WhatsApp, a subsidiary of Meta, is set to revolutionize the in-app shopping experience for both merchants and users with the introduction of its innovative feature called Flows. This new feature allows users to seamlessly complete various tasks, such as booking appointments or selecting seats on flights, all within the app interface.
Merchants will have access to a range of building blocks, including text boxes, calendars, and seat pickers, enabling them to create customized experiences for their customers. These enhancements are slated to roll out in the coming months, promising a more dynamic shopping experience.
A dedicated support page for Flows outlines a myriad of potential use cases, including appointment bookings, product customization, account logins, form submissions, and event sign-ups. The company has been rigorously testing Flows with prominent businesses, including Brazilian bank Banco Pan, retailer MagaLu, Lenovo, Indian travel service Redbus, SBI, and car reselling platform Spinny.
Nikila Srinivasan, VP of Business Messaging at Meta, expressed the company’s commitment to elevating the shopping and e-commerce vertical. Srinivasan emphasized, “The goal is to enable business messaging in a way that businesses and people can do a lot more right in the chat thread. We are trying to build rich experiences within the chat, and that’s where Flows comes in.”
Notably, Meta has decided not to implement separate charges for Flows; instead, it will seamlessly integrate within the existing payment model. WhatsApp currently levies charges on businesses for conversations that accumulate over a 24-hour window, categorized by marketing, utility, authentication, and service. For example, a customer’s request to book an appointment would typically fall under the utility category.
WhatsApp is also expanding its payment partners for the checkout experience in India, a market boasting over 500 million users. Collaborating with Reliance Jio, the company now offers an end-to-end shopping experience, allowing customers to make payments through the UPI-based (Unified Payment Interface) network, as well as through other UPI apps, credit cards, and debit cards.
Earlier this year, WhatsApp successfully launched merchant payments for customers in Brazil and Singapore, garnering positive feedback and usage.
WhatsApp Business has hit a significant milestone, boasting over 200 million monthly active users. The company is currently testing a personalized messaging feature tailored for merchants, enabling businesses to send custom offers and discounts to select customers. This strategic move aims to encourage frequent business transactions and enhance user engagement.
In conclusion, the introduction of the Flows feature and extended payment support in India by WhatsApp signals a major stride towards enhancing the user shopping experience and boosting revenue. With a suite of modern tools at their disposal, merchants and users can now securely make purchases within the messaging application, heralding a new era of in-app shopping convenience.
Source: TechCrunch
