To enable small businesses with AI-powered customer support directly into the WhatsApp Business app, we’ve launched Business AI in India. Available in all native languages in India, this feature enables eligible businesses to respond to customer queries 24/7, capture leads, book appointments, and drive sales — without needing any additional tools or platforms.

Making Every Customer Conversation Count

Business AI on WhatsApp can be customized based on the business’s own information, allowing them to automate responses to frequently asked questions and assist customers with queries related to products and services, pricing, discounts, shipping and more. Starting soon, we will also introduce the ability for Business AI to facilitate payments directly within a WhatsApp chat using UPI.  When there is a more complex query or a specific need that needs to be addressed, a business owner can take over the conversation from the AI agent. Over the coming weeks, Business AI will be available for all eligible businesses to use on the WhatsApp Business app. 

According to a Kantar study (2025), 91% of online adults in India chat with a business on a weekly basis, making messaging the preferred way for Indians to interact with businesses, and WhatsApp is central to that connection between businesses and their customers. Business AI on WhatsApp gives small business owners the tools to be available, responsive, and competitive — at any hour of the day.

“Small businesses are the backbone of India’s economy, and we deeply understand the value of every customer conversation for them. Over the years, we’ve consistently heard that managing high volumes of customer queries with limited resources remains one of the biggest challenges for small businesses. This is where we believe that AI can be a game-changer for them. With the introduction of Business AI on WhatsApp, we’re now putting that power directly into the hands of small businesses — ensuring they never miss a customer query outside business hours or struggle to keep up during peak demand.” – Ravi Garg, Director Business Messaging, Meta India

Small Businesses Already Seeing Early Results

Small businesses across India who have integrated Business AI on WhatsApp Business app are already seeing the impact of Business AI in transforming how they connect with customers and drive growth.

Soil Concept, a 100% plant-based personal care brand, was losing potential customers when queries came in outside business hours. Whereas, The Purple Sunset, a customized gifting business specializing in personalized hampers, was struggling to manage 60-70 daily customer queries alongside other business operations. Both these businesses were part of the select business

“We were losing leads that came in late at night, and now with 24/7 support, our conversion rate has skyrocketed to 80-90%. Setting up Business AI on WhatsApp was incredibly simple — no coding, no complex third-party software. I just uploaded our product catalog and documents, and the AI learned the details and tone of my business. It’s been a game-changer in helping us manage and grow our customer base to over 15,000 customers.” – Tuba Siddiqui, Co-founder, Soil Concept said

“To my surprise, it was an easy process — within a few hours, Business AI learned everything about my business and was able to reply to customers on my behalf, exactly how I would. It’s helped me close 6-7 orders daily directly through queries handled by the AI, and I’ve seen a 40% increase in sales with the potential to grow even further.” – Gunveen Kaur, Founder, The Purple Sunset said

At this time, Indian small and medium-sized businesses must meet certain criteria to be eligible for Business AI and use the WhatsApp Business app. To learn more about business AI on WhatsApp and get started, businesses can visit https://www.facebook.com/business/ai/business-ai/whatsapp.

How to use and set up Business AI

Eligible businesses using the WhatsApp Business app can get started by going to the Tools tab and selecting ‘Your Business AI’, where they can follow a few guided steps to set up the feature.

Once enabled, Business AI on WhatsApp can immediately begin assisting with customer conversations by answering questions, recommending products, sharing key business information based on what the business has already added to their profile and catalog, and help close the sale.

Businesses remain in control at all times — they can step in to respond to customers directly whenever needed, adjust how Business AI on WhatsApp works, or turn the feature off entirely. 

For more information on how to set up your Business AI, visit the Help Center.

The post Introducing Business AI on WhatsApp for Small Businesses in India appeared first on Meta Newsroom.

India’s e-commerce landscape is undergoing a fundamental shift – driven by advances in AI, video-first discovery, and conversational messaging. The traditional search-and-transact model is giving way to a dynamic, scroll-led discovery ecosystem that is transforming how people shop across the country including in tier-2 & 3 geographies.

At the 2026 Meta Marketing Summit E-Commerce edition, held across Bangalore and Mumbai, and attended by e-commerce leaders from across the country, the message was unmistakable: the future of shopping isn’t typed into a search bar – it’s found in a scroll, sparked by a creator, closed on a messaging surface, and beneath it all powered by AI. 

