How to Start a Store in Facebook

For those with their finger on the pulse of eCommerce, it is a common known fact that the next step for online retailers to take is to move their stores into the social media platforms. And even for those who aren't quite as in tune with eCommerce, it's widely known that Facebook is the social media platform with the most bang.Not only did Facebook recently surpass Google as the world's most visited site, but people who use Facebook do so often and for longer periods of time. Facebook states that "people spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook" and that half of their active users (around 250,000,000 people) log on to Facebook on any given day. That means, on average, each user is on Facebook for around an hour and a half a day! Clearly, being able to utilize this social network as a sales tool will reap large rewards, but even better is the fact that being able to fully integrate your store into a Facebook page is still a new phenomenon, so you have the chance to get in on this exciting new feature on the ground floor. If used to it's full potential, this feature could grow your business farther than you ever thought possible. There are a few ways to do this. One option is to set up a store within your Facebook account that is not linked to a webpage based online store. One example of this is Storefront Social, which allows you to input products directly into Facebook, with the option to sync them with your existing store for the higher level accounts. Plans for an account range from around $5 to $50 a month. If you already have an online store, there are also other third party sites that will sync up with your existing store. An example of this option is BeeShopy. BeeShopy integrates with both Magneto and Shopify. If you are interested in this sort of solution and don't have a Magneto or Shopify store, you can also request to add your host. Prices depend on your plan with your host site, but they range from about $20 to $300 + dollars a month. If you don't want to pay any fees, there are also free options. Whenever "free" is involved, you have to be careful of which service you go with because often you get what you pay for. MiiDuu.com offers a great free option, though, allowing you to set up a fully functional store within your Facebook page for free, and it only takes a minute to sign up for an account. Accounts are also free, so if you are interested in this option it is easy to sign up for a MiiDuu account to get free access to the MiiDuu Shop for Facebook. No matter which option you choose, make sure you get the most out of it! There are 500 MILLION active users on Facebook, so plenty of potential customers are out there waiting to be discovered. Make sure you have a good social media campaign in place so you can get your product out there without being annoying. You should also make sure all of your existing customers know about your new store. If they are active on your Facebook page, they are more likely to share your page with their friends who will share your store with their friends, and so on. If utilized correctly, your Facebook store has the potential to take you to the next level, and beyond.