Facebook has announced that it will start charging companies for usingWhatsapp Business. The company will be adding hosting, shopping featuresand pricing tiers to WhatsApp Business.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses now require faster and moreefficient ways to communicate with their customers and make sales. Whatsapphas been a convenient resource during this time with around 50 millionbusinesses and 175 million people interacting with a WhatsApp Businessaccount every day.

Facebook announced the news in a short blog postlink,describing the three major additions to WhatsApp.

In-chat Shopping

Facebook plans to expand the ways in which people can check out availableproducts or make a purchase right from their WhatsApp chat. It hopes tomake it easier for businesses to integrate these features into theirexisting commerce and customer solutions. The aim is to support smallbusinesses who have been affected the most during this pandemic.

One recent development was the addition of QR codes and the ability toshare catalog links in chats.

Facebook Hosting Services

Facebook plans on expanding partnerships with business solution providersto improve business communications, especially during the pandemic whenremote work requirements have increased. It plans on providing a new optionfor businesses to manage their WhatsApp messages via hosting services thatFacebook plans to offer.

According to the WhatsApp blog post, “providing this option will make iteasier for small and medium size businesses to get started, sell products,keep their inventory up to date, and quickly respond to messages theyreceive – wherever their employees are.