Facebook already has a Marketplace and lets businesses tag products in their posts. Social media, however, is making an even more significant push into online shopping with the launch of Facebook Shops today. It allows businesses to turn their Facebook or Instagram pages into shopfronts. Users can then hop in, scan the product catalog, and buy the goods they like without ever leaving any of the social applications.

Why makes Facebook Shops so beneficial? One of the highlights of the characteristic is that you require to set up one storefront via Facebook. The said store will then become available to users on your Instagram profile as well. 

Instagram Shops will be launched in the US later this summer. A dedicated ‘Shops’ tab will display at the bottom, enabling a one-stop solution to browse and buy goods. It will replace the existing Activity tab, which could combine into the Profile tab in the future. Facebook is making an offensive push into online shopping.

Even Instagram Live will get a live shopping feature in the coming months. Influencers will be able to pin products, probably in partnership with brands, in their live streams. This will make it easy to draw the viewer’s attention and convert leads to a purchase. Imagine Kylie Jenner going live with here latest nail paint lineup. She requires to pin a product link in the Instagram Live, and the stock will be off the shelf in minutes, especially since Facebook combines a checkout feature in its applications. This feature will be available to Facebook Live users as well.

Facebook Shops will start with Facebook and Instagram. The company, however, is planning to bring it to WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram Direct. Yeah, you will be capable of browsing products and shopping it from within a chat window very soon. The blog post further says that “you’ll be able to message a business through WhatsApp, Messenger or Instagram Direct to ask questions, get support, track deliveries, and more.”

On a side note, Reliance JioMart could be planning to benefit from the Facebook Shops feature in the coming months. It will debut a storefront on WhatsApp, connecting your local Kirana shops to you, via the messaging app. A pilot program for JioMart is already live in Mumbai. 

It will be more broadly available to all users in the coming weeks, so get your brand assets ready and open shop once the feature is ready for you.