That’s right. Bet you didn’t see this coming! The social network has recently announced a shiny new feature, and you may soon be seeing a ‘Buy Now’ button on Facebook posts and ads.
And although the company has made little efforts to break into the ecommerce game up until now, it appears that things are changing — this new addition ties into Facebook’s strategy of keeping users on the site longer. Providing the ability to buy something straight from the website is just another step.
The company made the official announcement a while back, saying:
“Today we’re beginning to test a new feature to help businesses drive sales through Facebook in News Feed and on Pages. With this feature, people on desktop or mobile can click the “Buy” call-to-action button on ads and Page posts to purchase a product directly from a business, without leaving Facebook.”
Although a limited rollout, and currently only available to a few small and midsized businesses in the United States, the company plans to make this new feature accessible to all, after testing and collecting feedback. We can also expect Facebook to share these findings in due course.
If the initial tests are positive, and provided this option is released across the board, then it could potentially open up a whole new avenue of opportunity for business owners on Facebook.
Businesses will be able to attract a customer, move them through the purchase process, and complete the sale all on Facebook — minimizing the risks of losing customers along the way.
And even though the company has not yet indicated how much this feature will cost business owners to use, Facebook is not disqualifying the monetizing option. It could be a cut of the sale, or a flat fee for the use of the button. Either way, it should be really interesting to see how this pans out.
What do you guys think?