Facebook Adds New “Want” Button

Black Tie Digital Marketing wanted to let you know of a new Facebook feature that Facebook Inc. is testing in order to eventually push the site into an e-commerce site. This new feature will let users of Facebook “wish lists” of home furnishings, clothing, and other retail products.

TechCrunch reported that, “Facebook said it is working with seven retailers, including Pottery Barn and Victoria’s Secret, to test the new feature that will allow certain users to flag images of desired products by clicking a special “want” button.”

“People will be able to engage with these collections and share things they are interested in with their friends. People can click through and buy these items off of Facebook,” Facebook said in a statement.

The feature, which Facebook has name Collections, could help Facebook play a bigger role in the online commerce market by encouraging its 1 billion users to buy products for their friends and by sending shoppers directly to online stores. E-commerce is one of the best ways to monetize the Internet and Facebook has been looking for ways of doing this, first with charging money to businesses to run offers and now by adding this new ‘want’ feature. Retailers might also pay Facebook to promote products featured on users’ wish lists, similar to the way the Facebook’s current ads function.

Facebook’s new Collections feature will gradually be offered to 100 percent of its U.S. users, Facebook said. Some users will see the “want” button as part of the test, while others will see a button inviting them to “collect” an item or to “like” an item. Unlike Facebook’s existing “like” button, the feature that Facebook is testing will showcase the “liked” item within a user’s Timeline profile page. “Facebook is also testing the Collections feature with Neiman Marcus, Michael Kors, Smith Optics, Wayfair and Fab.com,” TechCrunch reported.

It will be interesting to see how this new feature of Facebook will play out and as always, feel free to contact our team at 1.800.316.8030 to learn about how we can help you manage your social media accounts or how we can help you with web design in Melbourne, Florida.