Every other day there is news from major tech giants doing one thing for the community or the other. This time, Facebook has come up with a brilliant solution for the economic crisis that the world is currently going through due to the coronavirus pandemic.
To give a major boost to the e-commerce industry, Facebook has announced the launch of an online shopping feature, Shops. It is going to provide a free storefront for various businesses on Facebook and Instagram. In turn, big third-party services like Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce will power these shops while they convert social media platforms into online shopping stores and malls!
This is a wonderful decision by Facebook, especially in these extremely trying times. The pandemic hit the world at the end of 2019 and within two-three months, it collapsed the world economy due to the shutdowns of all types of businesses. It especially affected smaller businesses in the worst way possible. Now, Facebook wants to step forward and give these drowning businesses a chance to revive by using it as their storefront for their e-commerce and trade.
The CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg suggests that expanding e-commerce is imperative to rebuild the world economy. The repercussions of this pandemic have not left us with many choices since it is still going strong and, in many areas, businesses, retail shops, restaurants cannot open as yet. According to a survey, if the lockdown continues for another three months, many of these businesses will completely die, without ever getting a chance to grow back again.
Therefore, solutions like online food delivery by restaurants and online shopping have to be made simpler and more common in the whole world, to help build the community stronger again.
While this pandemic has done so much damage, online sales have seen growth in the otherwise bad situation. Solo entrepreneurs at Etsy have seen their revenue doubled in comparison with the past three years by selling knitted fabric face masks and baked goods. With the help of Facebook and Instagram, more local businesses will get a platform and it will also benefit Facebook.
The business model is such that it will be free to create Shops, businesses can buy ads from Facebook to further promote their products. So, through these ads, payments, checkout fees, and other ways, Facebook will get more earning opportunities too. It will be a win-win situation for both parties.
Almost 160 million small businesses are using Facebook and Instagram as their storefront currently. With Shops, there is a chance of more improvement in the e-commerce experience by storing users’ paying credentials in one place.
Shops can be promoted through Facebook and Instagram Stories or in ads, and they can be spotted on the business pages of companies and brands on both platforms. Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp will provide Customer Support, and will also show catalogs of their selling items. These items will also be available for purchase directly from the shop, or through the Facebook Shops, the user will be redirected to the company’s website. From there, the user will be able to choose and make the transaction directly. Buyers will be able to save items for later purchasing too.
In the chat windows, brands and creators can tag items from their Facebook and Instagram catalogs too, while enabling the users to tag items or make purchases through live streams also.
Facebook also plans to incorporate some loyalty programs, rewards, and points with these online shops. While Instagram is planning to display brands on its already existing shop account that highlights the items for purchase. Maybe later, they will add a special shopping tab to Instagram’s navigation bar too.
Shops have been launched on Facebook in the US already, but Instagrammers have to wait for a little while.
Read next: Instagram’s New Guides Section Can Help Users and Businesses Connect
To give a major boost to the e-commerce industry, Facebook has announced the launch of an online shopping feature, Shops. It is going to provide a free storefront for various businesses on Facebook and Instagram. In turn, big third-party services like Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce will power these shops while they convert social media platforms into online shopping stores and malls!
This is a wonderful decision by Facebook, especially in these extremely trying times. The pandemic hit the world at the end of 2019 and within two-three months, it collapsed the world economy due to the shutdowns of all types of businesses. It especially affected smaller businesses in the worst way possible. Now, Facebook wants to step forward and give these drowning businesses a chance to revive by using it as their storefront for their e-commerce and trade.
The CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg suggests that expanding e-commerce is imperative to rebuild the world economy. The repercussions of this pandemic have not left us with many choices since it is still going strong and, in many areas, businesses, retail shops, restaurants cannot open as yet. According to a survey, if the lockdown continues for another three months, many of these businesses will completely die, without ever getting a chance to grow back again.
Therefore, solutions like online food delivery by restaurants and online shopping have to be made simpler and more common in the whole world, to help build the community stronger again.
While this pandemic has done so much damage, online sales have seen growth in the otherwise bad situation. Solo entrepreneurs at Etsy have seen their revenue doubled in comparison with the past three years by selling knitted fabric face masks and baked goods. With the help of Facebook and Instagram, more local businesses will get a platform and it will also benefit Facebook.
The business model is such that it will be free to create Shops, businesses can buy ads from Facebook to further promote their products. So, through these ads, payments, checkout fees, and other ways, Facebook will get more earning opportunities too. It will be a win-win situation for both parties.
Almost 160 million small businesses are using Facebook and Instagram as their storefront currently. With Shops, there is a chance of more improvement in the e-commerce experience by storing users’ paying credentials in one place.
Today we're introducing Facebook Shops, which will make it easy for businesses to set up a single online store on both @facebookapp and @instagram, and soon @messenger and @WhatsApp too pic.twitter.com/bBloRGBFzP— Facebook (@Facebook) May 19, 2020
Shops can be promoted through Facebook and Instagram Stories or in ads, and they can be spotted on the business pages of companies and brands on both platforms. Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp will provide Customer Support, and will also show catalogs of their selling items. These items will also be available for purchase directly from the shop, or through the Facebook Shops, the user will be redirected to the company’s website. From there, the user will be able to choose and make the transaction directly. Buyers will be able to save items for later purchasing too.
In the chat windows, brands and creators can tag items from their Facebook and Instagram catalogs too, while enabling the users to tag items or make purchases through live streams also.
Facebook also plans to incorporate some loyalty programs, rewards, and points with these online shops. While Instagram is planning to display brands on its already existing shop account that highlights the items for purchase. Maybe later, they will add a special shopping tab to Instagram’s navigation bar too.
Shops have been launched on Facebook in the US already, but Instagrammers have to wait for a little while.
Read next: Instagram’s New Guides Section Can Help Users and Businesses Connect
