Some things just go well together, like bread and butter, fish and chips, or bacon and chocolate.
Okay, maybe the last one is more of an acquired taste! But, you get my point. Some things are just meant to compliment each other! Today, I want to explore another match made in heaven, Facebook Commerce and eBay.
eBay has been a pioneer in online commerce since its founding in 1995. And now, over 17 years later, people still turn to its lively community for great deals on their shopping needs. But, since its founding, other web powerhouses have entered the stage with eBay. Facebook, for one, has become the undisputed champion, serving as the portal to the web for 901 million users. But you already knew that, because you’re probably one of them!
Legacy, though, is something eBay has a leg up on over Facebook. People were selling, bidding, and buying items on eBay long before Mark Zuckerberg was creating “The Facebook.” And it is this legacy, combined with the ever-growing number of users on Facebook that I find to be a promising and potent combination.
What if all the long-time “eBay stars,” or featured sellers, that have spent years growing and establishing their unique online eBay stores could tap into that network of 900+ million users by selling their products directly within Facebook’s “closed system?” After all, it’s been demonstrated that Facebook fans are a brand’s most valuable customers, so who wouldn’t want to expose an existing eBay business to a potential wealth of new business? This is where Facebook commerce comes into play, and I think it has exciting potential when combined with the legacy of all eBay users.
With platforms such as Fanpage Toolkit, what was once traditionally confined to eBay’s domain can now be unleashed on Facebook. In fact, Facebook has recently provided users with a beautiful canvas to present themselves, their brand, and their products using the new Timeline format. Not surprisingly, the early results of engagement with Timeline-enabled pages are revealing good news for brand pages. With this update, we can clearly see that establishing a business on Facebook not only exposes products to a wider audience, but it allows true two-way communication and engagement with current and potential customers in a brand new way.
So, eBay superstar, you have thousands of products listed in your eBay store? What if your fans and customers could like, share and comment on any of them, exposing them to thousands of others within Facebook? What if your customers could chat directly with friends while they browsed an online shop? In fact, as a great example of this, check out Marsha Collier, who has already begun using Fanpage Toolkit to market her eBay resources directly from her Facebook page! Facebook commerce turns these “what if’s” into “why not’s” as commerce, marketing, and social engagement converge into one unified system.
As a Fanpage Toolkit team member, who has entered this rather “young” industry of social commerce, I’m excited to be part of its explosive growth and innovation moving forward! Certainly, you eBay superstars can teach us all a thing or two as this new industry develops.
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