Facebook’s proposition – the Want button
The ‘Want’ button is exactly what Facebook needs to convince brands to commit to the concept of F-commerce.Facebook has been working for a long time behind the scenes to make the site more attractive as a retail channel. Ultimately, advertisers want to drive sales and Facebook wants to demonstrate its value as a sales platform. If Facebook can do this through the ‘Want’ innovation, taking a percentage of each sale for itself, both brands, shareholders and customers will benefit.
Advice for brands
The “Want” button is all about generating sales. The simpler brands can make the buying process, the more likely they are to boost sales. Each extra step in the sales process makes a conversion less likely. The main benefit of f-commerce should be a quick, easy and secure purchasing process, where customers can buy without leaving the site. For this to become a reality, brands need to integrate f-commerce into their sales and order management systems.
For organisations to take full advantage of the potential of Facebook’s new “Want” offering most will need to firstly remove the silos between business systems to deliver a more granular view of customers. This will enable advertisers to better understand customer behaviour and better target customers via Facebook.
With technology analyst house IDC suggesting that in the next three to five years, between 10 and 15 per cent of consumer spending in developed countries could be via sites such as Facebook, integrating f-commerce into a multi-channel offering is set to become a necessity rather than an option.
– Richard Britton, managing director, CloudSense