With more and more consumers embracing digital commerce due to the pandemic, Facebook has joined the e-commerce space officially with the launch of Facebook Shops. Facebook Shops allow businesses to set up an online store for customers to browse through products on both Facebook and Instagram.
What does this mean for businesses?
- Facebook Shops is free to use and set up
- Connect your eCommerce Platform, such as Shopify, BigCommerce, Feednomics, etc, on Facebook
- Import your Product Catalog into your Facebook Business Manager
- Transactions that utilize native checkout have a 5% selling fee
- Users can purchase your products within Facebook without having to leave the platform
- A streamlined checkout process will reduce the rate of cart abandons and increase conversions
- Improve the user’s shopping experience
- Users can reach out to businesses through WhatsApp, Messenger, or Instagram Direct to ask questions, get support, and track deliveries
- Users can discover your Facebook & Instagram Shop through Profile CTA, Stories, Product Tagging
- Coming Soon: Discover through Ads & Live Shopping
- More data for advertisers to utilize as the transactions are occurring within the Facebook platform
- Businesses can incorporate loyalty programs to the Facebook platform and allow users to accumulate points and rewards through Facebook Shops
How does this differ from Instagram Shopping?
Instagram Shopping allows businesses to feature products through their organic feed and Stories and can be discovered through Instagram’s Search & Explore. When users tap on a product tag via Instagram Shopping, users are able to see the product image, a description of the product, and how much the product costs. There is also an outbound link that leads directly to the businesses’ website where users can purchase the product. The product has quickly taken off with over 130 million users per month and an estimated $10 billion in revenue per year. With the added reach of Facebook and the more streamlined user flow, Facebook Shops is likely to quickly surpass these numbers.
Unlike Instagram Shopping, Facebook Shops allow users to complete their purchase within the Facebook platform and allow businesses to set up a native customizable storefront whereas Instagram Shopping only allows the tagging of specific products within their organic posts or Stories.
If you have any questions – or would like to learn more, please reach out to [email protected]
– Samantha Ha – Senior Yield Analyst at Direct Agents