Facebook “Bot Store” Will Turn its Messenger App into a Personal Butler

It appears the days of using Facebook Messenger simply to chat with friends and relatives will soon be behind us.

Rumours circling the tech world are suggesting that Facebook is set to unveil a “Bot Store” for its Messenger app at the upcoming F8 developer conference in April.

The Bot Store will take Messenger from a simple chat interface and turn it into an interactive social platform, which is expected to have the same impact as the launch of Apple’s App Store in 2008.

With the forthcoming changes, Facebook users will be able to shop, book hotels, order food, and plenty more through the Messenger app.

The Independent reports Facebook users will be able to download a particular bot, which will then connect them to a variety of different shops and businesses. Users could potentially order food simply by sending a message with what they want.

The Bot Store could allow users to book movie tickets, order taxis, catch up on bank balances, and even check in for flights simply by sending a message to a “smart conversational robot”, which could eventually replace web browsers and apps.

Facebook’s aim is to turn its Messenger into an all-in-one online communications tool, similar to China’s WeChat, which has hundreds of millions of users and a number of shopping and business apps.

We can expect to learn more after the upcoming F8 conference, which will run April 12-13 in San Francisco.

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