a permanent fixture with most smartphones.
With the end-to-end encryption and instant response time, it was only a matter of time before businesses started using it too. Early on, WhatsApp became a tool for business teams and executives for informal online collaboration. This is what probably spurred the idea for a business app. In early January 2018, WhatsApp launched its for-business version known as WhatsApp Business. This is the actual subject of the announced developments. Â
WhatsApp Business
At the F8 Conference, Zuckerberg announced massive changes in the scope of WhatsApp Business for small businesses. Currently, WhatsApp Business functions as a private messaging app for small businesses to communicate privately with their customers. The app also lets users add labels to the conversations to keep track of the communications. For many small businesses, this functions as a basic Customer Relationship Management tool or CRM.
However, Mark Zuckerberg intends to take things to the next level. The Facebook founder announced some groundbreaking changes to the app that is already under testing. If you missed the F8 Conference, here’s what Zuckerberg had to say
That’s right. Two of the biggest changes to WhatsApp Business come barely a year after its initial launch. WhatsApp is all set to introduce product catalogue and payment modules to its Business app. This is huge news, that can potentially take WhatsApp in an entirely new direction.
Product Catalogs
While the announcement did not go into too many technical details, we can surmise a few things. According to the video presentation, we can see someone browse through a catalogue section and actually purchase a commodity. All without leaving the app. WhatsApp Business will soon have fully functioning product stores, that much is for certain.
Product catalogues are especially useful for small businesses that lack the resources to launch their own e-commerce platforms. Millions of small businesses already use WhatsApp Business to communicate with their customers. A catalogue module means they can also showcase their products using the same tool they use to communicate with customers. Product catalogues will make it much easier for small businesses to find new customers even if they don’t maintain a web presence.
Payment Platform
The announcement didn’t end with product catalogue modules. In the video presentation, we see a person making a payment on the app. This strongly implies that the payment system strongly ties in with the app itself. For small businesses, getting timely remittances can be a huge asset. WhatsApp is trying to configure itself to that role. The first step is allowing people to pay or send money as easily as sending a message. The new features may go a long way to boosting e-commerce sales for small businesses.
Exactly how the new payment platform will function is still under wraps. However, Zuckerberg did hint that the new features are under testing in India. Over 1 million users including small businesses have joined the testing phase. In a country where local remittances are much higher than foreign ones, the idea has quickly gained popularity. After ironing out the kinks, we may see the features rolling out in primary markets like the UK, Europe, and the US.
Facebook and WhatsApp – A Pivotal Shift
We already know Facebook has expanded far beyond its original function as a social network. The initial shift was toward advertising. But recently, we see a more pronounced move towards digital commerce and retail.
The underlying philosophy is simple. Use the people and families communicating with each other on Facebook as the primary audience. Facebook has become an increasingly vocal space, leading many to have meaningful conversations in private messages. This is where Facebook stands to gain by leveraging WhatsApp. In many ways, this has already taken place. One example is Facebook Portal. Portal is a video communication device, that uses WhatsApp to connect people to each other.
Will Facebook include this as part of the WhatsApp shopping experience? It may be too early to say. But one thing is quite certain. Both Facebook and WhatsApp are in the middle of a pivotal shift towards small business e-commerce. The entities that stand to benefit the most are small businesses and entrepreneurs. Stay tuned to this blog as more information emerges.