FACEBOOK SHOPS LAUNCH | INTRODUCING FACEBOOK SHOPS | MARK ZUCKERBERG ANNOUNCES FACEBOOK SHOPS
#FACEBOOKSHOPS #INSTAGRAMSHOPS #FACEBOOKLAUNCHESSHOPS
Facebook announced on Tuesday it is launching Shops, a service that will allow businesses to display and sell products on its platforms. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, is positioning Shops as a tool for small businesses, many of which have had to close their doors and move online due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Businesses will be able to sell to customers through Shops, potentially posing a challenge to commerce rivals such as Amazon
A major new push into e-commerce will bring an Instagram shopping tab, shoppable live streams, and more
The shops, which will be powered by third-party services, including Shopify, BigCommerce, and Woo, are designed to turn the social network into a top-tier shopping destination.
In a live stream, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said expanded e-commerce would be important to begin rebuilding the economy while the pandemic continues. “If you can’t physically open your store or restaurant, you can still take orders online and ship them to people,” he said. “We’re seeing a lot of small businesses that never had online businesses get online for the first time.”
Facebook currently allows sales on the platform through Marketplace, which was launched in 2016 and allows users to sell personal belongings to each other, much like Craigslist. Shops will be aimed primarily at businesses, allowing them to sell to customers on the app and potentially posing a challenge to commerce rivals such as Etsy and Amazon, which have profited from the increased online sales that have come with Covid-19 lockdowns.
The move to build up e-commerce offerings follows Facebook’s launch last year of limited shopping options on the photo-sharing app Instagram and the messaging app WhatsApp. Facebook also announced its now-struggling digital currency project Libra in 2019, which could be used for in-app purchases.
Facebook Shops will tie at least some of those efforts together, enabling businesses to set up a single online store accessible via both Facebook and Instagram. A checkout feature will enable in-app purchases.
“Our goal is to make shopping seamless and empower anyone from a small business owner to a global brand to use our apps to connect with customers,” Zuckerberg said in a video announcing the new product.
As with Facebook’s other e-commerce features, Shops will be free for businesses to access, with the expectation that the tool will boost consumer engagement and ad sales.
“Our business model here is ads,” Zuckerberg said. “So rather than charge businesses for Shops, we know that Shops are valuable for businesses. They’re going to in general bid more for ads and we’ll eventually make money that way.”
Facebook is also rolling out a tool to connect loyalty programs and a shopping feature showing product tags underneath live videos, allowing viewers to make purchases directly while watching.
Facebook Shops will be available in some locations starting on Tuesday and roll out globally over the coming months.
While Shops are free to create, they could create significant new business opportunities for Facebook in advertising, payments, and other services. Businesses will be able to buy ads for their Shops, and when people use Facebook’s checkout option, it charges them a fee.
Shops will improve on the standard web commerce experience by storing users’ payment credentials in a single place that they can then use on any Facebook or Instagram storefront. There are currently more than 160 million small businesses using the company’s apps.
Shops can be found on businesses’ Facebook pages and Instagram profiles, and they can also appear in stories or be promoted in ads. Items that businesses have made available for purchase will appear within the shop, and users can either save items or place an order. (Some businesses enable users to make purchases directly on Facebook, while others will take you to the business’s website to complete the transaction.)