Facebook is expanding into the world of e-commerce, announcing a new service that puts it in competition with Amazon and eBay. Facebook Shops will allow businesses to set up free "storefronts" on Facebook and Instagram, working with third-party services including Shopify. CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the move will help rebuild the economy and support small businesses, which have been suffering in recent weeks as physical shops are shuttered. Online shopping has seen a bump during the pandemic and e-commerce companies have drawn record sales.

An asset-light, eCommerce marketplace platform with a global footprint that integrates content + communication + commerce + entertainment + payment + advertising + loyalty + tech & analytics support as well as with the financial muscle to provide grants/loans to small businesses!

This was a matter of time and Zuckerberg & Co. have made numerous attempts at it in the past but I suppose COVID19 accelerated the plans given how badly SMEs are bleeding globally.

If this works out, this could be a global version of what they are attempting to do in India in partnership with Reliance JioMart, one that allows them to monetize their data treasure trove through ads and now also make a cut on transactions!

They have got the strategy, the financial capacity, the disparate pieces but the question is can they implement and stitch this together into a seamless, robust, global product and also gets past anti-trust regulations?

Your move, Amazon & Shopify!

Can Facebook's planned move into the online shopping space signal a new opportunity for social enterprises?

In hashtag#Armenia, many social enterprises (and other small and medium enterprises) currently use Facebook to market their products and services as well as handle customer queries and complaints.

Since they are already visible in this space, the added feature of being able to sell directly from Facebook could be a gamechanger for them (especially if Facebook provides the financial side of the service, a sticking point in a country where you cannot receive payments through PayPal).

Is there potential for Facebook's solution to have such a dramatic impact on the social entrepreneurship space in other countries?

I'd be interested in hearing your views. hashtag#SocialEntrepreneurship hashtag#SocialEnterprise hashtag#Online Shopping hashtag#SMM

The launch of Facebook Shops is big.

It seems as though this could be laying the groundwork for livestreaming to play a massive role in sales.

#Facebook launches Shops today - making their biggest step yet into the world of online commerce.

It will be powered by hashtag#Shopify, hashtag#BigCommerce, and hashtag#WooCommerce - making both Facebook and hashtag#Instagram far more shoppable for all of us almost immediately.

(Hopefully.) Will be interesting to see if this new tech improves direct-to-consumer sales for hashtag#smallbusiness. Will be interesting to see what exactly Mark Z. has in mind when it comes to restaurants opening up Facebook Shops and taking orders online.

Are they looking to play in the space occupied by hashtag#DoorDash, hashtag#GrubHub, and hashtag#UberEats? Rick Watson, the great prognosticator, called it long ago saying Facebook would make a leap into commerce.

Where will it go from here with hashtag#Amazon, hashtag#Google, Facebook, Instagram, Shopify, Pinterest, and many more all dipping their toes into each others' pools??

Get your popcorn ready!

Connecting people through commerce is something I care about deeply. It’s devastating to see the economic impact COVID-19 is having on our society and especially small businesses right now. I feel fortunate to work at Facebook where we’re accelerating our work to build commerce products to help businesses and people connect.

With many small businesses trying to survive by moving their storefronts online, we’re introducing a new product today called Facebook Shops, an easy way for businesses to set up an online store on Facebook and Instagram.

The only real competition the Four have is ... each other.