An idea of choosing Facebook Shops for small business is noteworthy. Facebook Shops are the latest Facebook initiative that aims to enable small and medium-sized businesses to create online stores directly on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, completely free. Its timing is perfect, because due to the coronavirus, the digitization processes have significantly accelerated, and the rush towards e-commerce has increased. So what do you need to know about it?

According to Facebook’s latest State of Small Businesses report, nearly a third of them in the United States are no longer operational, and those who survived the pandemic have neither the resources nor the number of customers to do so. To think calmly about the future.

What is Facebook Shops?

Facebook, which earns no less from small businesses than from big brands, could not be passed by indifferently. Especially that it has been introducing its desire for e-commerce revenues for a long time. Facebook Shops are not the only initiative in this area.

There is also Facebook Marketplace, Instagram Checkout, and all “shopping” ads that can be used on Instagram. Facebook Shops, as emphasized by Mark Zuckerberg, are, however, the most important step to standardize the entire e-commerce system.

Shortening the path to e-commerce seems to be a bull’s eye for small and medium-sized enterprises. During the pandemic, the search for agile and inexpensive e-commerce platforms intensified, and many local businesses were using Facebook to survive. Social media was the place where information such as delivery details or working hours appeared. Messenger became the main platform for confused customers trying to contact.

How will Facebook Shops work?

Facebook Shops are an application that allows – to create an online store for free and through which you can sell both on Facebook and Instagram. The whole process is meant to be as simple as possible: a company owner will only have to add products to the catalog, select those that will be recommended and adjust the appearance of the store by changing the background image and adding branding elements, fonts, and colors.

After the store is launched, customers will be able to view, save, and order products directly in the app, and businesses will be able to communicate with customers via Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. A unique feature of Facebook Shops will allow to make purchases live while broadcasting.

For which brands is this a beneficial solution?

Facebook Shops are dedicated primarily to small and medium-sized businesses. Why? Because it is they who are looking for the cheapest and fastest possible e-commerce solutions. Often, even relatively cheap SaaS platforms are a cost challenge for them, and open source solutions are unavailable due to the long implementation time and the skills needed to do it.

facebook shops for small business

giant sees the main source of its income in the possibility of broadcasting more ads, and Facebook Stores can be presented in ads on News Feed and Stories.

What are the downsides of using Facebook Shops for small business?

The new solution has hit the US market, where it is currently being tested, and it is not known exactly when it will reach Poland. However, Facebook announced that in the next few months, the solution will be available in other markets. What do you need to know before deciding to use them?

Setting up a Facebook store is – as we mentioned – free of charge. Facebook also doesn’t charge for transactions if merchants process them through third-party platforms such as Shopify or WooCommerce.

Retailers who do not have other e-commerce platforms, however, do not have to use Facebook’s payment gateway – Facebook Checkout – and pay a processing fee of 5%. That’s less than on Amazon or eBay, but it’s worth remembering.

Would you like to become familiar with social media selling ideas and channels? Start reading our article on how to sell directly on social media.

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Facebook Shops for small business. A perfect tool? laura green avatar 1background

Author: Laura Green

There’s probably no social media channel or tactic that Laura doesn’t feel confident about. Whether it’s jumping on the latest TikTok trend, launching a Pinterest campaign, or live-streaming on YouTube - this Social Media Ninja has done it all.