Facebook is increasingly keen to monetize every platform it has. This social media platform is undoubtedly the most places to gain profit. Instagram, whose ad revenue is also very high, so Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook are getting richer. Now is the time to empower the instant messaging application he acquired worth USD 19 billion. One of them is presenting e-commerce features on WhatsApp Business.
Even though there is quite a lot of e-commerce in Indonesia, few of the public prefer to make direct transactions through profiles that use a WhatsApp Business account. The reasons can be various; Besides not wanting to create an account on an e-commerce platform, communication to transactions on WhatsApp feels faster. Especially if the smartphone doesn’t have a large memory capacity. Previously, Facebook has also presented a Shop feature on Instagram that changes its interface to view shopping pages.
Facebook itself presents WhatsApp Business. Business owners such as MSMEs can display their shops virtually in a more comprehensive manner and provide additional information such as operating hours, shops, and others in their profiles. This time, WhatsApp Business has the arrival of a new feature, the Shopping Cart, which will simplify ordering and selling in the application.
How to Use the WhatsApp Business Shopping Cart Feature
Shop owners can use this feature, especially those who provide various types of products and services, such as restaurants or clothing stores. Comes with a select button, store customers who access the store owner’s WhatsApp Business account will access and select some of the products they like and send the order as a chat to the store admin.
The method is easy and straightforward. Tap the button next to the call button at the top right of the chat view, browse the catalogs provided by the shop. After that, several select types of items you want to get can be more than one. Each quantity can also be adjusted as needed. If so, just send a list to the seller.
Keep in mind, this feature is only here to make it easier for customers to convey what they want to order. Once shipped, the shop still has to confirm it manually. Even so, it is relatively easy; mostly, it is directly integrated into WhatsApp Business.
WhatsApp Business Has Been Tried With MSMEs
WhatsApp Business itself has presented this feature on a trial basis to several users, one of which is Agradaya, which has a sustainable-based spice and seasoning business in Yogyakarta. As a recipient of early access, the Shopping Cart feature makes it easy to manage customer orders without having prolonged discussions. Minimize the possibility of an order error.
This is the umpteenth new feature that has been launched by WhatsApp, after several other updates such as QR codes, Labels, and Quick Replies. One of the active WhatsApp Business users, Jessica Yuri, is the Make A Whiz business owner. She said her team really liked the label feature on the WhatsApp Business platform.
“We always refer to the label feature to check order status. This feature also makes us more organized and more agile in responding to our customers,” said Jessica. WhatsApp itself always strives to provide innovative support for MSME owners in the most effective way. WhatsApp seeks to provide creative support for MSME owners in the most practical way while maintaining its principles as a personal and private messaging application.
