Facebook's messaging service WhatsApp on Wednesday launched a new feature to make it possible to search for businesses within its app for the first time, the company told Reuters.
"This could be ... the primary way that people start a commerce process in WhatsApp," Matt Idema, Facebook's vice president of business messaging, said in an interview this week. The messaging service has increasingly courted business users, with a specialized app for small firms and an API, or type of software interface, for larger businesses to connect their systems, which generates revenue.
WhatsApp said the new test would include thousands of businesses in categories like food, retail and local services across certain São Paulo neighborhoods. Idema said India and Indonesia were good next candidates to expand the feature.