Checking out Facebook Shops

The quick version - 1 minute read

The quick version - 1 minute read

Facebook have launched Facebook Shops; an evolution of the existing Page Shops

• Shops is native ecommerce within Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Messenger
• It is available to all advertisers that meet the criteria (UK is an active market)
• You will need to consider investing in the following areas of expertise to capitalise on the market opportunity: Analytics, UX, Creative, CRO and Media

The detailed version - 5 minute read

What is Facebook Shop?

In the Summer, Mark Zuckerburg announced the launch of Facebook Shops; a native ecommerce experience within Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Messenger. The rollout is a considerable evolution of the pre-existing Instagram and Facebook Page Shops, that facilitates product catalogues on both platforms.

Facebook and Instagram Shop allows brands to create customisable, digital storefronts on Instagram and Facebook that allow for seamless product discovery and shopping on the platform. These customisable storefronts better represent the look and feel of a brand’s website, rather than the uniform product feeds in the existing Page Shops.

Creating a Facebook & Instagram Shop is free and simple. Whilst Facebook have waived fees for the remainder of 2020, the cost for Shops is normally a processing fee of 5%, but only on each purchase through native in-app checkout, as Facebook will continue to profit through advertising.

Facebook Shops is available to businesses all over the world that meet the Commerce Eligibility Requirements (UK is a supported market). Eligible UK businesses can leverage Shops without checkout now, but the in-app Instagram Checkout function is currently US-only, so transactions will continue to take place on UK retailer’s websites for the time being.

Why all ecommerce brands should pay attention

Facebook has a global audience of 2.7bn users and this announcement is a big step towards the panacea of one-click-buy shopping on the social network, where Amazon has been relatively unchallenged.

Facebook Shops is another step away from the D2C retail website being a brand’s no.1 commerce destination. The global pandemic has further highlighted the need to be agile, have regular communication with customers and facilitate transactions in one platform. Recent months have seen online UK retail sales - as a percentage of total UK retail - increase by 33% (ONS, Jan 20 vs Apr 20) and this has continued to grow throughout 2020.

There is a clear financial motivation for a slick shopping experience within the platform. A 2019 eMarketer study into cart abandonment statistics projected that the opportunity cost of friction in the US is $213 bn per year. Furthermore a 2018 US study found that 61% of US digital shoppers abandoned a cart because the site had errors.

Once brands can take full advantage of the end-to-end Shops offering, they can anticipate higher conversion rates due to a more consistent, seamless experience on the platform between retailers. Users will quickly acclimatise to the shopping experience in-platform. The quality of the Pixel data - and additional signals - will also pave the way for even more intelligent advertising campaigns on the platform.

Brands that have dedicated efforts to building an engaged, social audience base are in a far stronger position than those that have paid less attention to the Facebook family of apps that frequently make up 4 of the 10 most downloaded apps in the UK.

What you can do now

If you meet the Commerce Eligibility Requirements then will you be able to create collections in Commerce Manager or partners such as Shopify, BigCommerce or Feedonomics.

Given the reduced friction in the path to purchase, one can anticipate higher conversion rates. With that, one might expect a CPM increase, so all Ecommerce retailers should be setting aside larger social budgets, with the likelihood that acquisition rates also improve over time.

Your website still matters. With Facebook Shops being teased out, users will increasingly expect a more seamless experience once they land on a retailer’s website from Instagram or Facebook. Now is the perfect opportunity to invest in your existing digital storefront - your website.

To launch successfully on Facebook Shops you would need to consider investing in the following skills:

• Analytics
• UX / Design
• Creative
• Conversion Rate Optimisation
• Paid Media Strategy

Please get in touch if you'd like to learn more: enquiries@rocketmill.co.uk