Originally it sounded like a dream come true for business owners — the ability to sell products from a Facebook page directly to customers. Before that, if a person was visiting a business’s Facebook profile and decided to purchase a product, he would have to open a separate browser window, load the business’s actual website, hunt down the product page, and finally begin the actual purchase process. Understandably, the concern was that many customers would become distracted or lose interest during all these steps. The development of the Facebook storefront was designed to eliminate these issues, but unfortunately, it has largely failed to live up to its early hype. That leaves many retailers forced to either rely solely on their own websites, or shoulder the expense of moving into build brick-and-mortar storefronts.
Many major retailers, including Gamestop, Nordstrom, J.C. Penny and the Gap, have closed down their Facebook storefronts in recent months. The reason for the failure so far of these storefronts can be attributed to several different primary causes. Perhaps the most basic of these causes is simply the fact that many businesses have yet to adapt to the new format of online commerce. Although many people have learned to shop online, most are still unsure how to relate social media to shopping. For Facebook storefronts and similar programs to become successful in the long run, businesses will need to learn how to make the shopping experience just as enjoyable as any other aspect of that person’s Facebook activities. In large part, this can be accomplished by developing a back-and-forth relationship with customers, one that incorporates product updates, inventory support and service, news and announcements and rewards programs, just to name a few ideas. Implementing these concepts, however, is a process that takes time. Read More
