“Facebook Shops make it easy for businesses to set up a single online store for customers to access on both Facebook and Instagram. Creating a Facebook Shop is free and simple. Businesses can choose the products they want to feature from their catalogue and then customize the look and feel of their shop with a cover image and accent colours that showcase their brand. This means any seller, no matter their size or budget, can bring their business online and connect with customers wherever and whenever it’s convenient for them,” the Mark Zuckerberg-led company revealed in a blog post. Wondering where you can find Facebook Shops? Well, people can discover Facebook Shops on a business’ Facebook Page or Instagram profile as well as through stories or ads. From there, they can browse the full collection, save products they’re interested in and place an order — either on the business’ website or without leaving the app if the business has enabled checkout in the US. Facebook Shops work just like a physical store. If you need to ask someone for help while being in Facebook Shops, you’ll be able to message a business through WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram Direct to get support, track deliveries and more. Moreover, Facebook also revealed that users will be able to view a business’ shop and make purchases right within a chat in WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram Direct in the coming days. In a blog post, Facebook revealed, Facebook Shops “will be more widely available in the coming months. You can learn more about how we built Shops with privacy in mind here. We’re also investing in features across our apps like Instagram Shop, live shopping and more that will be integrated with Facebook Shops to help customers discover products they’re interested in and make purchasing easier.” Let’s check out what Instagram Shop is all about. According to Facebook, This summer, starting in the US, we’re introducing Instagram Shop, a new way to discover and buy products you love in Instagram Explore. You can get inspired by collections from @shop, browse selections from your favourite brands and creators, filter by categories like beauty and home, and purchase the looks you love all in one place. And later this year, we’re adding a new shop tab in the navigation bar, so you can get to Instagram Shop in just one tap.” Asserting that Facebook-owned apps users have been using live video across its social media platforms to showcase products for years, from shoe stores announcing new sneakers to beauty influencers trying on different lipsticks, Facebook notified, “Now, we’re making it easier to shop for products in real time. Soon, sellers, brands and creators will be able to tag products from their Facebook Shop or catalog before going live and those products will be shown at the bottom of the video so people can easily tap to learn more and purchase.” Initially Facebook Shops is being tested with businesses on Facebook and Instagram, and the social networking giant would soon roll it out more broadly in the coming months. Besides this, Facebook is also testing ways to make it easier to earn rewards with businesses you love by enabling you to connect your loyalty programs, like the points program at your local cafe, to your Facebook account. “You’ll be able to easily see and keep track of your points and rewards. And we’re exploring ways to help small businesses create, manage and surface a loyalty program on Facebook Shops,” the social networking giant mentioned. In order to provide small businesses the assistance they need, Facebook is also working more closely with partners like Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, ChannelAdvisor, CedCommerce, Cafe24, Tienda Nube and Feedonomics. Mind you! Facebook stated that “these organizations offer powerful tools to help entrepreneurs start and run their businesses and move online. Now they’ll help small businesses build and grow their Facebook Shops and use our other commerce tools.” For the latest gadget and tech news, and gadget reviews, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. For newest tech & gadget videos subscribe to our YouTube Channel. You can also stay up to date using the Gadget Bridge Android App.
