Forget e-commerce, F-commerce (a.k.a Facebook commerce) is the next frontier in social shopping. A recent report found that on average, 50.8% of traffic was logged into a Facebook plugin while shopping online. Other studies have found that 56% of Facebook users have clicked through to a retailer’s website because of a status update, and 35% of shoppers say they would be likely to buy a product directly from Facebook. These findings hint at the potential for e-retailers to integrate with Facebook to create even more personal and participatory shopping experiences. And with more than 800 million active users on Facebook, it makes perfect sense.  

At present, Facebook is being utilised to inform and influence purchase behaviour by keeping fans in the know about product offerings, promotions, exclusive offers and sales. But, what if the user didn’t have to leave Facebook to browse a store and make a purchase?

This is f-commerce, and it might be closer than you think

Facebook has subtly hinted at their plans to transform the social network site into a fully functional shopping portal, allowing users to shop, share and be rewarded in one place. It’s a drastically different way of conducting business online, which will have significant impacts on retailers and consumers alike. But despite what you may be thinking, the impacts aren’t negative ones.

Tailoring the online shopping experience

The world of f-commerce will help businesses significantly increase revenue through personalised recommendations and tailored shopping experiences based on Facebook Likes. By integrating more deeply with Facebook, retailers will be able to access social data showing what fans bought or shared, what products relate to their Likes, and which of their friends might be similar. Accessing insights into shopper preferences will allow retailers to better promote products to the visitors most relevant to them. Imagine logging in to Facebook and seeing a tailored list of shopping recommendations - your time spent browsing will be drastically reduced.

Shopping with your friends, while online

Another great feature of f-commerce will be the ability to shop online with your peers, much like you do in a physical setting. You’ll be able to view which products are popular among your friends, see which of your friends “owns” a product you’re considering to request a recommendation and create wishlists which will make it easier for friends to know what to buy on your birthday. In the future, you may even see an “Invite friends to shop” button which will take you to a chat room, video hangout or comment box where you can get other’s opinions and advice.

Learning how your customers engage

Many of the new features of Facebook, such as the customisable open graph and the news ticker will have the most significant effect on social shopping (finally, they’re useful for something!) News feed stories will be customised to generate more expressive and personal phrases such as “Jane wants” or “Jane reviews” a product, as opposed to “Jane Likes”. Now fans will be able to expressively communicate their activities, which will give retailers better information about how shoppers engage with them.

The future looks bright for online retail, with a richer and more social shopping experience well on it’s way. Here are our tips to start implementing social shopping to engage your fans:

• Keep your fans in the loop with new products, sales and specials
• Creative exclusive Facebook-only deals to reward loyal customers
• Ask fans to share their purchases with their friends
• Talk with your fans - make them feel like they’ve stepped into a physical store
• Gain insight into shopper preferences by analysing the products which gather the most comments/likes/recommends

Tell us what you think - are you excited about, or apprehensive of f-commerce?

Looking for the online retail specialists? Vivo Group are at the forefront of e-commerce technology, delivering customisable and user-friendly online interfaces to facilitate the sale of goods online. Contact us today for more information.

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