Facebook pages and e commerce
For businesses, Facebook and other social networks have generally been marketing and brand management playgrounds where marketing departments and agencies try to promote and project a positive influence for their businesses. It has always been difficult to gauge the conversions from this positive influence, so rather than waiting for a positive influenced customer to land on their website and maybe convert, businesses have set up virtual shops on Facebook pages. There are applications that allow storefronts on Facebook. These storefronts are like catalogues with social features such as comments and product reviews, but would not allow an e commerce transaction within the Facebook platform. Then there are applications that are more integrated and would allow the complete transaction without the user leaving Facebook pages.
Facebook Storefronts
BigCommerce is an example of a Facebook storefront application which enables e-merchants to list their products on their Facebook pages and allows all the social features of Facebook like commenting, sharing, liking but doesn’t support a transaction within the boundaries of Facebook. Best Buy and Threadless are two prominent storefronts on Facebook that use this application. There are other storefront only applications such as the Etsy and Ecwid which is free. These applications would allow to you to have a tab on your Facebook page under which products can be listed and reviewed. You would be able to add your first product to the shopping basket from the Facebook page, but would be immediately directed to their e-shops outside of Facebook.
Facebook Stores
Comprehensive e stores like Brook Brothers and Delta Airlines are powered by Alvenda’s flash based portable, personalized, and participatory social commerce channel. This application allows the complete e transaction within the Facebook pages. Alvenda’s Facebook store for 1- 800 flowers that went live over a year ago was the first comprehensive Facebook store. The only drawback of this application is its dependence on flash which rules out the possibility of m commerce (mobile commerce) in many cases. Alvenda caters large enterprises so presumably it comes with a good cost which retains its exclusivity for high end clients.
As far as complete integration, cost effectiveness and seamless technology are concerned Payvment is the best shopping platform for Facebook pages. Not only does it allow completing the whole transaction within the Facebook boundaries but also maintain a common shopping basket for all the Facebook stores that use Payvment.
Although it is a bit early for f commerce (Facebook Commerce) but it has all the ingredients to become a mainstream practice over the social web where business are more specific and consumer oriented.
yes right!
facebook is very known right now in the social sites because lots of people are fun with it. and also in this fan page it attracts the customers and that is what we called social commerce.