Facebook announced on Monday that it is testing several ad features that would allow users to shop from their mobile phones without leaving the app. The new features are part of the company's effort to go further into e-commerce and directly compete with retail giant Amazon.
"We're looking to give people an easier way to find products that will be interesting to them on mobile, make shopping easier and help businesses drive sales," Emma Rodgers, Facebook's head of product marketing for commerce, told Reuters.
Facebook currently has about 968 million active users per day, which is three times more than Amazon's 270 million active customer accounts. Based on this number, the social networking giant has a huge advantage in terms of potential buyers.
The new ad experience called Canvas would allow users to click on an ad from a certain product, see an expanded product list and buy an item right on the spot. Users would be given to option to pay through the retailer's website or click the "Buy" button from the News Feed.
"We want to build native experiences that make it easier for...people to discover products on mobile and businesses to drive more sales," the company wrote in a blog post. "Some of our efforts are fully launched and are already creating value for people and businesses. Other are in early test phases."
Facebook users don't need to be worried about their credit or debit card information because those will not be shared with the advertisers. It is also not required to save card details for future purchases.
E-commerce or online shopping is a growing business worldwide. eMarketer, a market research firm, estimated that online sales will reach $22.92 trillion this year and will steadily grow in the next few years at a rate of 5.5 percent. Most of the buyers are from China and the United States, accounting to more than 55 percent of the global online sales in 2014.
