Facebook is getting serious with payments and e-commerce as it seeks to establish itself as an all-in-one platform to businesses as well as consumers. The company’s push to e-commerce is well-timed — just when many are shifting to online shopping. Facebook says around 85% of people worldwide now shopping online.
Remember Shops?
Facebook Shops was introduced in May, providing business owners with a simple way to showcase and sell their products on Instagram and Facebook.
Shops was first added on Instagram, and now the main Facebook app is receiving a dedicated tab for that. Facebook shops is genuinely a game-changer, which lets consumers buy stuff directly without leaving the platform to the seller’s website.
Through the Shops section, the platform’s users can discover businesses and shop for products in the Facebook app.
Shops usability is enhanced with AI, which helps in categorizing products depending on the brand, colour, design, and style.
For business owners, a new set of tools for creating and managing an online store have been added. The new features include;
- New design layouts for featuring single products or groups of products in Shops
- Real-time preview of collections as they are designed
- The ability to automatically create Shops for new sellers
- New insights to measure results in Commerce Manager
Business owners will be able to set up their virtual shop only once, and users across Facebook and Instagram will access it.
Facebook is also making it easy to chat with businesses via the Shops section. A new Shops messaging button will enable customers to message businesses through Messenger, WhatsApp or Instagram Direct. Testing is already ongoing on Messenger and Instagram Direct.
As part of the company’s push into the e-commerce space, Facebook recently partnered with India’s Reliance Jio enabling customers to purchase groceries through WhatsApp.
Facebook Shops is only available in the US as per now.