In an obvious bid to capitalize on the increase in online shopping in the Covid-19 world, Facebook has launched updates to its shopping experience for both Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook Shop is a new place to discover businesses and shop for products in the Facebook app, while Instagram is opening up its Checkout and Live Shopping features to all sellers in the US.
In the new section of the app, consumers can find products from their favorite businesses, discover new places to shop, and make purchases, all in the same place. Businesses, for their part, can add shopping catalogs to their Facebook pages.
"Today we’re introducing Facebook Shop, a new place to discover businesses and shop for products in the Facebook app. Facebook Shop makes it easy for people to find products from businesses they love, discover new ones and make purchases, all in one place. We just started testing this in the US and we launched a complementary shopping destination on Instagram in July, called Instagram Shop, where people can discover and buy products from creators and brands, all in one place," Facebook said in an announcement.
It may be recalled Facebook launched its "Shops service" (not to be confused with Shop) earlier this year as part of its effort to help businesses set up online stores accessible on both Facebook and Instagram.
"We launched Shops in May, and in the coming weeks, we’re making it available to any eligible business and adding customization features, messaging and new insights to help businesses measure results. We’re also expanding checkout on Instagram to all US businesses and creators," Facebook said.
- Facebook unveils official music videos on its platform in India
- Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp may get cross-chat support
- Facebook starts alerting users when they share old news
Instagram checkout expanded
Facebook is announcing these new features to give businesses more control over how their digital storefront looks and make creating new collections easier.
The changes 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.
Meanwhile, soon all eligible sellers in the US can start using checkout on Instagram. To use checkout, businesses must have Shops and use Facebook Commerce Manager or one of two Facebook e-commerce partners – Shopify or BigCommerce. More platform partners are to be announced soon.
Citing its concern for business amid the pandemic and resulting financial crisis, Facebook is also waiving selling fees for businesses through the end of the year. (Facebook typically takes a fee from transactions completed on its service, that is the one that is being waived off now.)
The WhatsApp and Jio angles
Facebook also talked about its plan to include a new messaging button, in order to allow businesses to connect more readily with their customers. The messaging button will utilize the Messenger app or WhatsApp to simulate the experience of shopping in a physical store.
"Customers can view products right within the chat, making it easy to share products with friends and family to get feedback before making a purchase. We’re testing this feature on Messenger and Instagram Direct now, and will start testing it on WhatsApp soon," Facebook said.
It is the WhatsApp angle that should make it interesting from an Indian perspective where Facebook (WhatsApp) is in a deal with Jio Platforms. Once these e-commerce features are extended to India, too, it will make JioMart an even bigger entity in terms of efficiency and efficacy. But these are early days yet, and it is not clear when Facebook will push these features to other markets like India.
Meanwhile, Facebook has also been testing a 'Live Shopping' feature in both Facebook and Instagram apps, where businesses will be able to easily set up a Facebook Live video to showcase their products and interact with their customers.
Source: Facebook.
- Flipkart Mobile Bonanza sale: Top offers on smartphones
