Deepti Sri · · 2 min readWhatsApp to roll out online shopping feature Shops in social commerce push
Facebook has announced it is expanding its online shopping feature Shops to WhatsApp and its ecommerce platform Marketplace. This is a further push from the US-based social media giant into the social commerce space.
Photo credit: Facebook
The company said this will give businesses in select countries the option to showcase their stores on WhatsApp. While the feature will be introduced in the US, Facebook didn’t specify the other countries where it would also be launched.
The development comes after WhatsApp rolled out an online shopping feature in December last year.
WhatsApp’s largest user base is in India, where it has nearly 400 million users, followed by the US, Brazil, and Indonesia. The new online shopping feature could help the Facebook-owned messaging platform compete against bigger players in the country such as Amazon, Walmart’s Flipkart, and Reliance Retail.
Facebook said that the rollout will also enable businesses to display the Shops feature on Marketplace in the US, which it claims could help firms reach the website’s over 1 billion visitors each month.
Facebook Shops helps businesses set up a single online store that customers can access on Facebook and Instagram. Companies can also choose the products they want to feature from their catalogs and customize their shops with a cover image and accent colors that showcase their brand.
The social media platform said it has also introduced a personalized advertising service to its online shopping feature.
“Commerce has been part of Facebook’s DNA for years, with retail brands using personalized ads to reach customers,” Facebook said in a statement. “The way people shop has changed in the last few decades — from visiting malls to buying online and now virtually trying on sunglasses from [their] couches.”
See also: Why Alibaba is betting on Vietnam to reclaim Southeast Asian ecommerce
Over the next few months, Facebook plans on expanding Shops’ product ratings and reviews function to Instagram as well.
Editing by Collin Furtado and September Grace Mahino
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