Facebook has announced a partnership, with several major retailers on a project, that is currently testing new interactive tools for users. The development of more business-friendly features has created buzz across the net, as many speculate on Facebook’s latest move.
Facebook Collections Partnership
According to PC Magazine’s Damon Poeter their are some major players on board to work with the social network:
“The company is currently engaging in a “small test in which a few select businesses will be able to share information about their products through a feature called Collections,” Facebook said in a statement emailed to PCMag. Retailers involved in the program are Pottery Barn, Wayfair, Victoria’s Secret, Michael Kors, Neiman Marcus, Smith Optics, and Fab.com, the company said.”
Facebook Collections for Users: Want and Collect Buttons
Techcrunch.com says Facebook users will be able to try out these retailer’s collections:
“To try out Collections, Like the Pottery Barn Page then visit this link to its first Collections post. You’ll then be able to add products to your Collections and see the product pages complete with Buy buttons.
Facebook told us this about the product:
“We’ve seen that businesses often use Pages to share information about their products through photo albums. Today, we are beginning a small test in which a few select businesses will be able to share information about their products through a feature called Collections. Collections can be discovered in News Feed, and 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 has just begun testing “Collections” — a new feature it says is “unrelated” to Pinterest but could be a competitor. It allows retailers to add “Want” or “Collect” buttons to news feed posts about products. These save and share products to a “Wishlist” on user profiles that host a “Buy” button that can be clicked through to make purchases offsite.
Facebook Collections could help retailers score viral click-throughs to their product pages by making things their fans are interested in more discoverable to friends. Facebook isn’t earning affiliate fees on Collections click throughs, but it could get brands to buy ads to get more fans.
The “Want” button adds a product to a Timeline section called “Wishlist” visible to friends of friends, the “Collect” button saves to to a Collection called “Products” that’s visible to friends only, and a special version of the “Like” button will also add to “Products” but that’s visible to friends of friends.
Facebook is showing each version to a third of users, and will be watching to see which generates the most traction and satisfaction. Note that this is all different from the “Want” button social plugin for external sites that we think Facebook is working on.
Retailers aren’t charged to share Facebook Collections posts instead of standard photos or status updates, and Facebook will not collect affiliate fees or a revenue share on purchases from Facebook Collections clicks. Still, the feature could earn it money.
Facebook Collections posts only go to a Page’s fans. That means if Pages want more people Collecting, resharing, and clicking through to purchase sites, they’ll need to be building a fan base. Facebook sells ads specifically designed to get brands more Likes for their Pages, and those ads might become a lot more valuable to retailers because of Collections. Notably, these Page Like ad units are a core part of Facebook’s mobile advertising offering.
Beyond earning money indirectly, Facebook Collections could also challenge Pinterest. If users can Collect and share products on Facebook where they and their friends already spend time, they might have less need to join Pinterest. Collections certainly isn’t robust enough to dissuade hardcore Pinners, but it could evolve to become sufficient for casual curators who don’t want to start a profile on another social network. This good-enough strategy is similar to how Facebook’s Subscribe feature limits the mainstream growth potential of Twitter.”
Facebook Collections offers some great possibilities, but it remains to be seen if these retailers will be able to connect with the Facebook user base. If successful, these interactive tools could re-ignite Facebook in the eyes of Wall Street.
