WhatsApp Business reaches Major Milestone; Announces new set of Features

WhatsApp Business
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By Rahul Vaimal, Associate Editor
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WhatsApp’s Business App has made it easier for users to launch a new chat and access all the goods and services offered by a business amidst the pandemic that is curtailing the physical interaction among people.

WhatsApp Business declared that it now has more than 50 million active monthly users out of which more than 15 million MAUs (monthly active users) are in India and more than 5 million MAUs are in Brazil making these countries its largest market.

Launched in 2018, the primary aim of WhatsApp Business is to facilitate communication between customers and businesses.

Recently, WhatsApp launched a feature that enabled users to add other users to their contacts by simply scanning a QR code. Now, WhatsApp Business is rolling out a similar feature that allows users to scan a QR code to start a new chat.

Users usually need to save the number of a business on their phone so they could start a conversation. But now, users can check the QR code issued by a business on their packaging, product tags, receipts or available at the shop in order to begin a chat.

Also, if users want to save the number of the business they just scan it from within WhatsApp itself so that they don’t need to enter the number manually and save it in the contact list of the phone.

Users with a WhatsApp Business Account can access their QR in the More Options menu or Settings menu in the ‘Business Tool’ section depending on whether they are on Android or iOS, respectively. Go to ‘Short Link’ in Business Tools, and select the QR Code option to view your QR code.

The second feature WhatsApp Business is rolling out is the opportunity for companies to get a shareable link to their WhatsApp catalog. The catalog is a mobile storefront for businesses to display and share goods or products they are selling, for people to easily browse and discover and was launched in November 2019.

More than 40 million users display a company catalog on WhatsApp every month according to data. WhatsApp catalogs and even individual products would be available for sharing as links, to make it easier for companies and people.

Further, the Facebook-owned messaging behemoth is also providing a collection of stickers to kick off “we ‘re open to business” campaign which will be available on Android, iOs and desktop versions.