Businesses can now get a WhatsApp account as users of the messaging app will now get a much-improved search functionality.
Businesses Can Now Get a WhatsApp Account
The parent company of WhatsApp, Meta, just recently added new business directory features to WhatsApp for users in Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and the United Kingdom.
This means that users on the encrypted messaging platform now will be able to browse businesses by category, for instance, travel or banking, or get to search for one by name in order to find it. this will potentially save people from having to find and locate phone numbers on websites or getting to search through their contact list/
The business directory search function in Brazil also will list small businesses too and also it is testing in-chat secure payments in the region.
Meta Is Trying To Generate More Revenue from Its Users
The said news is coming as Meta may just be trying to take out more revenue from the 175 million people that it says to make use of a WhatsApp business account on a daily basis as advertising revenue from its core platforms Facebook and Instagram businesses decline.
Facebook just announced its first-ever decline in users in February 2022, and the company in October 2022 posted a 4% year-on-year revenue decline in the three months leading from January through September.
Meta Started Testing a Payments Service in Brazil Back In 2020
The tech company started testing a payments service in Brazil back in 2020 but however struggled to get approval from the Brazilian central bank alongside the necessary partners in order to make it work. WhatsApp in April got approval for the platform to extend its payment service to an additional 100 million users in India who make use of the service.
More Collaboration to Come With WhatsApp and Businesses
We however may be seeing a closer convergence between WhatsApp and the business world in general. Salesforce at Dreamforce 2022 claimed that it will give businesses a new medium to communicate with customers through WhatsApp integrations with multiple Salesforce CRM applications.
Salesforce also claimed that the integration will create more “convenient, integrated and personalized experiences between people and businesses”.