Just a few months ago, you’d have had to argue why your business should have a Facebook store; today you’d probably have to justify any decision not to have an e-commerce function on Facebook. It is becoming so big now that it is enabling a huge shift how people shop and how they are influenced. Facebook is coming up on 600,000,000 users which is about 8.7% of the world population. That’s an astronomical number and seems to be growing at ever increasing speeds.
Hence, it comes as no surprise that new f-commerce pages from major brands and retailers are beginning to gain traction and actually generate revenue. Actual ROI. This new function allows people to shop directly from Facebook tabs without leaving the site, which is huge in that Facebook users prefer not to leave the site.
Facebook commerce (f-commerce) is the newest trend for 2011 and by 2014 I would imagine that most consumer packaged goods, airlines and retailers will be seriously considering this functionality on their Facebook pages. It should be an interesting year.
Here is a very insightful study by Altimeter Group, one of the most influential thought leaders in the area of social media strategy and social commerce. A must-read for anyone seriously considering utilizing social media and e-commerce.
Interesting post Jason. Thanks for sharing.