09 October 2012, 16:11 Business

"I want it, I get it"

Facebook began testing buttons for online retailers

Ekaterina Tkachenko , Anastasia Matveeva close 100%

Facebook has begun testing a new “I want” button in the US.

Reuters Facebook has begun testing new “Want” and “Get” buttons that will help online retailers promote their brands and better interact with users. With the help of new features, Facebook hopes to regain investor interest that was undermined after the IPO and find new sources of income.

The social network Facebook has begun testing a new “I want” button, which will be intended for online retailers, writes The Financial Times .

The button allows users to add product images to a list of items they would like to purchase. Facebook is also testing a Collect button.

Facebook partners in testing the new feature included brands Michael Kors, Victoria's Secret, Smith Optics, Pottery Barn, Wayfair, Neiman Marcus, Smith Optics and Fab.com. The feature works as follows: if a user likes, for example, the products of the furniture store Pottery Barn, images of the products will be displayed in his news feed. Next to the photo, the user is asked to click either the “I want” or “I like” or “Get” button, and also leave a comment. Clicking on the “Like” or “Get” buttons duplicates the image in the “products” section located in the user’s profile, and “I Want” transfers it to the wish-list. In addition, by clicking on “Get”, the user can also proceed to placing an order for the purchase of the product they like.

With the launch of new features, Facebook hopes to regain investor interest and find new sources of income.

A similar function is used by the social network Pinterest. Many retailers have noted the growing popularity of brands that promote through the social network: this year, the Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten invested about $1.5 billion in its development. According to Facebook representatives, the new functions of the social network will allow online retailers to better interact with network users. “We noticed that companies often share information about their products through photo albums that appear in the user’s feed. So why not give users the opportunity to tell everyone about their preferences,” representatives of the social network argue.

New features will allow Facebook to play a more significant role in the e-commerce sector - the social network's 1 billion users will be able to buy goods for their friends, and the network will be able to redirect users directly to online stores.

notes Reuters . Colin Sebastian analyst Robert Baird believes that the service could become a new source of income for the company: “E-commerce is one of the best ways to monetize on the Internet.” “It's such a big platform and people are so passionate about it that it's clear how much revenue opportunity they haven't yet realized,” he says. According to him, the network can receive funds not only from users, but also from retail chains, which will be able to more targetedly promote their products depending on what users add to their wish-list. However, it is not yet known when the new buttons will become available to all Facebook users.

The company's plans to introduce new functions became known in mid-September.

In addition to “I want”, the functions “Read”, “Listen” and “Watch” were announced. Facebook also intends to launch a music and video sharing service.

It is not yet known when the new buttons will be available to all Facebook users.

Last month, the social network also introduced a new Gifts service, with which friends on the resource can send each other real gifts. The new service allows you to place an order to send teddy bears, cakes, gift cards and other gifts from Facebook. To send a gift to a friend, the user needs to click on the “gifts” icon on the friend’s Facebook page or click on the “Give her/him a gift” icon, which is located on the right side of the site, next to the notification of an upcoming birthday.

For now, the service is only available in the United States. The ability to send gifts is supported by the browser version of Facebook, as well as the Android application of the social network. In the future, the company promises to provide this opportunity through iPhone smartphones and iPad tablet computers from Apple , which run on the iOS operating system, and open access to the service in other countries.