WhatsApp is on the verge of fulfilling a long-held ambition, as users in India can now shop and buy groceries without leaving the app, according to media reports. And it appears that Meta is ultimately attempting to make WhatsApp similar to the Chinese WeChat app, which people use to do almost everything in their lives.
WeChat users can use the app to pay their rent, buy party tickets, pay for food, and do a variety of other things. There is no doubt that any platform that can consume this amount of people’s lives can achieve financial wealth through payment procedure fees and commissions, as well as commercials and advertisements. No platform has come close to matching WeChat’s success, but WhatsApp is more qualified than others as it boasts more than two billion users.
Meta, WhatsApp’s owner, said that the new integration with the Indian e-commerce company JioMart, in which users can send a ‘hello’ message to a specific number only to be directed to shop within the app.
The shopping experience sounds familiar, and it is similar to Instacart and other delivery services that have been available for years, but there is no other application available here, which is critical for WhatsApp.
According to the report, Meta is convinced that commercial messaging will be a large part of WhatsApp’s future revenue strategy.
Business messaging is gaining traction, and messaging experiences like this will be the preferred method of communication for people and businesses in the coming years, said Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, in a Facebook post announcing the collaboration with JioMart.
The JioMart integration is a part chat between the buyer and part in-app browser, but it has everything from choosing goods to payment and delivery all within WhatsApp without having to exit it.
With nearly 400 million users, India is WhatsApp’s largest market.
