VENDORSHOP, A Dublin-based firm with a Facebook plug-in that allows users to set up a shop on the social networking site free of charge and start selling within minutes, has 10,000 businesses worldwide using its software, with British comedian Jack Whitehall one of the most high-profile users.
“Businesses are investing a lot of time and money in their social networking presence without a direct pay-off. This is an opportunity for businesses to add a new revenue channel simply and easily,” said Chris Small, founder of VendorShop.
Signs are pointing to the social networking platform as the shop of the future – a July 2010 report from Gartner found that 74 per cent of consumers rely on sites such as Facebook to shape their purchasing decisions. The overwhelming majority of US online retailers – 86 per cent – have a Facebook fan page.
VendorShop already has 10,000 businesses worldwide using their application to sell to Facebook users. There is still a stigma associated with social networking, or “not-working” as some employers see it, says Mr Small, but something as simple as an extra tab that allows you to sell merchandise makes sense. “Most people join a Facebook business page to get updates on products, promotions and to get discounts. It’s a pretty logical step then to make the buying process easy by adding a shop to that page,” he explains.
“You often hear that it [social web] is all about the conversation but building rapport doesn’t lead to direct sales. What does is placing your products for sale within the site.”
This seems to be working quite well for those using the service cleverly and offering fan discounts to those that like their brand. While it might seem a bit more difficult to sell apparel or homewares online, this kind of social commerce lends itself to certain niches. Jack Whitehall uses VendorShop to sell tickets on Facebook and found his gigs were selling out within days.
VendorShop uses PayPal to process payments securely, so no credit card details are seen by Facebook or the businesses using the virtual shop.
The company is looking at adding other payment methods in the next few months.
“There a lots to be said for keeping it simple – people who use Facebook regularly don’t like leaving it and they don’t have to. By forcing them to go to e-commerce site means they are more likely to abandon the cart.”
VendorShop has plans for premium additions to the application but says it will continue to keep the core product free of charge.
