WhatsApp adds shopping carts in fresh ecommerce push

WhatsApp on Tuesday added virtual shopping carts people can load with purchases and then use to fire off orders to businesses as the Facebook-owned messaging service pushed deeper into ecommerce.

More than 175 million people contact businesses via WhatsApp daily, according to the service, and the new feature is aimed at making it easier for them to use the service for holiday shopping.

“WhatsApp is fast becoming a store counter to discuss products and coordinate sales,” the service said in a blog post.

“With more and more shopping happening through chats, we want to make buying and selling even easier.”