WhatsApp Promises An End To Customer Service Hell

WhatsApp has been making some changes here at the beginning of July, first to the way users interact with each other at the beginning of the month and today to the way users interact with businesses on the platform. WhatsApp today announced new features that will make it easier for you to contact a business using the app, while at the same time making it easier for businesses to share products from their catalogs.

A lot of the functionality being introduced today revolves around QR codes. At the beginning of the month, WhatsApp rolled out QR codes for regular users – now, instead of adding a contact by entering their WhatsApp code, users can instead simply scan someone's QR code to add them to their contacts.

QR codes work much the same way for businesses, but the difference is that businesses can be a lot more proactive in actually getting those QR codes out there. For instance, QR codes can be displayed on a storefront or on product packaging or tags. When customers scan those QR codes, the code won't add the business to their contacts like it would another user, but rather open up a chat with the business.

Businesses have the option of sending a pre-populated message when their QR code is scanned to get the conversation going. QR codes are launching today on a worldwide scale in the WhatsApp Business app and in the WhatsApp Business API, and you can check out a guide on getting started with them over on the WhatsApp support site.

In addition to QR codes for businesses, WhatsApp now allows businesses to share their catalogs as shareable links. This works for individual items too, with the idea of course being that when customers find a product they like, they can use those links to share them with others. Like QR codes, catalog links are available for businesses around the world today.