Facebook Marketplace sales and daily deals for retailers and brands
Facebook has finally created a marketplace where companies can sell directly to consumers. Here's how it works and how to start selling.
Facebook Marketplace, isn't it a local marketplace where goods are sold from consumer to consumer (C2C)?
That's right, but only 50%. After the early success of its Marketplace, Facebook is now helping brands and retailers sell on Facebook Marketplace as well. This post focuses on Facebook Marketplace for Business, an online marketplace available directly within the Facebook app that allows users to find and buy products directly on Facebook without being redirected from the social networking platform to the merchant's web store. We expect this to become the primary online shopping channel for authorized resellers and brand owners.
Why should I care about Facebook Marketplace?
For starters, it should be noted that Facebook Marketplace does not charge listing fees or commissions. That changes the game any time of year, and even more so in the fourth quarter, when profit margins are usually down.
In addition, Facebook Marketplace is already very popular. One in three Facebook users in the U.S. is already shopping through Marketplace, according to Facebook's own data.
Facebook Marketplace offers retailers and brands:
A personalized experience. Facebook Marketplace surfaces products relevant to shoppers with a powerful matching algorithm, helping your business find the right customers.
Organic distribution. Marketplace sellers' products will show up organically to buyers. For those who want extra visibility, this can be done with Facebook Ads, but it's not required.
No listing fees or commissions. We've talked about this before, but we'll emphasize it again because it's very important: There are no listing fees or sales commissions in the Facebook Marketplace. This means a higher-margin sales channel and the ability to offer discounts on Facebook Marketplace and Daily Deals.
Digging deeper into the topic of product search: according to the Kleiner Perkins Internet Trends Report, there are three main channels for product search:
Amazon Search (dominated by Google) Others (dominated by social channels, Facebook).
Unlike Amazon and Google Shopping Actions, which are predominantly search-based e-commerce channels, Facebook is a browse-based product discovery channel and provides a familiar customer-initiated product discovery experience.