Telegram has a function that allows you to see which users of the application are nearby. Google Maps is widely used to find nearby stores. WhatsApp is now testing a feature that will unite both tools into a powerful “marketing weapon.”
That’s right, WhatsApp works on a new function that allows users to find nearby stores (those that use WhatsApp Business) very easily.
It is a kind of directory that is based on the location of users and that, for now, is only available in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, but if it works it could be extended to the rest of the countries. There is no data, for now, on when it would be available in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia or the rest of Brazil.
When entering the new index, users will be able to see a list of the businesses that are around, something very similar to what Google Maps shows.
The stores are differentiated by category: restaurants, supermarkets, clothing stores, and so on.
If you look at it, it is also very similar to the Telegram tool that allows us to find users and groups close to our location.
“This could be the main way that people initiate a purchase process through WhatsApp,” said Matt Idema, head of Business Messaging at Facebook, in an interview published by Reuters.
WhatsApp, unlike Facebook and Instagram, does not run banner ads in its application, so monetization works differently.
If the idea works and spreads, it will be key for more businesses to join WhatsApp Business.
WhatsApp Business is one of the ways in which WhatsApp will develop its monetization strategy, since the brands, businesses and companies that integrate it into their services pay for its use.
Companies pay for messages, which lower their cost as the volume of shipments increases.
In Europe, for example, the first 250 thousand messages cost 0.034 euros. It’s price drops to 0.0298 from message 25 million onwards.
This type of use is only given by giants that use the WhatsApp Business API, such as Booking or Uber.