Facebook Shops rolled out in the U.S. in May 2020. The feature was aimed at allowing businesses to create free storefronts on Facebook and Instagram, reach more customers, and make sales directly on the platforms.
Their goal was to take on e-commerce giants like Amazon and eBay by giving businesses an easy and free way to sell products directly to Facebook’s billions of users.
With Shops, businesses can create a customizable online store that appears as a tab on their Facebook Page. The storefronts feature photos and descriptions of products for sale, and customers can tap to purchase items. Businesses can manage their Shops from Facebook Business Suite and automatically sync products with their Instagram shops.
Facebook sees Shops as a major opportunity to generate more ad revenue from businesses that sell through the platform. The company is not taking a cut of sales at this time, but that could change in the future.
There were early adopters in the U.S. like Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, Sephora, and Coach, and now Facebook is rolling out the feature to more countries – 21 as of today.
So. Should you implement it for your e-commerce business?
It’s still early for Facebook Shops, so there aren’t definitive metrics on its popularity yet. However, here are some data points and considerations regarding adoption so far:
Facebook says over 1 million businesses have created Facebook Shops since the feature launched in May 2020. However, that number includes businesses that may have created a Shop but not actively using it for sales.
Facebook has not released any sales data for Shops or metrics on how many customers are using the feature to browse and buy products. The lack of concrete data suggests that actual usage and sales through Shops may be limited.
Large brands with an existing e-commerce market share could experience more success. But even for them, Facebook Shops may be just another sales channel to manage rather than a primary revenue source.
Facebook will likely need to improve the Shops experience, integrate more payment options, and offer more incentives for businesses and customers to drive more meaningful adoption and usage of the Shops feature as time goes by.
Have any of you tried it yet for your business or a client’s store?
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