Published 17:14 IST, August 26th 2020
Facebook unveils new shopping tab; Instagram waives checkout fee for a year
Facebook unveils Facebook shop, similar to Instagram shop on its Apps to make a smooth and efficient experience for its users as well as sellers.
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Earlier in May, there was an announcement by Facebook about the capacity of the merchants to be able to create shops that can be visited on Facebook and Instagram. Instagram recently revamped its shopping section for users to view the products by their favourite brands, celebrities, influencers, etc. Facebook is now looking forward to bringing a similar experience for its Facebook shopping tab.
Facebook sets up shop
The Facebook shop will be different from the Facebook market place, which is designed to work peer to peer. The Facebook shopping tab will take inspiration from the Instagram shop to create a shopping experience where users can browse products by varied businesses. Facebook's goal for this venture is to create something unique to the Facebook app and Facebook community. Facebook is also planning to announce quite a few to tools to run businesses that include new design, previewing collections in real-time, new sellers can create their shops and new data on commerce manager also an easier way for the customers to connect to the sellers by messaging through Messenger, WhatsApp or Instagram Direct.
Facebook's plan of action
Facebook aims to make selling online easy, by giving the ability to sell from anywhere in the world. It's looking to provide customisable collections to showcase featured products, a singular shopping experience across its applications, and design features and creative tools to help get the brand to life. Facebook wants to help the seller by helping them design their shop, help them to increase their reach by sponsored ads, drive discovery on their well-established social media platforms and help sellers and consumers communicate more easily through their diverse messaging platforms.
Facebook has made customising shops easy and free. It provides options for the seller to manage their catalogue across Facebook and Instagram, helps the seller set up Commerce manager to manage their transactions, build huge collections with six to thirty products customising it with photos and names for the collections that attract consumers. It also helps to visually design the shop according to the sellers' taste and type of business and it provides valuable insights and statistics to help each and every business.
Image source: Facebook.com
Image source: Facebook.com
Image source: Facebook.com
Instagram Waives Checkout Fee
Instagram Shopping feature called Instagram Check out is set to roll out soon in the United States and this will help consumers to buy their products directly from the business provided they are an authentic, verified business. These transactions will be managed either through Facebook's Commerce manager or new collaborations in the future. Instagram plans to waive its selling fee throughout the year to reduce the already intense pressure created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Instagram also has a live shopping feature in testing where consumers can buy the products they have browsed on a brand or a creator's live feed. Instagram has already rolled out this feature for users in the United States.
Image source: Facebook.com
Image source: Facebook.com
Is the E-commerce race on?
The world has seen such a heavy spike in the growth of e-commerce post the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier in May Facebook launched saying, "Right now many small businesses are struggling, and with stores closing, more are looking to bring their business online. Our goal is to make shopping seamless and empower anyone from a small business owner to a global brand to use our apps to connect with customers. That's why we're launching Facebook Shops and investing in features across our apps that inspire people to shop and make buying and selling online easier".
Promo image source: Facebook.com
17:14 IST, August 26th 2020