• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Social Media Examiner

Your Guide to the Marketing Jungle

  • 🔥 Free Newsletter
  • 🎙️ Podcasts
    • Social Media Marketing Podcast
    • AI Explored Podcast
    • Social Media Marketing Talk Show
    • Our YouTube Channel
  • 🌟 AI Society
  • 🗓️ Marketing Conference
  • đź‘‹ About Us
    • Marketing Events
  • Search
  • Embrace AI & MarketingGet Ongoing Training & SupportBEGIN YOUR JOURNEY NOW

    How to Sell Products via Your Facebook Page

    by Tim Ware / October 26, 2010

    social media how toEver wished you could directly sell your products and services from within Facebook? If so, this post is for you.

    I decided to dig in and research the current landscape thoroughly, both to better understand the lay of the land and to save you the research hassle.

    It was only a matter of time before Facebook and e-commerce would converge. Until a little over a year ago, only storefronts existed on Facebook, where merchants could display and promote their products and, with “Add to cart” buttons, imply e-commerce functionality.

    But when users clicked on “Add to cart, they were whisked away from Facebook to the merchant's website where the actual shopping-cart experience occurred.

    Almost There: Storefronts, but Not Stores

    Two prominent examples of storefront-only functionality on Facebook are Threadless and Best Buy, both of which include great integration with Facebook's social features (sharing, commenting, liking), but don't support e-commerce transactions within Facebook.

    Best Buy's storefront is powered by BigCommerce's “SocialShop” application, which allows merchants to display products on their Facebook page and offers the user many options for viewing products and information.

    best buy
    Although it appears so, the user can't actually buy on the Best Buy Facebook page. Clicking the "Shop Now" button takes you to Best Buy's e-commerce website, also powered by BigCommerce.
    threadless
    Similarly, on the Threadless page, clicking on "Add to cart" takes you to their website where the actual e-commerce begins.

    I should also mention ShopTab, another popular storefront application, which lets Page admins handle everything on Facebook — adding products, either individually or via a data feed import, as well as editing product information. Users can search by price range or keywords, and can also share individual products. The women's lingerie company HerRoom uses ShopTab:

    HerRoom
    ShopTab costs $10 - $20 per month, depending on the number of products.

    Real Facebook e-Commerce Arrives

    On July 8, 2009, the first complete e-commerce experience appeared on Facebook when 1-800-Flowers premiered its Facebook store, powered by Alvenda. For the first time, users could conduct an entire sales transaction without ever leaving the Facebook environment. Although not a fully integrated Facebook experience, the Alvenda approach heralded the arrival of real shopping on Facebook.

    It's been only a little over a year since the 1-800-Flowers Facebook shop appeared and still there aren't a lot of choices for applications that allow the entire shopping experience to occur on Facebook. But we can certainly expect more and better applications to come online in the coming months and years.

    Here are the ones I think are the current best in show. If anyone feels I've missed one, feel free to use the comments to let me know.

    Alvenda

    alvendaAlvenda utilizes Adobe Flash to create its functionality for its many customers which include 1-800-Flowers, Delta Airlines and Brooks Brothers. The Flash “widget” is actually located on a non-Facebook server and is pulled into the Facebook “chrome” via a custom Facebook iFrame application.

    1-800-Flowers

    On the 1-800-Flowers page, when the visitor clicks on the “Shop” tab, a graphic is presented that introduces the visitor to the “Facebook Shoplet” and encourages her to “click right in” to start shopping.

    Upon clicking the “Start shopping” button, the visitor is taken to 1-800-Flowers' Alvenda-powered Facebook application where the e-commerce begins.

    1800 flowers
    The remainder of the e-commerce transaction occurs on this application page.

    (The reason for taking the user to the application page and away from the Facebook page is to get the wider application canvas page where the maximum width is 760 pixels, compared to 520 pixels on a page tab.)

    AI Business Society

    Ready to Unlock AI Marketing Breakthroughs?

    If you’re like most of us, you are trying to figure out how to use AI in your marketing. Here's the solution: The AI Business Society—a new AI marketing community from your friends at Social Media Examiner.

    The AI Business Society is the place to discover how to apply AI in your work. When you join, you'll boost your productivity, unlock your creativity, and make connections with other marketers on a similar journey.

    I'M READY TO BECOME AN AI-POWERED MARKETER

    Delta Ticket Window

    Another groundbreaking Facebook e-commerce event was Alvenda's development of “Ticket Window,” Delta Airlines' Facebook-based ticketing system, which premiered in August 2010.

    Discover Proven Marketing Strategies and Tips

    Want to go even deeper with your marketing? Check out the Social Media Marketing Podcast! Publishing weekly since 2012, the Social Media Marketing Podcast helps you navigate the constantly changing marketing jungle, with expert interviews from marketing pros.

    But don’t let the name fool you. This show is about a lot more than just social media marketing. With over 600 episodes and millions of downloads each year, this show has been a trusted source for marketers for well over a decade.

    CHECK OUT THE SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING PODCAST NOW
    delta ticket window
    Unlike the 1-800-Flowers Facebook application, the Delta Ticket Window keeps the user on the page's "Book a Trip" tab. This was the first Facebook-based airline ticketing system, and it's pretty cool.

