Facebook is rolling out new strategies to attract users and sell products on its site – and funnel in more ad revenue in the bargain. Last Friday, Facebook announced its test “buy button” feature claiming that it’s a way to help businesses drive sales. The multibillion dollar social networking site, which was launched in 2004, will soon add a ‘buy’ button to its platform for users to shop. The buy button will be available on the desktop as well mobile apps, which will allow users to buy a product easily right off the website.
According to a recent survey conducted by a leading market research firm, an adult user in the UK and the U.S., on an average spends 10% of their total time on Facebook app, as compared to 1% of time spent on Whatsapp and 7% on Instagram, respectively. The entire initiative of the buy button, thus, makes sense keeping in mind people’s attraction towards Facebook and its services.
Will planting the ‘Buy’ Button to Facebook’s platform benefit businesses and users?
Although Facebook’s still convincing its users about its ‘shop section’ within the blue-and-white walls, the introduction of the buy button is expected to keep Facebook users corralled within their fences. With the addition of the buy button, Facebook users will be able to explore, shop, and buy what they need and want in an all-in-one ecosystem.
The buy button feature is built keeping users’ privacy in mind. Facebook announced that it has taken considerable measures to help make the payment experience safe and secure. It claims that users’ debit or credit card information at the time of the transaction will not be shared with other advertisers. They have also given an option to people to select whether or not they would like to save their payment information for any future purchases.
Moreover, through Business Pages, retailers will now be able to seamlessly communicate with customers. Google’s branded retailer pages lacks this critical feature.
Facebook has had its eyes on the e-commerce market for a while. The company had been contemplating over the idea of introducing the ‘buy’ button to the Facebook ecosystem since July 2014. The company will profit abundantly if the initiative of buy button takes off successfully. Currently, the company’s key source of revenues is advertisements. The present payment process operations in the company are expected to boost the conversion rates and provide hassle-free shopping experience to all its users.
With the rapid adoption of technology and the ever-growing e-commerce market across the globe, Facebook’s timing of introducing the buy button to its platform may pay off well. Facebook will soon have a vast data reservoir with complete demographic information and purchase histories of consumers. These factors will further allow Facebook to develop intelligent marketing strategies for the future.
The ‘buy’ button is certainly materializing and becoming a game changer in the digital marketing world. Facebook doesn’t just want you to share videos, photos, socialize, and discover new things; it wants you to experience shopping on a whole new level, from product discovery to buying and checkout.
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