“India has no off-season for shopping anymore. Quick commerce and micro-festive moments have turned shopping into a permanent state – not an event, but a reflex. The journey has shifted from search-and-buy to discover-and-feel, driven by AI recommendations, short-form video, and conversational messaging. For brands, the mandate is simple: if you are not always on, you are already behind. With AI-powered tools and products such as Partnership Ads, GenAI-powered creative, and shoppable Reels, we’re helping businesses of all sizes turn that moment of inspiration into a transaction – faster, smarter, and at scale.” – Meghna Apparao, Director, E-commerce & Retail, Meta (India)

AI: The New Shopping Engine

AI is now the growth engine behind modern e-commerce marketing – improving relevance, automation, and measurable performance across discovery through conversion. With Instagram and Facebook emerging as the leading destination of product and brand discovery for Indian shoppers, our goal is to continuously launch new tools to enable brands to create more effective campaigns.

Just a few weeks ago, Meta launched new ways for AI to guide the shopping experience. 

• Marketers can now upload an image or video as their featured creative, and Meta’s AI will automatically include products from a brand catalog as a carousel if it’s likely to improve performance. 
• We are also beginning to explore the ability to create UGC-style videos with avatars and voiceovers alongside the studio-style generation that was introduced last year. The aim, with this feature, is to make it easier to produce video ads with engaging storytelling across a variety of campaign needs.
• Generative AI voiceover translation capabilities are also now available for more advertisers, and we are introducing translations for text in image overlays making it easier for businesses to connect with people in their preferred language.

We have recently announced that we’re expanding the beta availability of Meta AI Business Assistant to advertisers and agencies. Meta AI business assistant lives directly within the tools advertisers already use – including Ads Manager, Meta Business Suite, and Business Support Home – so there’s no extra tab to manage and no learning curve. Additionally, we also recently announced Meta Ads AI Connectors in open beta – built for businesses of all sizes across regions to create, manage, and analyze campaigns directly in the third-party AI tools they already use.

The Videofication of Indian Shopping

Short-form video is making shopping come alive for millions of shoppers across India emerging as one of the most potent forces reshaping how consumers discover, evaluate, and purchase products. What once took days of deliberation — searching, comparing, convincing — now takes seconds on the back of Reels and creator-led content. 

“Adopting Catalog Product Video as a business-as-usual strategy has embedded video-led discovery into our always-on media approach, driving approximately 20% higher efficiency. We are now set to test GenCPV to scale videofication across our entire catalog.” – Arpan Biswas, Chief Marketing Officer, Ajio

As per a Meta-commissioned IPSOS study:

• Reels across Meta platforms emerged as India’s leading short-form video platform with 92% of users preferring it over other formats that were surveyed.
• Instagram Reels saw 33% higher engagement for creators compared to other surveyed platforms.
• Meta also emerged as the leading platform for brand discovery, with 80% of Indians discovering new brands on its platforms.

“While we have historically used third-party tools to create Catalog Product Video templates, we are now excited to test the GENCPV templates available on Meta to further enhance our video-first discovery.” – Khushboo Baderiya, Director, Performance Marketing, MarTech, Myntra

“Reliance Digital has embraced a Reels-forward strategy, leveraging it to drive brand awareness and business outcomes on Meta. Central to this is our collaboration with regional creators on Meta, enabling authentic connections that resonate with diverse communities, delivering stronger engagement and measurable impact, making Meta an important pillar in our marketing strategy.” – Manoj Jain, CMO Reliance Digital

Leading marketplaces are leaning into this videofication, partnering with creators to add credibility and context, making products feel more relatable and seamlessly moving shoppers from inspiration to consideration.

We recently announced new tools to help creators tag, earn and grow:

• Now creators can create shoppable moments of discovery by sharing products from a brand’s catalog or through product links directly in their Reels.
• Additionally, we have also announced that it is expanding Reels Trending Ads inventory by adding new trending content categories, including TV & Movies, Travel, Business, Finance & Investments, giving more opportunities for advertisers to place their brand alongside the most culturally relevant Reels when people are most engaged. 

“Embracing Dynamic Media has allowed us to let machine learning decide whether to serve a video or an image based on individual customer responsiveness, ensuring our creatives are always delivered in the most engaging and efficient format.” – Mahesh Nallapati, AVP Strategy, Shein

From chat to checkout

Bridging the gap between discovery and transaction is the rapid ascent of paid messaging, particularly WhatsApp, which is evolving into an end-to-end commerce platform. With 72% of product discovery now happening on WhatsApp, the platform facilitates two-way conversations that support everything from personalized recommendations to post-purchase service. 

Brands are leveraging this conversational commerce engine to run targeted campaigns, offer virtual try-on experiences, and provide high-volume transactional updates. As per a Retail Whitepaper released jointly by Meta and the Retailers Association of India (RAI), this personalized path from discovery to repeat purchase is proving highly effective, with retailers seeing a 61% average improvement in return on ad spend and a 62% increase in leads generated. Nearly 60% of users are likely to buy a product after seeing an offer on WhatsApp.

