Utilizing Facebook's massive audience to help grow an ecommerce business through social networking takes little more than common sense and hard work. However, to take full advantage of the world's largest social network as an actual selling platform requires a little more know-how than elbow grease.
Facebook as an ecommerce platform makes sense for just about any retailer on the Web, especially given the fact that the ChannelAdvisor Facebook Commerce Index has seen a 6.5 percent retail fan increase since June. Now commonly referred to as F-Commerce, the platforms below enable Facebook shoppers -- all 750 million of them -- to buy directly from merchants without leaving their favorite site.
ShopIgniter
ShopIgniter provides a social commerce suite of products for those interested in using Facebook as an ecommerce solution. The suite includes the sCommerce Platform, Social Promotion Engine and Facebook Store. With this suite, businesses have the ability to manage products, pricing, marketing and more.
An additional feature of the ShopIgniter Facebook application is the ability for consumers to purchase items without leaving Facebook, which is great considering that 700 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each month. Visit ShopIgniter's website to request a demo of the sCommerce suite.
ShopVisible
This solution isn't a widget or application, instead it is a platform created for Facebook that can be used alone or with an existing ecommerce store. A few features that are included with ShopVisible are payment processing, shipping, content management, order management and customer relationship management functions.
This platform also gives consumers the ability to compare and share products with friends, which gives businesses even more publicity and can lead to more fan "likes."
BigCommerce
The BigCommerce application puts a shop tab on a business's fan page. This tab takes consumers to a BigCommerce SocialShop, where they have the ability to purchase items and share products through their news stream.
This solution also allows a business to share their featured products through their business page. BigCommerce offers a free 15 day trial for their services, and after that prices start at $24.95 a month.
VendorShop
This free solution features a dashboard, which makes managing multiple stores and tracking changes easier. Consumers can make their purchases without leaving Facebook, and merchants are allowed to post an unlimited amount of products to their storefront.
Additionally, in order to drive a business's "likes," fans of a business are eligible for discounts, but consumers do not have to be fans in order to make a purchase.
Payvment
This free ecommerce platform claims that its users see their first sale in less than three days after their store's launch on Facebook.
With this social media ecommerce solution, consumers can conveniently browse and purchase items without ever leaving Facebook. Another available feature of Payvment is the Shopping Mall, which allows consumers to browse over 2 million products as well as view items that their friends have "liked."