Great news for small businesses tonight as Facebook annouces they’re rolling out “Facebook Shops” as of today! This comes with Facebook’s continued effort to help businesses and community during the coronavirus pandemic across the globe, and it’s really accelerated a lot of the features they were looking to release during 2020.
We’ve actually been able to sell products on Facebook for a while, tagging items on pages and in stories etc. From the announcement tonight, the new Facebook Shops looks like it will be a huge “bolt-on” for small business owners. They will be quick and easy to create from your Facebook page, and will appear on your Facebook and Instagram, (and soon on Messenger and WhatsApp too).
A big fact about the new Facebook Shops is that you won’t need a new app for them – they will be within the current app or desktop application that you use. And a second huge point, Facebook are currently working with partners like WooCommerce, Shopify, BigCommerce, Cafe24 and more so that you as small businesses can easily integrate their website with the Facebook shop.
We think this is big news for Facebook users and businesses on the platform. We’ve always said that having a website and making the most of your social media is the best ticket to success, but this just adds yet another layer. Another way of reaching more customers, and another way of selling your products.
Coming Soon
There have also been announcements about more features to shops coming soon. Remember, this feature overall has been rushed out to help small businesses during the pandemic… So new features will be all about helping customers find your as a small business, discover your products on both Facebook and Instagram. There will be a dedicated shopping tab on Instagram, with an explore feature on the inside. We already know that so many people buy off this platform, and these new features are really going to boost this over the coming months.
Another new feature coming soon will be Live shopping, across both Facebook and Instagram. Apparently this will allow you to shop on Live in real-time (we’re not actually sure how you’d use this but, we’re happy to wait and see!).
And in the distant future, Facebook want to also use augmented reality and AI to improve those shopping experiences too. Well, they are in it for the long haul after all!