Facebook will no longer just be a social networking site — it will be an e-commerce site as well.
The tech giant—touting an impressive monthly user base of almost 1.5 billion people—revealed on Monday, Oct. 11, that it is planning to incorporate in its platform a new mobile Shopping tab, allowing its users to shop for electronics, clothes and other products without leaving the confines of Facebook.
Initially, during the testing period, the Shopping tab will be visible to a small percentage of the site's users in the U.S.
The tab, which will be placed under the More tab, will showcase a wide range of products based on the pages a particular user liked.
When the user clicks on an advertisement, an expanded page that shows off a multitude of items will be seen.
“We’re looking to give people an easier way to find products that will be interesting to them on mobile, make shopping easier and help businesses drive sales,” said Facebook's head of product marketing for commerce, Emma Rodgers.
Additionally, Facebook is also bringing in a new Buy Now button, permitting users to directly buy products on businesses' Facebook pages.
This latest move by Facebook is still part of its recent efforts to address slow loading speed and to corral users' activities within Facebook's streamlined walled garden instead of directing them to an outside website.
Facebook likewise hopes that the enhanced user experience will attract an increased number of users to do their shopping on mobile rather than on desktop.
Research firm eMarketer revealed that only around 2 percent of e-commerce sales come from mobile.
"For people, the mobile shopping experience is often difficult to navigate," says Facebook. "Customers can experience slow load times and too many steps on the way to checkout. This is bad for people and bad for marketers."
In the meantime, Facebook's rivals Pinterest and Twitter have also embraced e-commerce on their platforms, letting their users make purchases in just one click. Moreover, Facebook-owned company Instagram has also its own Buy buttons.
