Mark Zuckerberg does not appear to be stopping with the dream of building a truly lasting business model for Facebook, Inc. From acquiring WhatsApp and Instagram, to building more on the Facebook application itself.

He appears to be up to another game. Mr. Zuckerberg has just announced more lines of innovations for his company. At the F8 Facebook Developer Conference held on April 30 — May 1, 2019.San Jose, CA., we learned the following changes are now in place.

Whatsapp Is Evolving Into A Host For Web Shops Where Consumers Can Buy and Make Payment Immediately

WhatsApp’s current business model is that apart from directly communicating with costumers, the business can also create a profile that has basic information such as hours, location, direction as well as contact information.
With Zuckerberg’s announcement, WhatsApp Business app would now see a major alteration, with a feature called, Product Catalogs. The Product Catalogs will now feature fully functional online stores where customers can not only browse products now but purchase them, too.

“WhatsApp Business is also a big focus. Within a year, millions of small businesses around the world are using this to communicate privately with their customers. And now we’re launching a new feature for this: Product Catalogs, so you’re gonna be able to easily see what is available from a business. And now this is going to be especially important for all of the small businesses out there that don’t have a web presence and that are increasingly using private social platforms as their main way of interacting with their customers ” Mr Zuckerberg said.

The new payment service that will allow people to send money to each other using WhatsApp.

Since WhatsApp Business was launched last year, over five million businesses have been registered on the platform. Users could use the platform to support their customers as well as grow their businesses. WhatsApp’s currently has a total user base of 1.5 billion.

Zuckerberg Plans To Diversify Facebook’s Revenue From Advertising to eCommerce 

It seems Mark Zuckerberg is returning to his original business model: that of families and friends interacting with one another, including having private conversations, not the current chaotic order of viral videos and heavily shared public posts.
With the most recent iteration of its app, dubbed FB5, Facebook is now encouraging more communication in private groups, and is also recommending relevant groups to users. 

The shift is an effort to make “communities as central as [Facebook] friends”, Mr Zuckerberg said. 

Mr Zuckerberg also said that Facebook would remove groups that “exist primarily to violate policies”.

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Facebook also launched a Messenger desktop app. To this effect, the social network hinted that it would soon allow people to pay directly for goods they buy on Marketplace.

Mr Zuckerberg has already made it clear that he aims to introduce more eCommerce to the platform. Last week, he said users would be able to see products from businesses advertising on Facebook and Instagram, and then buy them directly through Messenger and WhatsApp.

Some experts say this is an attempt to emulate “super apps”, such as China’s WeChat, that allow users to send money, shop, and play games without having to leave their platforms. It also potentially opens up revenue streams beyond advertising. 

Facebook said at F8 that it would soon allow people to pay directly for goods they buy on Marketplace — its answer to Amazon or eBay — rather than having to organise payment privately. Mr Zuckerberg also said that Instagram users would be able to buy products directly from so-called influencers online.

“We’re going to have a lot more news in coming years,” Mr Zuckerberg said of the payments and ecommerce push.

Facebook’s ‘Secret Crush’ Will Allow Facebook Users To Select A Handful of Friends Who They Show Romantic Interests In.

Facebook’s dating service, already available in Colombia, Thailand, Canada, Argentina, and Mexico, is ready for expansion into 14 other countries across South America and Asia, according to the social media company. With the new ‘Secret Crush’ feature, a Facebook user who has deep romantic interests in other Facebook users will now be available to select a handful of those friends and they will be notified that an anonymous friend has liked them. If the other friends happen to pick the same person for their crush list, the interest will be revealed to both parties.

Indeed, Mark Zuckerberg is wading through the waters and keeping his dreams alive.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organisations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.