Facebook Inc (FB) Expands Shopping Options On Facebook Pages, Adds 'Buy' Button
Facebook may be the new home to your online shopping. The massive social network (NASDAQ: FB) has added a shopping experience, with product pages and instant check-out within Facebook, to some business's pages.
Now on Facebook Pages, a new "Shop" tab will appear below the top "About" section on mobile. The test phase includes over 10 partners in the commerce business, a Facebook spokesperson told BuzzFeed. Facebook would not disclose which companies are involved so far.
The pages include "buy" buttons -- an online tool that lets shopper instantly check out from within Facebook, instead of being directed to a third-party site. Several other online networks have been experimenting with "buy" buttons. Google released its "buy" button on mobile search ads, a feature called Purchases on Google. Pinterest, the online virtual board last valued at $11 billion, also released its buyable pins feature in June as an entry into advertsing
"A lot of ads really suck. They’re really ugly," Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann told Fortune at the magazine's Brainstorm Tech conference earlier this week. "They detract from the experience. You want Promoted Pins to feel like the ideas you want to make your own.”
Facebook began testing a "buy" button in July 2014, nearly a year to the date. The option allows businesses on Facebook to purchase ads that would include this direct purchasing method. These advertisements are often seen for mobile games and other apps.
But Facebook's new testing would allow companies to host more of their retail options within the social network, rather than directing to the company's own site. BuzzFeed likened the program to Facebook's Instant Articles, where media outlets are uploading their content directly to Facebook.
For now, Facebook does not take a percentage of the sales made through its site, unlike other networks' shopping experiences, BuzzFeed reports. Facebook users cannot search for products such as "shop for shoes," like you would on Amazon or Google.
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.