The Era of F-Commerce: Selling on Facebook

So it’s a normal day at work. After sending one email ensuring my boss is marked, I log onto Facebook! Hmm, so someone went to Mauritius, someone bought a new camera and someone else got a tattoo. Like. Like. Like. Oh! Here’s a pretty anklet I would love. Let me check how much it costs! Ping…Ping…..

I am sure many of us relate to this. Facebook is no longer the time-pass corner or your gossip centre. It has now also become your favourite market-place!

Facebook is my Favourite Market-place!

When someone sports a unique bag, piece of accessory or even an unusual dupatta or saree, there is a very high chance that they picked it up from a Facebook store they heard about from a common friend.

Smriti Bharghav, a PR professional says “I love shopping through Facebook; the main reason being that it is a familiar platform with a friendly user interface. Unlike in ecommerce sites, you get to see user comments right beside the pictures and these are ‘REAL’ comments that I can rely on. Also, with just one like, comment or share it becomes so easy to spread the word and help those with real talent out there to set up their small businesses”

“Facebook shopping is addictive. And I actually end up becoming good friends with these lovely creative people. I can easily customize my purchases and also have flexible payment options” says ‘shopaholic’ Navya.

Making a Brand was never easier

We live in a world where a brand is created every single day! What was not there yesterday is today a ‘Brand’, something that has its own uniqueness and a value that people are willing to pay for.  Who takes credit yet again for setting this trend? Our very own…..FACEBOOK! From people, places, products and services everyone and everything has a spot on Facebook; even your pet dog’s timeline! So, how difficult is it to put out your ideas, concoction a page, add some zing and viola….a ‘Branded FB store’ is ready!

Most of us are witness to the era when Brands struggled in the over competitive market, established a value proposition, made a strong foot hold, executed extensive marketing & advertising campaigns and then finally connected with consumers on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to promote their business and encourage interactions. But today, first an FB page is created, pictures and messages are put up, immense interaction with customers eventually creates a value proposition and a BRAND!

Pallavi Seth, the owner of a Facebook store she calls POJ (Plenty of Joy) that deals with unique, quirky and funky custom made gifts of all shapes and sizes; says, “Facebook is an absolutely amazing marketplace and the reason why I choose this over a Web store is because of the personal interaction I am allowed to have with my clients. Facebook allows me to interact with my clients and the relationship is beyond being just transactional. My customers are now some of my best friends and well-wishers.”

Source: https://www.facebook.com/plentyofjoy

“I never knew that it would be so easy to sell small creative handmade gifts like those we make on Facebook. My daughters taught me to engage with customers and now I know to keep a check of orders, discuss with customers on colour customizations and what not on a personal level, right on my smart phone” says Asha Sriram, owner of Orange Peel that has become a small brand thanks to Facebook. She also says that Facebook allows her the freedom to discuss other topics of interests with the same customers and sometimes she ends up exchanging recipes during a transaction! This would have been impossible on a transactional ecommerce store.

“It is also lovely to read comments praising our hard-work even if it is from people who may not make a purchase. Facebook is not only for buyers but for people to share similar interests,” She adds.

Help is just a click away

While many social media experts can talk at length about the innovative facebook marketing ideas and the different ways of running campaigns and advertising on Facebook, there are a number of enterprises out there who are running their businesses on making life easy for Facebook Stores. Solutions provided by professionals like Shopify, Beetailer, Ecwid and many more help create custom Facebook tabs or can process easy payments without users having to go to your website.

Many sites have listed the top ecommerce apps for Facebook and Handy ecommerce apps for the fan pages that serve different purposes like hosting needs, payment options, varied pricing, customizing look & feel, designing promotional campaigns, multi-lingual support, currency conversions and support and many other services.

Some apps like Beetailer are also helpful for those who have stand-alone ecommerce stores and want to import these storefronts onto Facebook. Beetailer also offers some Page management tools to assist with product marketing. Analytics tools check out carts and payment options are also offered by these companies. There are many tools out there to encourage users to get onto the facebook marketplace.

Also available is Magento’s FB-commerce app to set up one’s own facebook store, 100% customisable. With free installation and different themes to make store look compelling to customers, products and services can be socialised through the FB page to provide a relishing shopping experience to customers.

In an interview, Sam Schwerin of Millennium Technology Value Partners, owning a chunk of Facebook shares says, “E-commerce is a huge category with very strong tailwinds and it’s a natural move for Facebook.” According to a study, apparel and home & garden are top industries which are making good money from F-Commerce.

He also said that Amazon Inc. revolutionised online shopping by crunching lots of customer and purchase data to come up with relevant personalised recommendations. In the same vein, Facebook’s combination of data analytics and payment technology could fuel the next generation of e-commerce.

There have been arguments, where people say that the mind-set of the audience impacts their activities. While people log into amazon and flipkart with an objective to buy; they log into Facebook with an intention to interact and make social conversations. However, David Fisch, who oversees Facebook’s e-commerce efforts disagrees “People have always shopped with their friends, now they expect it online. Companies who think differently about social will find success”

However, there are many small timers who are still apprehensive of using these apps on their Facebook stores. “Why would we invest on bringing in more complications to our simple Facebook store with all these apps? We are only taking our hobbies to the next level with a Facebook Page and when we truly decide to make a store we may even do it outside of Facebook” says Asha Sriram.

What does the future hold?

While many small businesses earn their bread and butter on Facebook, there is always a dagger hanging above their heads as they always seem dependent on the changing ways of the Social Networking Giant. “With Facebook things are quite uncertain; you never know when they would start charging for what and when they would remove a particular tool. This is the only drawback as of now” says Pallavi Seth from POJ. She also mentions that while Facebook has opened many opportunities for her and people alike, due to these uncertainties she may eventually end up opening her own online store.

Laura Valverde of Beetailer, which runs more than 3,000 stores on Facebook, was quoted in an article saying “If e-commerce on Facebook takes off, many expect the social network to find a way to make money off it. When you build on top of a platform like Facebook, there is always the risk that the platform provider decides to change the rules later on”

With business growing, facebook sellers have begun shipping their products overseas too. And collecting payment by sharing bank accounts can become a tedious task. While the lovely ecosystem encourages a lot of amateurs to set up stores, with time they will move on to sell on other established market places like Flipkart, ebay or eventually end up having their own ecommerce stores.