E-Commerce is an ever-changing and thriving industry and heavily depends on an amazingly planned online sales strategy. Trends are shaping up constantly in an attempt to redefine how people across the globe purchase the products. It is making the future of e-commerce exciting, to say the least.
A lot of defining factors are expected to change in e-commerce as a repercussion of the pandemic. We will help you understand what the future of e-commerce will look like. The blog will detail you about the recent trends for e-commerce in 2020. It will discuss what we believe are the most impactful changes will be in the recent future. Further, the blog talks about how to deal with those changes. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s dive in.
Facebook Enables Commerce Across its Family of Apps
Facebook and Instagram have been uber-cool shopping destinations, but Facebook Shops will certainly open a floodgate of fresh opportunities for small entrepreneurs. This is how the idea of social commerce got envisioned. Facebook now is making it a reality.
Facebook will give its people a platform to experience the joy of shopping in place of the chore of buying. They will do this by assisting small businesses to adapt this novel concept of ‘Facebook shop’ thereby making it easier for people to discover and buy things they love.
A New Future of Online Sales Strategy and E-commerce Tools – Facebook – Instagram Shop, Live Shopping, And WhatsApp
During this time of the Corona crisis, small businesses are struggling. Because of lockdown, many businessmen want to take their business online. Facebook is trying to make their experience seamless by empowering them to a global brand by connecting with a larger audience with the use of Facebook and its associates like WhatsApp and Instagram. So Facebook shops will inspire everyone to shop and make commerce easier.
A New Alternative To Discover Your Favourite Products And Brands
Facebook apps are about to get a lot more shoppable. You will get more direct buying options and brands fetching for your attention in and around your news feeds. Because of the COVID-19 lock-downs, e-commerce activity, now, really will boost like never before. Facebook is ready to make a bigger push into regions like India which will facilitate more on-platform commerce, while the rise in e-commerce activity as a result of the COVID-19 lockdowns is likely to become a long-term, behaviour-changing trend.
E-commerce sales have been high for some time and the lockdowns will only push the habit of online purchasing. Once consumers experience the ease in which they can buy from home – the benefit of doing your grocery shopping quickly so you don’t forget, etc. And then by getting accustomed to these options, en-grained by months of having to rely on such, many will continue to use those mechanisms. And Facebook, where most people are already active, can lean into this.
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Shop and Earn on WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram Direct
Creating a shop is easy and free. Businesses will select the product they want to feature and customize the look and feel of their ‘shop’ with a cover picture and colours reflecting their brand. Any seller regardless of their size and budget can bring their business online to connect with buyers whenever and wherever they find convenience.
Facebook shops can be found on Facebook’s business page or Instagram or find them through ads and stories. Browse through their collection, save the product you like and place the order.
They are also investing in features of the apps. If you need some help in Facebook Shops, you’ll be able to message a business through WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram Direct to ask questions, get support, track deliveries and more just like when you’re in a physical store to help customers discover products they’re interested in and make purchasing easier.
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Facebook will provide businesses with a link to a new ‘shop builder’ platform. It will be an extension of your existing Facebook page tools. Here they will be able to upload their products. They can also connect to their e-commerce providers so that they can steam through their catalogue.
Have A Look At How The Shop Builder Looks Like
Facebook wants this entire process to be very simple so that maximum business can have easy access to it and thereby take -up the shop options. Brands will be able to build their online shops on Instagram and Facebook.
Facebook will start a phased rollout of shops to all the potential small businesses worldwide on Facebook and Instagram shopping. They will initiate this concept with those businesses which are already using these social media platforms like Instagram profile shops and then will gradually widen their horizon in the next months.
Facebook will make its user experience easier further for customers to message business by Messenger, WhatsApp or Instagram direct for business. Customers will be able to see a business shop where they can make purchases from a messenger stream.
Video Marketing – A Killer Secret
Facebook is adding a new video connection tool to facilitate e-commerce activity further. People can showcase their product easily. It will become more feasible to shop for products in real-time as sellers, creators and brands will be able to tag products from their Facebook shop before going live. Customers will find those products at the bottom of the video so that they can easily top to know more detailing and can place the order.
Facebook is providing more ways for small and medium businesses to make an ongoing connection with their target audiences.
In a pilot program, Facebook found out new ways to reward on – platform shopping activity. It is observed that it helps businesses better target their products to every customer. A new ‘shop’ section is added on Instagram to explore and boost product discovery.
Customers can browse through the various sections from their favourite brands. They can filter by categories like beauty and home and purchase all in one place. And later this year, they’re adding a new shop tab in the navigation bar, so customers can get to Instagram Shop in just one tap.
Relive Seamless Shopping Experience Online!
Facebook provides an audience with over 3 billion active monthly users. It will offer shops to sell and buy the product. The key, and challenging, step is functionality. It’s work to improve the functionality of its Marketplace listings with a view to encouraging online sales strategy and e-commerce activity.
If Facebook Shops are, in fact, easy for businesses to create, and they provide great user experience, they could be revolutionary and cause a radical shift in the online commerce arena. This will have immediate implications for brands and wider-reaching impacts on the broader online marketplace.
At hicentrik (The Best Digital Marketing Company in India), We hope these online sales strategy tools can relieve some of the pressure small businesses are facing right now and help businesses of all sizes prepare for the future. We’ll keep you updated on each element as Facebook provides more information. If small businesses are finding it tricky to understand all this hicentrik would love to make it super easier for you. Please feel free to connect with us.
Nikita Sharma is Chief Strategy Centrik @ hicentrik. She Strategizes, Optimizes & Revises digital activities to deliver optimum results & returns.
6 Years of Global Experience in Multi-tasking, i.e. Digital Advertising, Social Media, Ad Campaigns, Web Design & Development, Lead Generation, and Reporting.