Facebook: Emerging E-commerce Powerhouse?

About a month ago Facebook, the social networking giant, has launched Marketplace – a place where you can sell and buy things within your community. It is hard to estimate how the last 30 days for the Marketplace have been, but it is obvious that such an attempt by the Social Network should increase the engagement of its 1.7 billion user base. Since buying and selling stuff on Facebook was cool even before this launch, one can suspect that this new feature should gain momentum in the near future.

How can we make Facebook more useful in your everyday life? (A. Bosworth)

Now, Facebook is pushing even harder into the e-commerce as such. The Social Network wants to control or be involved in every decision you take in terms of the local commerce. As Andrew Bosworth, Facebook’s VP of Ads and Pages, puts it, the idea is to make Facebook more useful in one’s everyday life.

Let us take a look at what updates the Social Network is rolling out. Of course, starting with the U.S. market.

• You will be able to order food directly from a restaurant’s Facebook page. The only thing to note here is that the restaurant, in order to have such an option, should use third-party ordering service such as Delivery.com or others.
• One will also be able to make appointments through the company’s page. This means that you could easily make a dinner reservation or make an appointment to your hairdresser. Again, retailers wanting to use such services will have to rely on third-party assistance (e.g. HomeAdvisor).
• Besides, Facebook is getting into ticketing. You will be able to buy tickets from Eventbrite or other providers, once again, through a company’s Facebook Page. Not surprisingly, you then will be able to store your ticket (which will be a unique QR code) on your Facebook account until the event comes.

The good thing here is that all these changes (along with all the ones that were rolled out earlier) do not cost anything for retailers or small businesses. However, we all know that all this data is very valuable for Facebook, and ultimately it will soon know everything about us – where we live, shop, eat, travel, what events we like etc.

All in all, this and previous moves by the Social Network is obviously a push for the seamless experience. Now Facebook is probably one of the most time-consuming places on the web. Later on, when one will be able to do anything on Facebook (for instance, open a bank account or set up a business), it will definitely become the most important thing in everyday life.

We now talk about Internet of Things. In the future, it might be Facebook of Things.

Read more about mobile & e-commerce:

Facebook Marketplace: A Threat or An Opportunity?

M-Commerce. Motivations & Barriers.

Mobile Commerce. The Rising Giant.

Forget the New iPhone – Apple Pay is the BIG Thing

Online Shoppers – To Buy or Not To Buy?

How Mobile Payments Are Doing?