Los Angeles — Payvment, a popular social e-commerce platform, that enables anyone to create and operate a retail storefront on Facebook, on Thursday announced the launch of its latest endeavor: first virtual Facebook Shopping Mall on the social media network for over one million searchable products and includes a directory of e-commerce stores, from celebrity brands to local merchants.
The new Facebook app dubbed as Shopping Mall integrates some of the social aspects of Facebook with a smooth online shopping experience that many people seem to prefer over brick-and-mortar stores. The platform is linked with all the stores that use Payvment’s retail app for Facebook, the Mall offers over one million searchable products from 50,000 retailers in a centralized place.
The new app is marvelously straightforward: Like any other mall, the Shopping Mall brings all these sellers under one roof having Payvment storefronts and categorize shopping experiences by seller, items, bestsellers, recommended items, besides, makes it easier to browse, research, and buy goods, all without leaving the social media network.
“The Shopping Mall on Facebook is where online shopping gets truly social,” said Christian Taylor, founder and chief executive officer of Payvment.
“We are confident that the Shopping Mall on Facebook will be the place people go to discover new brands, great deals, and the products they and their friends want.”
The platform will allow users to shop around different Facebook storefronts with one universal cart and unlike traditional malls, Payvment’s Shopping Mall also includes an individualized section that shows you what you and your friends are “liking” on the mall, and get recommendations based on their Facebook interests.
Furthermore, the most inventive feature of the platform is probably Payvment’s universal shopping cart and checkout feature, which allows the user to add items from different stores to the same cart and go through one checkout process.
A “Your Cart” feature holds on to your saved items in a universal and updates pricing and inventory information. So basically, you can add a $300 crystal necklace from Molly Sims’ storefront to the same cart to which you add a hand-knitted baby blanket from a private seller in Spokane, Washington, and you can buy both in one checkout process. Facebook users can also comment on any item and post comments to their News feed.
Payvment’s Facebook App, which was introduced in November of 2009, empowers anyone create a retail store on the social network. The app allows you to display products, categories of products (i.e. shoes, T-shirts, sweaters), import photos, list terms of service and shipping options and more. Once you set up your online shop on Facebook, it will show up in a separate tab on your profile or page under “storefront”.
The idea of a virtual shopping mall on Facebook certainly makes sense considering how the social network is evolving as a destination for e-commerce. The company has received an immense response from brands who are eager to adopt Payvment’s turnkey solution for creating a storefront on the popular social media Facebook that will allow Facebook users to browse and purchase products without ever having to leave the network. Some 250 new sellers are signing onto the Payvment platform each day.
Moreover, the year 2010 was a big year for e-commerce, with an estimated $43.4 billion spent online, but the social graph will provide the next wave of e-commerce spending as users look to personalize their shopping experience by buying from sellers that have established social histories. Of course, Facebook, which is reportedly bolstering its e-commerce initiatives in 2011, could open its own shopping mall, and use Facebook Credits as a form of currency.