Turning your Facebook into a shop

While many businesses have pumped significant money and man hours into building their Facebook presence and communicating with their social network, most still see Facebook as a marketing channel. However, what they may not know is how easy it is to turn it into an effective sales channel.

The term ‘social commerce’ is now a staple topic at every meeting involving sales people and marketers. Essentially it means turning one’s social network into a market place. Logically it is the next big step for those who want something more from Facebook [and their other social networks].

While Facebook can be an effective marketing channel for certain brands there is no reason it can’t also be transformed into the world’s largest online market with millions of individual stores.

Technically, everyone from Wal-Mart to Nike to Michael Casey [he creates bog oak sculptures] can set up shop on Facebook. In fact, small businesses are best suited to benefit from such a sales channel. The costs are minimal, the app is available and the potential is limited only by the demand for your products and the effectiveness of your marketing.

Spotting this obvious gap for a social commerce app, Chris Small co-founded Vendorshop just over a year ago. The company provides free Facebook shopping cart apps. So far over 10,000 artists, musicians, craftspeople and businesses worldwide have availed of this generous offer. So what’s in it for them, how does Vendorshop make money?

“The plan is to offer added value apps to users. We’re developing social tools that will increase the exposure and drive sales for individual retailers who want more from the platform,” says Small.

As social commerce is in its infancy the rule book is being written and re-written on a daily business. “Yes, it’s interesting to watch it develop and see what works and at the end of the day it’s down to the individual promoting and selling. What we’re seeing is the importance of social networking ability to the success of sales.”