For years, businesses around the world have been urged to go where their customers are: online. If it was a matter of growth before, this year, having an online presence has become a matter of survival for many small businesses. Stores that relied on customers walking in have seen the influx of their customers slow to a trickle or disappear completely.
At the same time, online retailers and delivery services have seen their orders skyrocket. To help small businesses transition easier to the internet, Facebook released Shops in May. The service is meant to make shopping through Facebook seamless for the buyer and the interface easy to set up for the seller. It will allow businesses to promote their products and services through Facebook, set up a storefront, and administer their sales through it.
A unified experience
Facebook Shops will offer buyers a consistent shopping experience across Facebook and Instagram. The Shops themselves will be available from Stories on both platforms, and Pages, and the changes made will show up automatically on both.
Sellers will be able to keep in touch with their customers through WhatsApp, Instagram Direct, and Facebook Messenger – and buyers will be able to make purchases directly from these chat apps.
The service will include loyalty programs and will be able to handle payments, too, through Facebook Pay. Shops will integrate with popular platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce, allowing merchants to work through a familiar backend and a new frontend.
Free of charge
Setting up a Shop will be free of charge. Facebook will retain a commission for payments processed through its own tool, and – of course – promoting products and services through ads will cost money. Otherwise, the service will be free, and not even require “Verified” status – although the latter will offer benefits, like more in-depth insights – to the seller.
Privacy
Facebook Shops will protect the buyers’ privacy – the buyers’ accounts will be set not to share any information about their purchases on their timeline by default. Moreover, Facebook will only share the buyers’ personal information with the seller if the payment for the product or service is completed through Facebook Pay.
Live shopping
Facebook Live Shopping is a feature that will allow Facebook Shops users to tag and promote products and services directly on their Facebook and Instagram Live streams. They’ll be able to offer different products than those in the store – this will be an opportunity to offer exclusive deals and sales to those following them live.
The current situation leaves a never-before-seen number of people with little more to do than explore social media. This presents an opportunity for small businesses to reach out to them online, and this is especially important when in-person interaction with customers is limited. Facebook Shops offers a brand new way for businesses to reach out to their customers, offering familiar channels for interaction and sales.
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