Besides recently adding new emojis, Facebook also is going into e-commerce by testing direct shopping apps.
Despite many people accessing their social media accounts on the mobile phone, few of them purchase items using their smartphones because of the cumbersome procedure. By removing the kinks, Facebook hopes to smooth the process and boost purchases using mobile devices which currently account for only 2 percent of all retail sales, says eMarketer, a research firm.
Emma Rodgers, Facebook head of product marketing for commerce, explains that the portal's aim is to give consumers easier methods to find products on mobile phones, improve the online shopping experience and help companies that advertise in Facebook boost their sales, reports The Washington Post.
For instance, if a Facebook member clicks an ad on the site, it would not redirect him to another site. Instead, the advertisement would see an expanded page that displays products or services being sold by the advertiser. There would also be a "buy" button.
Facebook also has a section that brings its 1.5 billion users directly to a shopping page from where they could browse different brands. Currently, the brands are from a group of small enterprises, but it would later expand.
Catherine Boyle, analyst at eMarketer, says that with the new offer, the most popular social media site is addressing "a pain point for retailers" that it expects would bring serious ad dollars to their adverts.
After all, almost 50 percent of Facebook users access their accounts to actively search for products, besides connecting with family and friends, reports Wired.