Service will be expanded this Friday to all over the country, the first one to receive the feature in the world

11/18/2022

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Mark Zuckerberg — Foto: Nick Wass/AP

WhatsApp, Meta’s messaging app, has started to offer a search tool for nearby businesses on the platform in Brazil. Soon, the company will also launch in-app purchases.

The two new features were unveiled Thursday by Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of the parent company of Facebook, in a remote video participation at the company’s event in São Paulo.

“This is one of the only countries where I’ve heard of people opening bank accounts, buying cars and ordering dinner — all on WhatsApp,” Mr. Zuckerberg said in a recorded video shown during the WhatsApp Business Summit event. “And while millions of businesses in Brazil use it to chat, we haven’t made it easy to discover businesses or buy from them, so people end up having to use work-arounds.”

The new Business Guide feature started being tested last year in the city of São Paulo and, starting this Friday, will be expanded to all over the country, the first one to receive the feature in the world. “Starting today [Thursday], people will be able to search for a brand or small business directly on WhatsApp, either by browsing a list of categories or by typing in a name,” Meta’s founder said.

WhatsApp will also soon launch payments for in-app purchases in the country. Testing is in the final stages with payment partners Cielo, Fiserv, Getnet, Mercado Pago, Rede, Mastercard and Visa.

“If you run a business in Brazil, this means that people will be able to find you, contact you, and buy from you, all in one WhatsApp chat. We are working to bring this experience to more countries in the coming months as well,” Mr. Zuckerberg said. “This is the next step for business messaging, and I look forward to hearing what opportunities this unlocks for all of you,” he added.

On stage at the event, the head of WhatsApp Latin America, Guilherme Horn, tested the first payment for the purchase of a keychain through WhatsApp. According to the executive, these and other partners have already performed the technical integration necessary for the service to work.

The business version of WhatsApp was released in 2018. Currently, the platform makes 5 million business contacts per day through WhatsApp in Brazil, Mr. Horn told reporters after the event.

Asked about possible changes in the launch schedule due to the global layoffs announced a week ago by the company, the WhatsApp executive said there were no changes or delays.

Mr. Horn said that the most critical part of the payments offering, which involves the technology integration with WhatsApp partners, is solved. He did not give a specific date for the start of payments within the app.

On the opening of a new revenue generation channel to balance losses reported by Meta in the third quarter, Mr. Horn said that business messaging is one of Meta’s strategic pillars today.

He reported that the launch of in-app purchases comes from a process of maturing the platform. “The company understands that we are at a level of maturity and use of the app that allows this to become a source of revenue.”

In addition to contracts with payment platforms, the stores will pay a fee to WhatsApp for the service in the application, but the executive did not inform the percentage to be charged. “The search service is free,” he said.

“Globally, 71% of people say they want to communicate with companies via messaging in the same way they communicate with friends and family,” Mr. Horn pointed out, citing an April study by consultancy Kantar Ibope. “In Brazil, 60% of the 50 most valuable brands in the country, present in the Kantar BrandZ 2021 ranking, are already on WhatsApp,” he added.

According to the company, ads generated by clicks on websites that lead to companies’ business profiles on WhatsApp, the so-called “Click-to-WhatsApp,” grew more than 80% in the third quarter, compared to the same period in 2021, generating revenue of $1.5 billion.

WhatsApp has 2.4 billion active users worldwide and is used by 96.4% of Brazilians connected to the internet, aged 16 to 64, according to data from digital media consultancy Hootsuite.

The business version of WhatsApp was launched in 2018. This year, 85% of Brazilians said they are willing to communicate with businesses via WhatsApp and 75% to make purchases via the app, according to a Kantar study commissioned by Meta. Also according to the company, 60% of major Brazilian brands interact through the app.

Revenue generation through WhatsApp is a way to balance losses with advertising sales on Meta’s platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.

A week ago, Mr. Zuckerberg announced a global restructuring involving the cut of 11,000 employees, equivalent to 13% of the company’s workforce. According to the results released at the end of October, the company had 87,314 employees worldwide.

The cuts will affect all areas and geographic regions where the company operates. Valor found out that the cuts have already affected employees in Brazil.

The Brazilian subsidiary will also return the floors it has occupied since 2012 in Infinity Tower, a building located in the district of Itaim Bibi, in the southern zone of São Paulo, sources close to Valor said last week. According to Meta, the decision is not linked to the cuts, but to a reorganization announced in October.

Along with the announcement of the layoffs, Meta revised estimates for 2023, reducing projections for expenses – to a range between $94 billion and $100 billion from a range between $96 billion and $101 billion – and for investments, to a range between $34 billion and $37 billion from a range between $34 billion and $39 billion.

Meta does not disclose revenue for WhatsApp alone, but in conjunction with Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and other services, which the company calls its family of apps (FoA). In the third quarter, the division’s revenue reached $27.4 billion, down 3.5 percent from a year earlier.

The company’s total revenue in the third quarter amounted to $27.7 billion, 4.5% lower than the result presented a year earlier. The net income of $4.4 billion meant a 52% drop in the same period.

*By Daniela Braun — São Paulo

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com/