The social networking giant announced the move in a blog post on Thursday, saying it would “help businesses drive sales” through its service while offering users an easier way to purchase from advertisers without having to exit the site.
“With this feature, people on desktop or mobile can click the Buy call-to-action button on ads and Page posts to purchase a product directly from a business, without leaving Facebook,” the post said. It added that the button may also appear on a user’s News Feed.
For the time being at least, Facebook won’t be taking a cut of sales from the businesses involved in the test phase, most of which are said to be small- and medium-sized companies. It doesn’t, however, rule out such a move further down the line.
The social media site reassured users that credit and debit card information would not be shared with other advertisers, while customers can choose whether to save their details on the site or enter them anew each time they make a purchase.
Facebook has dabbled with sales of physical goods on its site in the past, in 2012 launching a ‘Gifts’ feature that allowed users to buy a selection of items for friends. However, the site turned away from physical goods a year later, switching the service to gift cards instead.
Facebook’s move comes just a few weeks after a ‘Buy now’ button was briefly spotted on Twitter, placed beneath product images, though the microblogging site is yet to make any official announcement on introducing it as a feature.
