Priyanka Tiwari
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Suspense crime, Digital Desk : In a fascinating revelation that underscores India's pivotal role in shaping global digital trends, Nikila Srinivasan, Vice President of Meta's Business Messaging, has shared how the unique and inventive ways Indian businesses use WhatsApp are directly influencing the development of new features and products for the platform worldwide. Far from just being a large market, India is proving to be a living laboratory where Meta is learning how to "productize" – or build scalable features from – real-world business behaviors.
This means that the ingenious methods small and large businesses across India employ to connect with customers, manage sales, provide support, and even handle logistics through WhatsApp are not just localized quirks. Instead, they are being closely observed, analyzed, and then transformed into standardized, powerful tools that Meta can roll out to businesses on WhatsApp globally. India's highly engaged user base and the entrepreneurial spirit of its businesses are effectively showing Meta how to unlock new revenue streams and enhance the functionality of its messaging platform.
For instance, the seamless adoption of payment solutions like UPI within WhatsApp in India, or the creative ways shops use group chats for customer service and sales announcements, are providing Meta with invaluable insights. These organic behaviors are demonstrating the practical needs of businesses that are often overlooked in traditional app development. By observing how Indian businesses naturally leverage WhatsApp for everything from order placement and delivery updates to personalized customer interaction, Meta is gaining a deep understanding of what truly drives business engagement in a mobile-first economy.
Srinivasan's comments highlight a significant strategic shift: rather than Meta simply pushing features out to markets, India's dynamic business ecosystem is actively contributing to the evolution of WhatsApp Business. This collaborative learning process is not only crucial for Meta's growth in emerging markets but also positions India as a key innovator in the future of conversational commerce and digital business solutions on a global scale. The next big WhatsApp Business feature you see might just have been born out of an Indian small business's ingenious workaround.
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