KKW / Kylie Cosmetics / Instagram
Kylie Cosmetics on Instagram Checkout.
- Facebook is becoming a retail hub.
- In addition to its marketplace feature and targeted ads, the social media company is working on many ways to shorten the path to purchase through programs like Instagram Checkout, which is now expanding.
- Companies like Sephora are also utilizing Facebook Messenger to communicate with customers in the purchase and post-purchase phase of shopping.
- "Where are people?" said Facebook's industry manager of retail Robert Petrausch at a keynote panel at the eTail West conference in Palm Springs, California. "They're spending time on Messenger, on Instagram."
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PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - Facebook may have started as a social media platform. But today, retailers are utilizing the site to reach a broader consumer base.
According to Facebook's industry manager of retail Robert Petrausch, the social media giant is interested in three main phases of the consumer journey: discovery, purchase, and post-purchase. Petrausch says that Facebook and Instagram have pretty much nailed the discovery category. But when it comes to the other two, work is still being done to improve.
"There also is so much friction in the process," Petrausch said at a keynote panel at the eTail West conference in Palm Springs, California. "And we're trying to help retailers through the purchase and post-purchase phase."
Instagram Checkout is expanding
A lot of what Facebook is focused on centers around the idea of shortening a consumer's path to purchase. That was the goal when the company launched Instagram Checkout in March, which helped consumers make a purchase they saw from an ad on the platform in just one or two clicks by storing their information in the app.
Instagram Checkout is currently in a pilot phase, but there are plans for growth, Petrausch announced at the conference on Thursday.
"The good news, which I can announce today, is we're going to expand," Petrausch said. "So if you're in women's fashion, beauty or streetwear, we're going to be expanding this and it's going to be an opportunity for companies in that area to work with checkout."
Petrausch said then when it comes to Instagram checkout, he noticed that product drops and hyped launched work very well on the platform. He gave the example of a Fear of God and Nike Cyber Monday collaboration that dropped exclusively on Instagram Checkout. It sold out in a minute.
Facebook Messenger for customer service
Facebook Messenger is also becoming a key player when it comes to purchasing and post-purchase.
"Where are people?" Petrausch asked during the panel. "They're spending time on Messenger, on Instagram."
Petrausch used the example of Sephora to illustrate how effective Messenger was for its makeover booking program. It only takes about three steps to book a makeup appointment at Sephora directly through Messenger. It can take ten steps or more to book elsewhere.
"So they saw an 11% higher booking rate via Messenger than they did via their own website or some other ways of booking," Petrausch said, though he believes his company is just scratching the surface on Messenger.
Even outside of its main platform, Facebook is assisting retailers in other ways as well. The social network owns Oculus, the Virtual Reality technology, which Walmart is currently utilizing to train their associates at scale. Facebook also owns Workplace, a global communications platform used by Starbucks and Walmart to communicate with employees and host town halls.
The company is also testing a solution that can help identify which people are more likely to buy online and pick up in-store.
"So it's beyond ads," Petrausch said.
