Don't declare the death of F-Commerce just yet

News that several major retailers have recently shut down their Facebook stores has led to a lot of predictions about the death of f-Commerce (the term used for eCommerce on the World's biggest social networking platform and therefore the most visited website).

See this article on Bloomberg for a touch of hype generation (and link baiting... dammit):

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/f-commerce-trips-as-gap-to-penney-shut-facebook-stores-retail.html 

One Forrester Researcher was also quoted as stating:

“There was a lot of anticipation that Facebook would turn into a new destination, a store, a place where people would shop. But it was like trying to sell stuff to people while they’re hanging out with their friends at the bar.”

People please...... before we go around proclaiming the end of social commerce, can we please get a bit of perspective here?

Yes, it is true that some big US retailers such as Gap and Nordstrom have closed their Facebook retail channels. But it is still very early days for f-Commerce and a lot of companies are still finding their feet with this stuff. Its currently the same as web-based selling was back 10 or so years ago.

Back then customer confidence was low and the methods and tools & best-practice are still being learnt.

It is also true that users have a big security issue with using their credit cards via Social Networks:

http://mashable.com/2012/02/10/credit-card-information-social-network/ 

And even less trust Facebook stores to prevent fraud.

http://threatmetrix.com/study-reveals-only-a-quarter-of-consumers-trust-facebook-storefronts-to-prevent-fraud/

However the race hasn't been run yet. Given the speed of change in both the eCommerce and Social Networking space, I wouldn't declare the death of f-Commerce straight away. In fact Gap have stated: “We will continue to evaluate if this is something we want to bring back in the future”

My suggestion is therefore to ask yourself one simple question 

"does your Facebook store make a decent ROI without cannibalising other sales channels?". 

And if the answer is "Yes"...  then I suggest you keep it going.

Mallify : Facebook Commerce made easy

John Smith is Sales Director for Mallify, a social commerce application that enables businesses to have a store in Facebook. He’s taken the time to answer a few questions on his product.

a) How would you describe your product to a non-technical audience?

Mallify allows you to set-up a store with the Facebook website. It therefore makes use of the social shopping experience that can happen between users, encourages viral activity, lets them like and recommend & products and this way spread them to each-other. However the most important thing about Mallify is that enables them to buy your products directly with Facebook, so you don't lose customers by navigating them away to another website.

You get an F-Commerce store that is easy to set-up and easy to administrate. You therefore save time, use your own e-commerce processes behind the scenes and you don't even have to learn, trust or use a new online sales system. It’s a really flexible solution, where you can add and sell your products in your own way, get the customer data you wish and also use the payment gate/method you wish instead of being forces to use someone else's choice.

b) What are the key benefits:

Mallify has a number of benefits, but the main three are:

1) Most simple
It is really easy to start, understand and use Mallify, thus getting you trading online quickly and having an immediate short-term benefit

2) Most flexible
From a mid-term perspective you can customize your store and your products to fit, therefore running your online business how you want to.

3) Most social
By launching your store on Facebook, you not only joint the World’s fastest growing marketplace, you do it in an environment that encourages social sharing and group activity, thus helping to boost interactivity, engagement and therefore sales conversions in the longer-term.


c) Do I need to install any specific software?
No specific software is needed, only Facebook in any modern browser. Mallify is simply a Facebook app (approved) that you can easily add to your Facebook Page within a minute, this makes it easy to set up.

d) How do I get my products, prices and inventory into it?
The simplest way is to add the products manually into our system. For doing this we have a
special interface, the same one used to maintain your inventory (change prices, update the info, etc).
After you have created you Facebook Page you simply add the Mallify Store app to it. When this is done you will get a Mallify Store icon on your personal Facebook page - click on it and you will end up in the administration area where you can add, edit and delete company information and products.
As an administrator of the Facebook Page you can directly see statistic and sales, you can also add pictures and text to your store without leaving the Facebook Page.
If you're using a common e-commerce system, you can connect it to Mallify via the "Integration plugin". Just send us an e-mail and we will give you access to our API.
In our "Enterprise” price plan we even can build an API integration to your chosen system.

e) What payment service providers can I use?

The current supported Payment Service Providers (PSP’s) are DIBS and PayPal. However we are planning to quickly add more to our list as we have clients requesting them.

f) Is it secure?
Our system (the one that is storing your products, personal information, etc.) is well-secured using an SSL certificate .The payment process is further secured by the Payment Service Provider.

g) What is the cost of your service?
We have 3 plans and each plan has a set up fee which covers the implementation and API integration. The price plans are on our Facebook page - and at www.mallify.se

Here is a quick summary:
Basic: £50 per month
Pro: £170 per month
Enterprise: £425 per month

h) Do you provide me with any help to set up my online shop?
It’s easy enough (and have a free 30days trial) to start by yourself. However should you need help there’s a support team available and further assistance is provided in higher
price plans. We can even do all the launch work for you - it's in the "Enterprise" plan
i) What UK/European clients do you currently have?

Hammarby Fotboll
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hammarby-Fotboll/165865959828

Live Loud
https://www.facebook.com/liveloudbyzabina

Gynna P
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gynna/109626499119307

Childrens Gift ideas (launching v. Soon!)
https://www.facebook.com/childrensgifts

plus many other in a free trial phase right now.

UK FCommerce: from Goldrush to Maturity

Having just received the latest Social Media Benchmark results from the eDigitalResearch survey that looked at 73 of the UK's leading retail brands, it makes for interesting reading.
Retailers are continuing to grow their legions of followers, with the top ones still attracting tens of thousands of new ones each month across the different social networks. However the main platform for engagement is most definitely Facebook, with UK market leaders such as ASOS adding the most. TopShop is still the only UK retailer over a million followers (although River Island is closing in) and fashion retailers as a whole are the obvious trail-blazers, due to their target demographic being so prevalent in Facebook usage.

However a growing trend that I’m particularly interested in is the continued introduction of Fcommerce, with nine of the top twenty retailers in the study already offering their followers the ability to shop from their Facebook pages. Its fair to say that the retailers who established a social media presence early one are now the ones who are reaping the benefits…. and its therefore my belief that those who do the same over the next few months with Facebook Social Commerce will grow their sales as well as their social footprint the most.

FCommerce has arrived

I've been mentioning the use of FCommerce (Facebook Commerce) for retail ecommerce for almost a year now. In fact, I believe that coordinated selling via Facebook and other Social Media channels is the 4th stage of the Social Media Maturity Matrix.

And it finally looks like its taking off in a big way, with the announcement today that French Connection, the UK clothing chain are to join Asos in opening Facebook store at the end of the month.

http://wallblog.co.uk/2011/02/09/french-connection-joins-asos-in-opening-facebook-store/

It seems that you'll be able to buy directly from Frech Connection's news feed, therefore hopefully creating some value for the retailer to the act of 'liking' a brand online.