WhatsApp is introducing a new shopping cart feature that lets you order multiple items with a single message from businesses on the service. It works in conjunction with the service’s existing catalogs feature. The feature will be available globally starting today.
“With carts, people can browse a catalog, select multiple products, and send the order as one message to the business. This will make it simpler for businesses to keep track of order inquiries, manage requests from customers, and close sales,” the Facebook-owned company said in a blog.
Shopping might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the Facebook-owned messaging service, but it’s become an increasingly popular venue for small businesses around the world to sell their products. Over 175 million people used the service to message a WhatsApp Business account each day as of late October, the company said.
WhatsApp’s popularity as a shopping service means that the company recently announced that it’s investing in new business features. These include offering hosting services for businesses to manage their WhatsApp messages and expanding ways for customers to make purchases right from the chat.
Despite its popularity as a shopping destination, WhatsApp’s support for actually making payments in-app is still in its early stages globally, TechCrunch notes. Although it recently launched its payments feature in India, its rollout in Brazil hit a speed bump when the country’s central bank suspended the service soon after its launch.