Facebook Shops to help small businesses sell online

21 May '20

3 min read

Pic: Facebook

Facebook recently rolled out Facebook Shops and announced investing in features across its apps that inspire people to shop and make buying and selling online easier. Facebook Shops make it easy for businesses to set up a single online store for customers to access on both Facebook and Instagram. Creating a Facebook Shop is free and simple, the company said.

Businesses can choose the products they want to feature from their catalogue and then customise the look and feel of their shop with a cover image and accent colours that showcase their brand. This means any seller, no matter their size or budget, can bring its business online and connect with customers wherever and whenever it is convenient.

People can find Facebook Shops on a businesses’ Facebook page or Instagram profile, or discover them through stories or ads. From there, they can browse the full collection, save products they are interested in and place an order—either on the business’ website or without leaving the app if the business has enabled checkout in the United States, the company said.

Users can message a business through WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram Direct to ask questions, get support and track deliveries. And in the future, they can view a business’ shop and make purchases right within a chat in WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram Direct. Facebook Shops will be more widely available in the coming months.

The company is also investing in features across its apps like Instagram Shop, live shopping and more that will be integrated with Facebook Shops to help customers discover products they are interested in and make purchasing easier.

This summer, starting in the United States, it is introducing Instagram Shop, a new way to discover and buy products you love in Instagram Explore. Buyers can get inspired by collections from @shop, browse selections from their favourite brands and creators, filter by categories like beauty and home, and purchase the looks you love all in one place. And later this year, it will add a new shop tab in the navigation bar, so that users can get to Instagram Shop in just one tap.

The company is also testing ways to make it easier to earn rewards with businesses buyers love by enabling people to connect their loyalty programmes, like the points programme at their local cafe, to their Facebook account. They can easily see and keep track of their points and rewards.

Facebook is exploring ways to help small businesses create, manage and surface a loyalty programme on Facebook Shops. The company is also working closely with partners like Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, ChannelAdvisor, CedCommerce, Cafe24, Tienda Nube and Feedonomics to give small businesses the support they need.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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