Facebook introduces ‘Shops’ feature to bring small business online

To make shopping seamless and empower anyone from a small business owner to a global brand, Facebook yesterday launched the ‘Shops’ feature. Introduced by Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a Live stream, the new service is designed to improve the online shopping experience and help businesses that have suffered amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The feature will make it easy for businesses to set up a single online store for customers to access on both Facebook and Instagram. Businesses can choose the products they want to feature from their catalog and then customize the look and feel of their shop with a cover image and accent colors 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.

In a blog post introducing the feature, Facebook explained that people can find Facebook Shops on a business’ Facebook Page or Instagram profile, or discover them through stories or ads. From there, one 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.

And just like when in a physical store and need to ask someone for help, in Facebook Shops one will be able to message a business through WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram Direct to ask questions, get support, track deliveries and more. And in the future, you’ll be able to view a business’ shop and make purchases right within a chat in WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram Direct.

Facebook is also investing in features across its 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.