Facebook is reportedly testing a "Buy" button that will allow businesses to use the world's most popular social network as a sales outlet.
The feature will allow Facebook users on either desktop or mobile devices to click on the "Buy" button on advertisements and Page posts to make purchases straight from businesses without the user leaving Facebook.
Facebook released the information on the Product News section of the social network, while also displaying what a test unit using the "Buy" button will look like.
Facebook said that the feature was created while maintaining the importance of privacy and security for both the users and the businesses. Measures have been implemented to ensure the safety and security of payments made for the products being purchased. Users that share information on their debit card or credit card to Facebook to make the purchases may choose whether to save the information or not for future purchases, with the information never to be shared by Facebook to advertisers.
The testing for the "Buy" button is currently limited to several small and medium-sized businesses in the United States. Facebook will be releasing updates regarding the project as the company receives feedback from both users and businesses that participate in the testing of the feature.
The new feature is part of Facebook's strategy of growing its advertising business, as the company is expected to make up 7.8 percent of digital advertisement spending in the world this year, according to information released by eMarketer.
Facebook only accounted for 5.8 percent of global digital advertisement spending last year. This year, Google is expected to remain as the top recipient of spending in global digital advertising, with 31.5 percent of all spending.
Debra Aho, an analyst for eMarketer, said that not too long ago, businesses saw Facebook as a channel for increasing awareness on products and companies and not for building up sales. However, Facebook's pending launch of a "Buy" button shows that the company is looking to shed that image.
"With this step, Facebook is becoming even more firmly established as a major player in direct response advertising, and though this test is still only a test, it's a definite sign that Facebook wants to restart its efforts to become an e-commerce company as well," Aho said.
"Facebook has everything to gain with this, including a cut of the revenue from sales, advertising dollars, and even additional data from user responses to ads," said Jim McGregor from Tirias Research.
