WhatsApp is one of the cleanest companies in technology industry right now and we have to acknowledge the fact that it has remained as it is since launch. Now, we also know that one of the main USPs about WhatsApp was that its co-founders said they will never place ads inside the messaging platform. This is because ads are intrusive to user privacy and they value privacy of their users. However, WhatsApp has now been acquired by Facebook and it has been done for a long time now. But there were fears earlier about Facebook changing the way WhatsApp works by placing ads and changing its business model.
While that is not done yet, we do see that some monetization plans are being added to WhatsApp in the form of a new app called WhatsApp Business. This app is a messaging platform for businesses to communicate with their customers on WhatsApp itself. However, we are here to tell you about how WhatsApp has entered the e-commerce space with its latest feature addition named as “Product Catalogue”.
If you have a business and you want to sell on WhatsApp, it is now possible to list your products on the platform so that people can look at them and check your offerings and also contact you if needed for the same. This is similar to the way that e-commerce platforms work where you see the product, pay for the product and the product gets delivered to you. While there is no delivery or payment option inside WhatsApp, the first step of product discovery has been taken inside the platform and we feel that the future of WhatsApp is exciting. Having said that, we do hope WhatsApp does not become a commercial product otherwise its audience will slowly start going away from the platform.
