Do you use WhatsApp? You must be thinking what a stupid this question is. Like who doesn’t?
It has over 200 million active users in India and over 1.5 billion users globally, as of February 2019. WhatsApp’s enormous popularity even made Mark Zuckerberg express fear that the messaging app may overshadow Facebook in India.
Honestly, Zuckerberg’s fear might turn into a reality in the near future, guess why? Whatsapp is getting a new makeover.
The Business Feature!
We are all aware of the WhatsApp Business feature which the company introduced in January 2018, in order to facilitate easier and better company to client contact. The feature was very well accepted by all sectors and has made a great impact in today’s marketing sector.
Payments App?
Zuckerberg has already integrated payments into its app which is available in its beta version in India. WhatsApp Pay will soon be enabled for other countries too. While most digital wallets took years and spent millions to acquire customers, WhatsApp will begin with an existing customer base of over 200 million in India. Such great is the strategy of WhatsApp.
Online shopping too?
But in addition to it, Facebook has revealed that WhatsApp will soon enable online shopping in its app. Surprised? But, yes it will allow businesses to add a product catalog on WhatsApp. With this move, the messaging app is likely to get a bigger stake in Facebook India’s business.
The other players in the business
This will bring a new addition in the players on the Indian e-commerce field. Amazon India, Flipkart, Paytm, etc. are already at the top of this field and with the entry of WhatsApp, the competition will be worth watching.
Amazon and Paytm already have their own digital wallets just like WhatsApp. WhatsApp already having so many users will surely get an upper hand after it introduces the e-commerce feature.
Guidance by RBI.
WhatsApp previously was asked by RBI to store data locally. The company had then agreed to save the data of WhatsApp pay users on servers in India.
Analyzing this move by WhatsApp tells us a lot about the wide aspects the Indian Market has for a company. With every passing day, companies evolve with some new features and this cut-throat competition to reach the top result in the disruption of the market. Ironically, all in favors of the Indian Market and increasing its value.
