Very soon you will be able to search on WhatsApp for hairdressers, restaurants, bars and other businesses near you. The platform is starting to test its business directory and this is how it works.
In January 2018, after a long trial period, WhatsApp Business came into play. With the aim of facilitating communication between companies and their customers, since its birth the corporate version of WhatsApp has gradually implemented a wide range of functions for both businesses and users.
Among the latest WhatsApp Business features We find the simplified registration process, quick responses or the possibility of sending certain information of interest to customers, for example about products that are available again.
Those on Facebook want to give you further boost to the business version of WhatsApp with a new feature which is also very useful for users.
We are talking about the business directory, a feature that the platform is testing in Brazil and that in practice It works like the traditional Yellow Pages service, but without leaving WhatsApp.
Will Cathcart, CEO of WhatsApp, has been in charge of announcing the new feature through your Twitter account. The executive notes that the platform has started to test its local business directory service in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where there are millions of small businesses that can benefit from the new feature.
This service allows any user to search for all types of businesses near their location, so that, on the one hand, it offers visualization to companies, and on the other it provides a useful service to users.
The business directory is located in the contacts tab, and when we click the app it shows us the different categories of businesses to search around us (clothing stores, car services, restaurants, pizzerias, supermarkets, educational centers, etc. .).
In the thumbnail of the results we can see the name of the establishment, the hours, the address and the distance that it is from us. When accessing the detail file we see a brief description and we have the possibility to start a conversation if we need it.
WhatsApp ensures that searches are completely private and that the platform does not store the location of the user or the businesses they are looking for.
Cathcart explains that the WhatsApp business directory will be in the testing phase in Sao Paulo over the next few months, and depending on the reception that the platform has, it will study expanding the service to other territories.