Facebook Continues Its Full-Court Press Into Retail

The news coming out of Facebook’s F8 Developer’s Conference last week could have big implications for retailers. The company made some bold announcements regarding its Messenger Platform—including integration with e-commerce sites to facilitate customer service, order verification and receipts, order modification, shipping status, and returns.

That’s a pretty dominating list of interactive e-commerce functions. It’s a list that’s currently fulfilled by a host of solutions providers, from e-commerce platform vendors like NetSuite to chat applications like LivePerson to third-party logistics providers like UPS. Facebook is wading into some hotly contested waters teeming with schools fish, big and small.

If Facebook’s Messenger application for e-commerce gains even moderate traction among the company’s 1.3 billion subscribers (700 million of whom are active), it plants Facebook even more firmly as an important element in your omni-channel strategy. Where the “buy button” fizzled, Messenger might sizzle. Everlane and Zulily are already in pilot.

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