    Alvenda's Dependence on Flash

    Although we have to give Alvenda and 1-800-Flowers kudos for getting there first, there is one drawback to the Alvenda experience: The entire e-commerce widget — which is contained in the iFrame — is built in Flash. This means that the many millions of users accessing the site via their iPhones, iTouches or iPads won't be able to use the shopping feature, as Apple does not allow Flash to run on its mobile and tablet devices.

    As more of these Apple products are sold, and they are selling like hotcakes, this will increasingly be a drawback to using Alvenda. However, in order to compensate for this, I'm certain many merchants (Alvenda's customers tend to be larger enterprises) plan to develop applications for these devices (1-800-Flowers already has).

    Alvenda is a commercial product and they don't provide costs on their website, so it's probably not cheap.

    Flash-Free and Totally Integrated Facebook e-Commerce Applications

    Fortunately for many small businesses, there are a couple of Facebook applications available that are free, fully integrated into the Facebook experience, and don't rely on Flash.

    Overall, I consider these applications the better option for smaller merchants who still wish to sell their products and services on Facebook, fully integrate with Facebook's social features and not have to rely on developing special applications to reach the millions of people using Apple devices.

    Using Payvment for a Shopping Experience

    payvment In terms of real integration with Facebook, as well as cost (it's free) and technology (it's not a Flash application), Payvment is the one to beat. It is considered the leading shopping platform inside Facebook.

    Payvment utilizes PayPal's “Adaptive Payments” API to provide what I think is the most fully integrated Facebook shopping experience to date. Payvment's feature set is pretty amazing, including full integration with Facebook and a seamless Facebook experience, product search, Facebook-wide shopping cart system (their “Open Cart Network” technology) that enables customers to complete their purchase from any storefront on Facebook, ability to customize with HTML, and TRUSTe privacy.

    This is pretty amazing — Payvment transforms Facebook into a gigantic department store where users can keep their purchases with them across thousands of Payvment-powered storefronts on Facebook and do the checkout at any point.

    Payvment also features support for FedEx and UPS automatic shipping calculations, as well as the ability for retailers to provide instant discounts and coupons to users who “Like” their page.

    Also, and importantly, once you have simply added the Payvment application to your page, you can add and manage your products right within the application.

    I checked out a few Facebook pages that are using Payvment, including Adult Swim UK, Grayce by Molly Sims (Jewelry) and Orglamix Cosmetics.

    When you add the Payvment application to your Page, it adds a tab titled “Shop Now.”

    orglamix
    As you can see, the payment interface definitely has the Facebook look and feel, and the entire experience feels and is very Facebook-centric.

    Payvment is just coming up on its one-year anniversary (it launched in October 2009), and I'd say it has the edge at this point, particularly with merchants with budgets smaller than companies like 1-800-Flowers or Delta Airlines!

    BeeShopy Is Another Shopping Option

    bee shopyIn researching this article, I thought the runner-up to Payvment was BeeShopy, which distinguishes itself from Payvment by pointing out that it will automatically import product listings on your existing store (if it's built on Shopify!) and display them on Facebook. Although only Shopify and Magento stores are currently supported, BeeShopy promises that BigCommerce, OS Commerce and other e-commerce platforms are “on the way.”

    Top K2 and My Vanity Shoes are good examples of how BeeShopy looks and functions.

    top 2k

    As I mentioned at the top, please share any applications that you think also deserve mention in this new space.

    What do you think? Have you used Facebook to sell your products? If so, leave your thoughts and comments in the box below.

    AI EXPLORED

    Curious About How to Use AI?

    Our newest show, AI Explored, might be just what you're looking for. It's for marketers, creators, and entrepreneurs who want to understand how to use AI in their business.

    It's hosted by Michael Stelzner and explores this exciting new frontier in easy-to-understand terms.

    Pull up your favorite podcast app and search for AI Explored. Or click the button below for more information.

    I WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AI

    Tags: Facebook

    About the authorTim Ware

    Tim Ware is the owner of HyperArts, a San Francisco Bay Area Web development company that also specializes in Facebook custom tabs and application development.
    Other posts by Tim Ware »

    Get Social Media Examiner’s Future Articles in Your Inbox!

    Get our latest articles delivered to your email inbox and get the FREE Social Media Marketing Industry Report (43 pages, 50+ charts)!

    Industry Report Cover

    Worth Exploring:

    Facebook

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Instagram

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    YouTube

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Linkedin

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    AI

    Next Frontier Explore More →

    Social Media Marketing Industry Report

    Get Free Report →

    Social Marketing Trends

    The data you've been missing!

    Need a new plan? Discover how marketers plan to change their social activities in the 17th annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report. It reveals what marketers have planned for their social activities, content marketing, and more! Get this free report now and never miss another great article from us. Join more than 385,000 marketers!

    Simply click the button below to get the free report:

    Footer

    Your Guide to the Marketing Jungle
    Copyright © 2025 Social Media Examiner®
    All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy.

    Helpful Links

    • About us
    • Our content via email
    • Our podcasts
    • Our YouTube channel
    • Our live show
    • Our social media marketing industry report
    • Our generative AI marketing industry report
    • Sponsorship opportunities
    • RSS