Facebook-Acquired WhatsApp May Start Receiving Direct Messages From Businesses Regarding Customer Services And Inquiries! Is Business-To-Consumer Chat A Good Idea For The Popular IM?

Facebook may soon allow businesses to directly communicate with WhatsApp users regarding inquiries, customer services and other requirements.

Facebook's instant messaging app for smartphones, WhatsApp surpassed a staggering 800 million monthly active users just last month, after crossing 700 million active users in January. Now, the popular social networking service is considering to allow businesses to send messages to WhatsApp users in a bid to recover the original investment of $22 billion Mark Zuckerberg spent to acquire WhatsApp back in February last year.

In the first six month, WhatsApp could only generate $16 million in revenue as several users want to avoid paying the annual fee of $0.99, according to records on Ordoh.

The move to enable Business to Consumer Messaging comes in the wake of Facebook's effort to grab every opportunity to leverage WhatsApp.

Zuckerberg wants WhatsApp to hit 1 billion users in order to contribute to its bottom-line, and analyst expect the popular IM to hit that mark by the end of 2015. That being said, Facebook took over eight years to hit the 1 billion users mark.

The big challenge the social networking giant is currently facing is monetizing Whatsapp. The app reported over $16 million in revenues during the first half last year, making a net loss of $232.5 million. The huge net loss was as a result of the $206.5 million loss incurred due to the share-based compensation expenses and common stocks issued at below fair value.

The free-to-download app charges a $0.99 subscription fee after the first year.

CFO of Facebook, David Wehner, said, "We think that enabling that B2C [business-to-consumer] messaging has good business potential for us."

Wehner added that Facebook learns from enabling the feature on Messenger, there could be a chance for the messaging tool to be brought to WhatsApp, along with other things. That being said, Wehner noted that the timeframe for such moves is more long term, TechTimes noted.

Mark Zuckerberg demonstrated the feature earlier this year, showing how users can see ads for certain products then pay for the said item through Messenger. Along with any required follow-up service from the company, the customers will then receive the receipt via the B2C tool.