Facebook, Instagram unveil ‘Shops’ platform to facilitate e-commerce

Facebook has unveiled its new product ‘Facebook Shops’ (Facebook stores) designed to make e-commerce through both Facebook and Instagram, an easier and more searchable experience for both business owners and customers.

The new product will be introduced this summer in the US, and will be subsequently rolled out in other  markets worldwide.

Facebook will collaborate with e-commerce partners including Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Channel Advisor and others. Business owners can create their stores on these platforms, and then link them to Facebook Shops.

Commercial activity is expected to rise on Facebook as a result of this initiative as products are already advertised and marketed on Facebook and Instagram.

By providing an easily accessible store within the platform itself, store owners and small companies are expected to gain from this initiative and users will likely increase the time they spend on these platforms too.

Companies can register for free on this online e-commerce platform.

Sellers will be able to use direct broadcast marketing features and link the products to appear under the live broadcast video so that viewers can instantly purchase the product they are viewing.

Currently, Facebook Shops is still in the experimental phase, and is likely that it will take a while for it to reach the Arab region. In the meanwhile, Facebook information about privacy and information collection policies for the stores are available online.

This story originally appeared on MENA Tech