Facebook Debuts Shops In Its Mobile App, Instagram Expands Checkout Feature

Facebook rolled out a shopping section ‘Facebook Shops’ to its main app across the U.S and expanded Instagram’s checkout feature.

The new section Facebook Shops allows users to browse product catalogs from businesses they like, discover new businesses and make purchases, all-in-one place, and without leaving the app. A similar feature ‘ Instagram Shops’ was introduced on its photo-sharing app last month.   

The news follows the launch of Facebook Shops in May and on Tuesday it announced a couple of new e-commerce features within its flagship mobile app and Instagram. Businesses were already able to add product catalogs to their Facebook pages but there was no dedicated section inside the app for browsing the selections. 

The company explained the rapid shift toward online shopping as a reason to foray into eCommerce.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, the shift to online shopping has rapidly accelerated, with an estimated 85% of people worldwide now shopping online.

We want to make shopping easier for people and empower anyone, from an entrepreneur to the largest brand, to use our apps to connect with customers and grow their business.”

Here are the details that will help people to shop on the apps and tools to help businesses sell online.

Shop Till You Drop!

A new ‘Shop’ tab is introduced in the mobile app where businesses can showcase their products and customers can shop them in the app.

“Facebook Shop makes it easy for people to find products from businesses they love, discover new ones and make purchases, all in one place.”

It’s a significant step for Facebook’s eCommerce push, helping users to browse and purchase from shop-enabled Pages directly in the app. Presently, being tested in the US but Facebook said in the coming weeks it will be available to all eligible businesses. 

 

New customization features will also be added to Facebook Shops that includes:

• New design layouts for featuring single products or groups of products in Shops
• Real-time preview of collections as they are designed
• The ability to automatically create Shops for new sellers
• New insights to measure results in Commerce Manager

Expanding Instagram CheckOut

Checkout allows users to pay for items directly inside the app and will soon be available to all businesses in the U.S after keeping the feature exclusive to certain partners for almost 18 months. Though there is a limitation,

To use checkout, businesses must have Shops and use Facebook Commerce Manager or our partners Shopify and BigCommerce. We’ll support more platform partners soon.

It will also provide an incentive by waiving the selling fees for businesses through the end of the year due to the current economic crisis.

Shop Using Messaging

Facebook added a new message option to the shop in order to connect the customers directly to the seller through Messenger, WhatsApp, or Instagram Direct.

“Messaging through Shops combines the in-store experience of being able to ask a salesperson questions with the convenience of online shopping.”

Customers can view the products in the chat and can easily share with friends and family for feedback before any purchase. This feature is now being tested on Messenger and Instagram Direct and will start testing on WhatsApp soon.

This will definitely boost Facebook’s dominant presence in messaging with its eCommerce capacity, providing compelling business opportunities as people are regular users of these messaging apps.

Live Facebook and Instagram Shopping 

Another promotional option is Facebook and Instagram live shopping. This means businesses can sell products during a live stream. 

“Facebook Live Shopping includes new features to help businesses easily set up a live experience featuring products from their Shop and sell directly from the video.”

Instagram Live Shopping is available to all businesses and creators using checkout in the US.

Video is the most engaging type of content and during the lockdown during the pandemic, the viewership of Facebook live streams had risen 50% since January as people looked for various ways to stay connected and entertained. 

The global lockdown has provided a significant opportunity to Facebook’s eCommerce business as more people shifted to online shopping. The social network will soon become an essential part of our day-to-day lives as it prepares to build a commerce eco-system within its own network.