Zuckerberg launched Shops. Instagram and Facebook are gradually becoming stores.

All major platforms are trying to become online stores. Google has Google shopping, Yandex – Market, VK – Business. Facebook and Instagram have also been moving in that direction for a long time. But today, during a live stream, Mark Zuckerberg introduced Shops, a new way for businesses to open stores on Facebook and Instagram for free. You don’t even need to create your own website.

Shopify, BigCommerce and Woo take over the logistics of sales. Users who liked the brand page can now simply click on the “View Shop” button on Facebook and Instagram. This will allow, without leaving the social network interface, to select and buy the desired product. Even fairly large businesses will be able to successfully sell here, since products can be categorized and their number is unlimited.

Store Fill Interface

In the livestream, Zuckerberg said that they decided to launch this big feature right now to help e-commerce with the economic recovery in the era of the pandemic:

If you cannot physically open your store or restaurant, you can still receive orders online and deliver them to people. We see many businesses that are now starting to work online for the first time. With us it will not cost you anything.

The launch of Shops occurs at a time when, due to COVID-19, online stores are breaking sales records. At the same time, the pandemic turned out to be devastating for small businesses: according to recent survey Facebook, a third of them had to stop their work. And another 11% say that they will go bankrupt in the near future if nothing changes. Zuckerberg hopes that his new feature will bring more such businesses online, while at the same time expanding the influence of Facebook itself. And bring the company a lot of extra profit.

Creating an online store on Facebook / Instagram is free, but small firms will hopefully buy ads from the social network to promote it. In addition, when buying goods from the buyer a small percentage is charged.

What’s convenient – Zuckerberg says that all the user’s payment data will be stored securely in the Facebook database, and when paying in social networks, you can not enter anything again. Now the company’s applications employ more than 160 million different small businesses, and users do not have to worry about revealing their banking details when shopping in any of them.

Customer support is provided through Messenger, WhatsApp or private messages on Instagram. Over time, Facebook expects to add the ability to shop directly from the chat window. Also in the plans is to add purchases in live streams. Brands or popular bloggers will be able to add tags with products from their Facebook directories, and these products will be visible under the video. One of the great ways to stream your new product presentation.

Facebook is also working to integrate loyalty programs so that customers who often buy from the same store can receive bonuses. About this company told on my blog:

You can easily keep track of your points and rewards. And small businesses will be able to create and manage their loyalty programs, offering unique options.

Future Facebook Loyalty Programs

The largest social network for several years trying to gain a foothold in the field of e-commerce. In 2016, Facebook launched the Marketplace, making peer-to-peer in-app purchases and sales available. Two years later, Instagram began work over a separate application for shopping, but the project was then abandoned. Instead, Instagram added the ability to provide links to the products shown in the photo. And in 2019 for some accounts (Adidas, Zara, MichaelKors and others) appeared Instagram Checkout is essentially a prototype of Facebook Shops.

New business opportunities on Facebook are available in the States now, Instagram will appear this summer. In the meantime, Instagram will continue to display brand products in its account. @shop – where things are already available for purchase through the application. In the fall, it is planned to add a separate tab with purchases to the application interface. Then Instagram, in fact, will become the same Amazon, with millions of businesses selling products through the platform. With less emphasis on logistics, but with more opportunities to promote their products.