As these three macro trends—AI, videofication, and messaging—continue to converge, they are setting the stage for the next era of shopping in India. The future of Indian e-commerce is interactive, intelligent, and deeply connected, promising an exciting journey ahead for both brands and consumers as they navigate this vibrant digital marketplace.

The post From Scroll to Chat to Cart: Trends Reshaping How India Shops appeared first on Meta Newsroom.

Today, we’re introducing Instants, a new way to share photos in the moment with your Close Friends or mutual followers with just a tap. Photos you share on Instants disappear after they’ve been viewed and can’t be viewed after 24 hours. You also can’t edit your instants before sharing, so you can share authentic moments as they’re happening.

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You can capture an instant by tapping the mini pile of photos at the bottom right corner of your Instagram inbox or by opening the Instants app. From there, snap a photo in real time — no uploads from your phone’s photo gallery. You can also add a caption to your photo, but can’t make any further edits to it.

Next, choose who you want to share your Instant with — your Close Friends or followers that you follow back. Recipients can react with emojis, reply, and send instants back to you. The instants you share will show up as a pile of photos in your friends’ inboxes and disappear once they’re viewed.

The Instants app, rolling out in select countries on iOS and Android, gives you immediate access to the Instants camera — just log in with your Instagram account to get started. Instants work the same across both apps, meaning instants shared via the app will reach your friends seeing them on Instagram, too.

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• Archive: Your shared instants are saved in a private archive that only you can see for up to one year, which you can access on the top right corner of Instants. 
• Recap to Stories: Compile instants from your archive into a recap and post it to Instagram Stories for your followers. Just tap Create recap in your archive to get started. 
• No screenshots: Friends can’t screenshot or record instants you share. 
• Undo: Accidentally sent an instant? Quickly take it back before friends see it by tapping the undo button. You can also delete an instant from your archive to unsend it to friends who haven’t opened it yet.
• Snooze: Hold down the pile of instants in your inbox and swipe right to temporarily stop receiving them. Bring back instants by holding down the same spot and swiping left.

Built-In Safety and Privacy

All of the safety and privacy protections on Instagram apply to Instants. Instagram’s in-app controls like Block, Mute, and Restrict work on Instants, too, so you can limit receiving instants from specific friends. Your instants can only be seen by those you choose to share them with — your close friends or followers you follow back.  

For teens, Instants is automatically integrated with Teen Accounts and Family Center. There is no separate setup — if a parent already supervises their teen on Instagram, that supervision automatically extends to Instants. Notable protections include: 

• Shared time limits: Time spent on Instants counts toward a teen’s daily time limit on Instagram.
• Sleep Mode: Notifications are muted and access is restricted by default between 10PM and 7AM for teens.
• Safety tools: Instagram’s safety features — including block, mute, restrict, content filters, and reporting — all work on Instants.
• Parent notification: Parents of supervised teens will be notified the first time their teen downloads the Instants app. 

Instants is available globally starting today as a feature on Instagram and as an app in select countries.

The post Introducing Instants: A New Way to Share in the Moment appeared first on Meta Newsroom.

Chatting with AI has quickly become a critical part of how people get information and ask important questions. These questions can be deeply sensitive or personal, like health issues,  loan details, or career advice.

Today, we’re launching Incognito Chat with Meta AI on WhatsApp and the Meta AI app, a new way to have completely private conversations with AI. Built on top of WhatsApp’s Private Processing technology, Incognito Chat lets you talk to Meta AI in a way that is invisible to anyone else.

Other apps have introduced incognito-style modes, but they can still see the questions coming in and the answers going out. Incognito Chat with Meta AI is truly private, meaning no one — not even Meta — can read your conversations.

When you start an Incognito Chat with Meta AI on WhatsApp, you’re creating a private, temporary conversation that only you can see. Your messages are processed in a secure environment that even Meta cannot access. Your conversations are not saved and by default, your messages disappear — giving you space to ask questions and explore ideas without anyone watching.

We believe this private way of chatting has potential to be part of several ways people chat with AI on WhatsApp. In the coming months, we’ll also introduce Sidechat protected by Private Processing on WhatsApp. Side Chat with Meta AI will give you private help with any WhatsApp chat with context of what’s being discussed, without disrupting the main conversation.

Incognito Chat with Meta AI is rolling out on WhatsApp and the Meta AI app over the coming months. You can learn more about how Incognito Chat with Meta AI works here.

The post Introducing a Completely Private Way to Chat With AI appeared first on Meta Newsroom.