‘f-commerce’ predicted to deliver £3bn business boost over 3 years
E-commerce conducted on the Facebook platform has been predicted to deliver up to £3.1bn in additional revenue for UK consumers by Ecwid, the drop-in store builder widget.
At present just 4% of UK consumers have purchased items via Facebook but this is expected to rise to 6.1% of online purchases within three years.
The UK e-commerce market was worth some £50bn in 2011.
At present many consumers fail to see the value in a business presence on Facebook but 57% of people quizzed stated that they would be more inclined to ’like’ a page if special offers and discount codes were conferred as a result.
Ecwid founder Ruslan Fazylev said, "While Facebook commerce may still be in its infancy, this study shows that it has the potential to grow massively. Many businesses now have a presence on Facebook but relatively few have been able to successfully monetise it to date.
“It is now actually quite easy to set up a store on Facebook which offers the same experience as a traditional online store. Furthermore, businesses also have the benefits of a vast social network on their virtual doorsteps.
“Those businesses that embrace f-commerce in the future are set to see a significant revenue boost. In fact, our figures show that businesses that sell from an f-commerce store alongside their traditional website have generated an additional 17.7% of revenue."