By DC Correspondent

Copyright deccanchronicle

Mumbai: Reinforcing its commitment to empowering businesses of all sizes in establishing their presence, building better and delightful customer experiences, and growing their businesses, WhatsApp showcased a suite of tools and enhanced features at its second annual Business Summit in Mumbai designed to foster deeper customer connections, streamline operations, and drive performance for businesses of all sizes leveraging WhatsApp Business. Payments on WhatsApp Business App Building on its existing capabilities, WhatsApp is now introducing the ability for small businesses to offer a secure and convenient payment option directly within the WhatsApp Business app. Available on the app, small businesses can now quickly share QR codes in one tap for fast and efficient sales closures, enabling customers to pay directly within WhatsApp using their preferred payment method. In-app Calling + Business AI for scaled customer support* WhatsApp has introduced a new feature enabling users to call larger businesses directly from the app with a single tap, or receive calls from businesses they’ve requested to hear from. This calling capability is particularly beneficial for times when people have a complex inquiry and need to speak to a customer support executive. This feature is available to all businesses on the WhatsApp Business Platform in India, and starting soon, WhatsApp will also make it possible to send and receive voice messages for additional support or make a video call, which can be helpful for things like a telehealth appointment. Bringing these updates to the WhatsApp Business Platform will help people communicate in a way that works best for them. Businesses are also implementing Business AI to offer scaled customer support* where a customer can get their queries solved while talking to an AI assistant using the Voice calling feature. Centralized Campaigns in Ads Manager Businesses in India can now create and manage their marketing strategy across WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram – all in Ads Manager. This will allow businesses to use the same creative, setup flows, and budgets in one central place. Once onboarded, businesses can upload their subscriber list and either manually select marketing messages as an additional placement or use Advantage+, and Meta’s AI systems will then optimize budgets across placements to maximize performance. Helping people find more businesses and channels on the Status tab The WhatsApp Updates tab is used by 1.5 billion people globally every day and WhatsApp is creating ways for businesses and creators to grow here through ads in Status, promoted channels, and Channels subscriptions. Brands like Maruti Suzuki, Air India, and Flipkart are using ads in Status, and people in India who use Updates will start to see these soon. Popular channels like Jio Hotstar have also started using the promoted channels feature. These features are rolling out slowly over the next few months, and are all away from your WhatsApp chats and inbox. WhatsApp also showcased how Maruti Suzuki is using ads in Status to drive discoverability of the brand and its products. Bhuvan Dheer, Executive Director, Marketing, MSIL said “We have been using WhatsApp extensively for driving business growth. Ads on WhatsApp Status will further help us drive discovery and sales of our products and services.” “WhatsApp’s new Ads in status offering aligns with Air India’s vision of digital-first transformation, where advertising is not just about visibility, but about fostering real-time connections and elevating customer journeys through intuitive, technology-led touchpoints. It has the potential to create seamless pathways for immediate customer engagement, bookings, and support. Allowing us to deliver tailored travel experiences directly within customers’ daily interactions.” said, Sunil Suresh, Chief Marketing Officer, Air India Limited. Simultaneously using WhatsApp Business App and WhatsApp Business Platform for Small Business Small businesses can now use both the WhatsApp Business App and the WhatsApp Business Platform simultaneously without changing their phone number. If a business is expecting a surge in customer messages on WhatsApp from the marketing campaigns (like CTWA) or if they want to enable automation they can use the WhatsApp Business Platform (API), while they can continue to use the WhatsApp Business App for day-to-day interactions like group chats, calls, and Status updates. This provides significant flexibility and scalability for businesses that are scaling and growing at a faster pace. Enabling easy access to citizen services for the people Messaging has become integral to how people and businesses interact in India, with 91% of online adults in India chatting with businesses weekly (Kantar 2025 report). WhatsApp’s ease and simplicity have made it a preferred choice not only for people and businesses but also for government agencies and bodies across the states. Arun Srinivas,…