Facebook's new shopping section on its mobile app comes just in time for the holiday season as the tech giant takes another stab at retail.
With the latest digital storefront, uses can click on a retailer's ad on the app to be rerouted to a full-screen catalog. This feature keeps users on the Facebook interface but allows them to browse products faster and easier. Facebook doesn't plan on taking a cut of the revenue from this feature yet.
This isn't Facebook's first attempt at retail influence. Last year, Facebook tried pushing a "buy" button and two years before that, it tried making us send birthday gifts to our digital friends. (Both were rather ineffective.)
So why keep trying? Facebook, with its 1.49 billion users, has direct insight on the brands and behaviors people like, which could make more efficient advertising for retailers. Other social media sites, like Twitter and Pinterest, realize this too. [Crain's]
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