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Facebook doesn’t just want to be your friend. It wants to become your world. With the new plan of launching two shiny sections that will open up brand new opportunities for business on the popular social platform, it’s about to become just that.
We already spend (waste?) a lot of time on Facebook – and our boss know that better than anyone – but with the new ambitious plans that Zuckerberg has for the platform, you’re about to spend some more. Small companies will get the opportunity to transform their Facebook pages into online shops, making it redundant to ever leave the website.
With more than 45 million pages already on the platform, the sections of Shopping and Services will become a hit in an instant, according to market experts. Businesses will be allowed to feature their merchandise directly on their Facebook pages, as well as offer their services.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg has announced the update yesterday during a press conference in Menlo Park, California. Both of the new sections are aimed at small businesses. Shopping, which has been undergoing tests since July, will permit retailers to use Facebook as an online shop where they can sell their products.
The Services section targets companies that offer professional services – think of salons or caterers – letting all sorts of businesses highlight their offerings. Although both sections are still in testing mode, Facebook is set to roll them out more broadly in the upcoming weeks.
Zuckerberg’s team is doing everything it can to keep you hooked onto their platform, and that’s why it also added three new interactive buttons – also under testing: Send Message, Call Now and Contact Us. The new updates were prompted by Facebook’s belief that no matter what the company is offering, their Pages should contain the information people are looking for.
Features aimed at businesses will be added throughout the year, says the company, as more sections and call-to-action options will help Facebook become *the* place to survey for services and shop online.
This update is tightly related to recently-unveiled virtual assistant “M”, which is yet another consumer-facing feature that Facebook is offering its users. Although M is still learning – it has an entire team teaching him how to complete tasks for you – the AI assistant has a load of potential in competing with Siri or Cortana.
Imagine both Shopping and Services completely integrated into businesses’ Facebook pages; it would just make it so much easier for “M” to get stuff done for you.
Image Source: CQWEN
