Social shopping has never been so popular as it is today, with more companies and consumers jumping on the Facebook ecommerce bandwagon than ever before. In fact, Facebook ecommerce has become so popular that it has garnered it’s own name– F-Commerce. SortPrice, shopping search engine and ecommerce leader, will release some exciting statistics about the growth of F-Commerce next week and they’ve given us a sneak peak at the stats.
The SortPrice stats establish the online shopping comparison engine, along with the SortPrice Store Application for Facebook Platform, as leading resources for retailers looking to go social. But aside from that they illustrate the sheer size and force of Facebook commerce. The stats are based upon retailers that used the company’s Store Application for Facebook Platform in 2010, which include Petco, Adidas Soccer, Golfsmith and more.
Some of the most impressive statistics are as follows:
- More than $3.78 billion worth of merchandise was put on SortPrice-built Facebook storefronts in 2010.
- Over 7.6 million products were posted to SortPrice Facebook storefronts in 2010. This is a whopping 60 percent increase from 2009, in which 4.6 million products were posted.
- In 2010 there were approximately 53,000 different categories of products and 28 different product industries accounted for in SortPrice-built Facebook storefronts.
With so many different product categories and industries being represented in F-Commerce, which are the most popular? According to the SortPrice study, apparel is the most popular product industry, with 62,106 products posted. However, Home & Garden was the top industry in dollars, at $7.97 million.
These stats make it clear that F-Commerce is definitely a booming industry, and it’s only growing, and SortPrice seems to be at the head of the pack, having built Facebook stores for over 1,500 retailers. Asaf Klibansky, the co-founder and CTO of SortPrice, says, “Last year, retailers across the board began to realize the importance of hopping on the social shopping bandwagon. And as they have since 2008 when we introduced the Store Application, more merchants turned to SortPrice.com than anyone to help them tap into the enormous audiences available to them on Facebook.”
For those of you who are unfamiliar with social shopping, F-Commerce and Facebook storefront shops, check out the image of the Petco Shop on Facebook below. Basically, users are able to browse store items, like, share or add them to their wish list directly from Facebook. If they want to purchase an item, they click and are directed to purchase on the Petco website.
Of course, Facebook storefronts are great for companies because it gives them an additional outlet for letting their customers spread the word about the products they are interested in purchasing. It’s great for consumers as well. If I’m thinking about buying something (say, a nice jacket for my dog), I can post the item on my wish list and share it with my Facebook friends to ask them what they think before I decide to make my purchase. The social aspect of F-Commerce is certainly great for everyone involved, if you ask me.
Have you purchased anything through a Facebook storefront? What’s your take on F-Commerce and the growth of social commerce?
