By Sheila Dang
Sep 16 (Reuters) – Facebook Inc. is rolling out new ways for businesses to find and chat with potential customers on its apps, the social media company said on Thursday as it seeks to become an online shopping destination.
The new features will help Facebook, which is already a leader in digital advertising, deliver personalized shopping experiences to its users, said Karandeep Anand, Facebook’s vice president of business products.
Companies will now be able to add a button on their Instagram profiles so that users can send a WhatsApp message to the company with a single click.
WhatsApp integration is especially important for customers in countries like India and Brazil, where the Facebook-owned messaging app is widely used, Anand said.
Facebook said it will begin to test the ability for brands to send emails through Facebook Business Suite, a feature that allows companies to manage their presence in social network applications, in order to simplify the way in which companies companies reach customers.
You will also test new work accounts so that employees can manage company pages without having to log in with their personal accounts.
The new business tools come a day after WhatsApp began testing a new feature in São Paulo, Brazil, allowing users to find stores and services through an in-app directory for the first time, as part of an effort. for strengthening electronic commerce in the service. (Reporting by Sheila Dang; edited in Spanish by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)