Facebook Adds Carts to WhatsApp for Seamless Shopping

WhatsApp announced on Tuesday the inclusion of a new shopping capability within its application, as the Facebook-owned messaging service aims to attract additional businesses and encourage a greater percentage of its 2 billion users to make purchases.

The messaging service, which already facilitates message exchanges from over 175 million individuals to business accounts, is introducing carts to WhatsApp globally in preparation for the upcoming holiday shopping period.

These carts are designed to simplify the process for customers purchasing multiple products from a single business, and to help merchants more effectively monitor order inquiries and handle requests. WhatsApp stated that this new feature is being launched following encouraging initial feedback from businesses that recently participated in testing.

Within WhatsApp, users will now have the option to add items to a cart. Once completed, users can then submit the order request to the business as a message. WhatsApp confirmed that carts are becoming available to users worldwide today. (You can read the complete how-to flow here.)

Over the past several months, WhatsApp has implemented a number of features to enhance the commerce experience on its platform. These include QR codes, a dedicated shopping button, and the ability to share catalog links within chats. The platform is also providing merchants with complimentary storage for hosting their business messages.

Success in the realm of commerce is vital for WhatsApp. Despite its extensive user base, the service currently generates minimal revenue. The messaging application is offered to users without charge and remains ad-free. However, it has the potential to become a significant competitor to major retailers like Amazon and Walmart, particularly in developing markets such as India where e-commerce is still in its early stages.

India, which represents WhatsApp’s largest user market, has seen numerous businesses begin operations on the Facebook-owned app. On Tuesday, DealShare, an Indian e-commerce startup, announced it had secured $21 million in a new funding round. DealShare initially launched its services on WhatsApp. As commerce on WhatsApp expands, it could also present challenges to emerging startups operating in the same sector.

However, a key component currently absent from WhatsApp’s shopping experience is integrated payment support. Currently, when a user places an order with a business on WhatsApp, both parties must independently determine how payment will be handled.

WhatsApp has encountered difficulties in implementing payment functionality within its app thus far. India recently authorized WhatsApp to extend payments access to a broader range of users. Brazil is another market where WhatsApp launched payments this year, but the South American country quickly suspended the new service. Perhaps Libra offers a potential solution?