In what is sure to be the start of a very big trend, JCPenny is announcing their new Facebook application that allows Facebook users to browse and purchase items directly from JC Penny’s Facebook page. Users will be able to browse and search JC Penny’s catalog, as well as “like” products and purchases. I’m not sure I see the point of “liking” your purchase of a new pair of boots, but then again I also don’t use Facebook.
I admit I’m a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to online shopping. I dislike buying from anyone other than Amazon, most of the time. Even if I were a regular Facebook user, I’m not so sure that I’d rely upon Facebook to execute my shopping transactions. There’s the obvious concern about Facebook’s ever-changing attitude toward privacy, for one. But there’s also the concern that Facebook would be learning way more about me than I might care for them to know. And then there’s the question of whether online shopping really benefits much from becoming a social activity. Finally, there’s the question of just what Facebook is: a site to “connect and share with the people in your life”, or an all-encompassing platform for all the things you might wish to do online?
I guess it’s a good thing for some people, so don’t let my skepticism interrupt your enthusiasm at all.
In Time for Holidays, JCPenney Offers All Items for Purchase and Sharing on Facebook
NEW YORK, NY AND PLANO, TX (Dec. 14, 2010) — Usablenet, a leading provider of mobile Web, applications, kiosk, tablet, and assistive solutions, today announced its first fully integrated Facebook e-commerce application for its client JCPenney. The new integrated Facebook application, powered by Usablenet’s platform, sets to revolutionize the convergence of shopping and social media by extending full e-commerce functionality to retailers’ Facebook pages. Usablenet customers can now enable their users to search, share, like, discuss, and even purchase products within their branded Facebook pages. This powerful application allows companies to effectively reach the 500 million active Facebook users, many of which spend the majority of their online time browsing the social network.
Usablenet now powers the following functionality on the JCPenney Facebook page:
- Transactions: Supports a full e-commerce experience within the Facebook page, including add to cart, checkout, edit and remove products from cart, specify shipping address, ship to store, and pay with credit card.
- Curated Inventory: Selected categories and products from the traditional e-commerce website are now extended to Facebook.
- Search: Enables full search of all products currently included in the brand’s product pages.
- Like and Share: Facebook users can like and share items and purchases with their friends.
- Review: Product display pages are integrated with reviews API allowing users of the community to comment on a product.
- Analytics: Usablenet supports Google Analytics to understand and maximize ROI by tracking campaigns, page metrics, and e-commerce conversions.
“By extending the Usablenet platform to Facebook, we now allow our clients to leverage the same robust, reliable, secure platform to the world’s largest social network as an additional channel to increase sales,” said Nick Taylor, Usablenet President. “Retailers, such as JCPenney, can now drive revenue by engaging with fans, displaying products, supporting full purchase, and tracking analytics within their Facebook communities.”
“With over 1.3 million friends and growing, our Facebook page remains a vital tool for engaging our customers as they explore and share the JCPenney brand,” said Tom Nealon, group executive vice president for JCPenney. “By introducing commerce capability, we are able to take our Facebook experience to the next level, providing convenient features that encourage social integration and user contribution as our customers shop.”
Usablenet’s platform extends this new integrated Facebook application to any industry, which gives brands the ability to engage with consumers through a new channel. Usablenet’s 300 plus clients can now extend products, information, and services available on their websites to the world’s largest social network.