F-Commerce Can Boost UK Retail Revenues By £3.1bn Over 3 Years

Extra revenues of £3.1 billion sounds like quite an attractive proposition, doesn’t it? This is what UK retailers could add to their sales proceeds over the next three years if they embrace Facebook commerce and make online shopping through the social media platform a worthwhile experience for buyers, an InternetRetailing article reveals.

The piece was citing the findings of research commissioned by Ecwid, the developer of web, mobile and social media store-building applications. The results show that only 4% of UK consumers have made a purchase via Facebook but 40% declared themselves more than willing to join the club provided that the shopping experience is close to that offered by an online store. Among the 2,000 people surveyed, a quarter said they would choose Facebook over eBay since the former had the potential to make the online shopping experience more personal.

Ecwid founder and CEO Ruslan Fazylev said that “f-commerce” was still a nascent business but it had enormous growth potential. While many companies have established a presence on Facebook, the majority are still struggling to monetise it. Brands that have set up Facebook stores alongside their regular web outlets have boosted their revenues by 17.7%, according to the research.

The major problem at present is the feeling among most consumers that they do not stand to gain anything by “liking” a brand. This was pointed out by 85% of the respondents, with about 57% saying that special offers and discounts would make them more likely to click on the button. For brands this is an opportunity to promote customer engagement, which will, in turn, lead to more purchases and recommendations, Fazylev said.