Update: The WhatsApp Business Profiles are already live. The below screenshot was shared by our reader, Jatin Sapra, which shows, 1mg, an online pharmacy business in India interacting with their customers on Whatsapp. You can see a Green Tick mark next to their name indicating it’s a verified business. There is also an option to stop receiving updates by replying ‘DND ON’.
Earlier: The basis for all of this is a support page titled “Verified Business Accounts”, a page that is nestled in the support website. This page explains that the messaging app will display a green checkmark against a user which means that the account belongs to a business. Apart from that WhatsApp is also readying a standalone application aimed at corporate users. As per WABetaInfo, a website that often discovers new WhatsApp feature says that the business feature is currently available only on Android. The support page says that “WhatsApp is exploring ways for you to communicate with the businesses that matter to you” and further adds that “business verification is currently limited to a small number of businesses participating in a pilot program.” However, the separate app will only be available for business partners. The app will give the business users more control and perhaps allow them to send automated messages in bulk. We are not sure if any of the WhatsApp business partners currently have access to the business app. That being said WhatsApp is yet to announce the feature formally. Facebook had bought WhatsApp for a staggering $19 billion in 2014, and the messaging app currently has a strong user base of more than 1-Billion. It’s likely that WhatsApp may also introduce a new feature that would allow enterprise users to make use of the platform as a collaborative tool. If this happens, WhatsApp can leverage the user base they already have. In a nutshell, the WhatsApp Business will open a multitude of possibility and also revenue channels.
