Retailers create integrated Facebook stores

About 10 years ago the thought of even making purchases on a brand’s website seemed new wave. However, now retailers seem to have hit an e-commerce slide, where their own online stores are no longer sufficient and they

are looking to create mini outlets on social networking sites.

Goaded on by the marketing presence they have developed on sites, in particular, Facebook, now retailers are making full transactions possible via these mediums. As much as brands are pushing to make this method of purchase viable, with it comes several payment problems they need to tackle.

Asos is a UK example of a retailer with a fully integrated Facebook store, whereby consumers can check out within the social networking site, mainly through Paypal.

However obviously this brings security risks; PayPal director of platform and innovations John Lunn says it is not surprising that retailers are emphasising the safety of purchasing through their Facebook stores. “If you are doing a normal transaction on a retailer’s ecommerce site then it is a one-to-one transaction. On Facebook, the concept is all about sharing.”

There are several ways that retailers can handle payment in a Facebook store. The first is to redirect users to another page outside Facebook where they can pay, or they can create a lightbox that hovers over the page in the Facebook store.

There is also debate as to whether Facebook will devise their own credits currency to purchase products, currently the site allows consumers to purchase these credits via Paypal, credit card payment and mobile phone, but these credits can’t be used to pay for physical products only virtual goods and apps.

Admittedly it is still very early days for this form of retail/consumer transaction. However although brands are cautious, with results proving beneficial for the early adopters, others are going to want to follow, which will beg further question about forms of payment and security measures.