WhatsApp Business, the business version of the messaging app, gets a new free catalog feature this week so small businesses can show their customers more details about their products. The news is first reported by.
The catalog can be viewed on the company profile on WhatsApp and can save time for both entrepreneurs and customers as all content is now available to everyone, avoiding the need to share photos and product information individually.
According to WhatsApp, what’s new for WhatsApp Business is also a way to keep users engaged with their conversations rather than leaving the app to, for example, look at a store’s website.
Ribeirão Preto’s small company called Cupcakes By Isa received early access to the catalog. In a note, Isa Lepera, head of the company, says the news helps quickly share information with customers in the app itself. Among the data that can be added to each product photo can be added, are prices, description, code and link to the official site.
Amrit Pal, product manager responsible for WhatsApp Business, says catalog functionality is designed to address some common issues with communicating with businesses.
However, WhatsApp Business did not yet have one important feature: the product catalog. Now, thinking of this audience, the messenger finally released the news with an update.
With this, any business owner can insert their entire product catalog into the messenger. This should facilitate interaction with the customer as they will have access to everything being marketed.
Previously, companies had to send customers photos of each product manually and provide information one by one, which made the whole process tiresome and impractical. Now, with catalogs, WhatsApp Business will act as a kind of mobile store for companies to showcase and share their products. This allows people to easily browse and discover something they would like to buy from your trusted store.
For each catalog item, a company can add information, including price, description, and product code. WhatsApp, in turn, hosts these catalogs to save storage space on business and customer phones.
The feature is available starting Thursday (7) for companies using WhatsApp Business on both Android and iOS in Brazil, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States. Other countries should receive functionality soon.