The past two months were challenging for most of us, and of course, some irreversible changes have happened. Our free time activities, work, business, social behaviour and even our shopping habits have changed. All these different fields made perfect conditions for the newest Facebook approach – Facebook shops. In this article, we will take a quick look at what it is and how it will work.
Facebook shops
On May 19th, 2020 Mark Zuckerberg posted a public announcement on his Facebook timeline where he introduced the “Facebook Shop” project. There he mentioned that they have been working on this project every day for a couple of months. It is a mobile-first shopping experience where you can easily create an online store on Facebook and Instagram for free.
Why Facebook shops?
The main reason to create Facebook Shops was the previous events which led many small businesses into a difficult period. Stay at home order wiped physical sales from small stores, so they needed to move their business online. Usually, it is not an easy and quick process to implement, especially if there is a lack of knowledge on how to start an online business. That is why Facebook decided to create a unique and simple way to position your business online and sell through Facebook and Instagram.
Main features
Explore products
Facebook shops will have many unique features that can’t be found on any other platform. For instance, there will be a dedicated shopping tab on Instagram and a destination inside Explore, where it will be easier to find and buy products. You can browse selections from favourite brands, creators and filter categories, such as beauty and home. This feature both helps sellers sell more efficiently and customers to find what they need in one place.
Custom store
This new platform will allow you to create a completely custom design for your store. You can accent the colours that will showcase your brand, choose which products to show, add a cover image and customize the looks. It is an easy way to set up a unique store and make it look exactly like you want it to.
Live shopping
There is a plan that soon, sellers will be able to show and sell their products using the live video feature. Now live videos are used only to showcase products, but you will also be able to use them for direct sales. Sellers will be able to tag their products from the Facebook Shop or catalogue before going live, so those products will appear at the bottom of the video. It will help customers find and purchase items from the live video more easily. This update should become available after a few months.
Tools for customer support
Convenient and straightforward communication with your customers – that’s what you get with Facebook Shops! It has integrations with WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram Direct, which allows your customers to communicate with you through these apps. Moreover, they will be able to make purchases right within a chat in WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram Direct. That simplifies your customer support and creates more accessible communication.
Connecting with other sales channels
Facebook Shops are trying to integrate with other sales channels such as Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce and others to improve sellers’ daily life even more. These connections will help entrepreneurs go online and handle e-commerce business more efficiently.
It is easy to say that this addition to Facebook will bring changes to the whole e-commerce world. As it stands right now, the changes will most likely be positive. Many new options, collaborations and easiness to the all-new e-commerce business. Maybe 2020 brought difficulties to many of us, but as an outcome, we see a lot of improvement in the online world and Facebook Shops are one of them.
