Facebook Want Button – Do you want it!

We are sure that each one of us must have used the Facebook ‘Like’ button. For me, it is hard to stop myself hitting the like button when I see an image of a stunning and yummilicious cake or a lobster being shared by one of my friends. However, the ‘Like’ doesn’t really suggests if my action was due to the fact that I have already consumed the dish earlier or if I wanted to try it out in the near future. From months, the speculations were that Facebook would be announcing something big, which would let them enter the e-commerce market.

The social networking firm has launched a new ‘Want’ button so that the users are able to show their desire and willingness that they would like to purchase the product in the near future’ or might as well make the purchase right then.The ‘Want’ button works alongside a new feature for retailers called ‘Collections’.

‘Collections’ allows the retailers to create product catalogue within Facebook. When Facebook users ‘Want’ a product available in the ‘Collections’ (created by the retailers), they will be provided with an option to purchase the product directly from the retailer’s website. Products that you clicked on will also be appearing on your Facebook Timeline.

The new ‘Want’ feature has been compared with Pinterest by a few experts. However, Facebook is just one step ahead of Pinterest, as the products that are added in the ‘Collection’ (by retailers)would be linked to a buy link.

Facebook is currently working with seven retailers to test the feature, which includes Pottery Barn, Wayfair, Victoria’s Secret, Michael Kors, Neiman Marcus, Smith Optics, and Fab.com.

To understand the feature better, let us take the example of Victoria’s Secret:

• On its page, ‘Want’ would be represented by a green shopping bag right below the product’s image posted by Victoria’s Secret.
• When you click on the link of the post, the image would open in a larger preview style and the ‘Want’ feature would be displayed at the top left corner of the image.
• When you press the ‘Want’ button, you are asked “Why do you want it?”, once you pressed the ‘Save’ button on the dialogue box the information would be posted on your timeline after a while.
• You are also able to ‘Unwant’ the product if you want to.
• You can also create your own collection. The products you have ‘Collected’ doesn’t directly go to your wall, however, you are able to view the collected items under the activities.

Conclusion:

E-commerce is one of the best ways to monetize on the internet. Considering the fact about that Facebook is a platform where people engage in a number of ways, there might be lots of other things which might help Facebook to identify more monetization opportunities. We are looking forward to see the user feedback about this addition by Facebook, and also would like to receive your opinion.