WhatsApp is slowly but surely adding new features aimed at getting people to spend more time on the chat app Most recently, a shopping button was added to WhatsApp in time for Black Friday

And now, with December holiday shopping in full swing, the messaging platform is adding another shopping cart for shoppers

Shopping carts are designed to make it simpler for customers to stack multiple items they plan to purchase from a particular company within WhatsApp The shopping cart is also designed to provide an easier way for businesses to track orders and manage requests for more information about products [This new feature was added after WhatsApp tested the shopping cart with some businesses and received positive feedback

This is part of WhatsApp's efforts to further improve the shopping experience for users: when you try to purchase an item, such as a restaurant, on the WhatsApp app, an option to add the item to your cart will pop up The order can then be submitted to the merchant for the next step Once the order has been submitted, a message can be sent to the business to ask questions if necessary

To try out the shopping cart, go to the WhatsApp business account you wish to purchase from Browse the app's catalog and select the items you wish to purchase You can add the item to your cart

WhatsApp is releasing this feature incrementally, so not all users will have access to this feature

You can edit the items in your cart and change the quantity of items you have added The order is not confirmed until the seller confirms it Additionally, there is still an easy way to ask about multiple questions in the catalog Simply add the item to the cart and send a message of inquiry at the same time

In addition to messaging, WhatsApp has taken a number of steps to ensure its success as a commerce platform In addition to the aforementioned shopping-only buttons, WhatsApp offers catalogs during chats, QR code scanning, and even free storage for messages sent to businesses In countries such as India, WhatsApp's largest user market, commerce on the app has a huge response

WhatsApp still has a lot to learn before it can transform itself into a full-fledged shopping app; WhatsApp is still struggling to add payment functionality, but once that is resolved, the chat app could be an interesting competitor to other retail platforms Stay tuned for updates that expand WhatsApp's capabilities