Mumbai: Facebook has upgraded its apps with additional “Save” feature and testing the “Buy” feature in an advance level, which is considered as a Game changer in “Social Commerce”
While The new ”Buy” feature will allow users 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. Whereas the new ‘Save’ option will allow its users to collect multiple web links from their news feed and read them later.
This feature is similar to Twitter Favourites. You can save links, Places, Music, status, movies, TV shows etc… to read later. Only you can see the items you save, They also enable an option to share the saved items with friends as well.
To save a link embedded in a post, Facebook users will have to click on the ‘Cut Ribbon like Icon’ placed at the button for each post and then click on the Save link from the Pop-up option.
You can view the items you saved at any time by going to your saved items in the ‘More’ tab on mobile or by clicking the link on the left hand side of Facebook on the web.
Facebook will also send you reminders of your saved items in News Feed. Facebook ‘Save’ option will is already available in Android devices and soon to be introduced in iOS as well.
On the other hand Facebook’s official blog post on the “Buy” feature reads “We’ve built this feature with privacy in mind, and have taken steps to help make the payment experience safe and secure. None of the credit or debit card information people share with Facebook when completing a transaction will be shared with other advertisers, and people can select whether or not they’d like to save payment information for future purchases”
However, The current test is limited to a few small and medium-sized businesses in the US.
This is not Facebook’s first attempt towards leveraging the online shopping phenomenon. Prior to this Facebook had introduced Facebook gifts which allowed users to buy gifts for their friends and loved ones and to send it out to them physically.
It was launched in August 2012 and took its breath exactly a year later. There was also Facebook Credit which allowed users to purchase Facebook games through virtual money. This service too was short lived and was shut down in 2012.
In a similar attempt, Twitter also tried to incorporate e-commerce elements in its offering. The micro blogging website partnered with Amazon and allowed its users to shop from the e-commerce giant AmazonCart.
However, None of the social networking websites have managed to taste the success in terms of social commerce so far. It will be interesting to see how Facebook is going to perform with this new “Buy” feature.
