An Easy Way to Add eCommerce to Your Facebook Page (f-commerce)

Monday, May 21st, 2012
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Although f-commerce sounds a bit like a bad word, it is actually an abbreviation for Facebook Commerce. Even though f-commerce is yet to be proven, many companies go down the road of actually creating Facebook-specific eCommerce applications because social commerce is such a hot topic.  Here’s a dirty little secret that many of those companies aren’t going to want to hear. Adding eCommerce to your brand’s Facebook page can actually be quite simple if you are already selling online. It can be done in a matter of minutes and with no additional cost.

Here is how you do it:

  1. Visit this page http://apps.facebook.com/static_html_plus/ and click the “Add Static HTML Page” to button next to “Get the app”
  2. Select to add this application to your brand page.
  3. Add this code to the public content box. <iframe src=”http://YOUR_STORE_URL_HERE” style=”border:0″ width=”810″ height=”865″ scrolling=”yes”></iframe> replacing YOUR_STORE_URL_HERE with your online store’s URL.
  4. Visit Settings, uncheck “No Scrollbars” and add Google Analytics id number.
  5. Edit the settings of your new tab and name the tab “Online Store” or similar and position its tab in a visible position. Also consider uploading a custom image for the tab.

It is that easy. Here are some additional helpful hints.                               

  • The maximum width you can use is 810 pixels. If your store is wider than 810 pixels, consider using your mobile store URL such as http://store.surfsidecellars.com/mobile/current-release-wines-c1.aspx.
  • You can also have a separate Facebook store URL for fans. With Nexternal, you can combine your store URL with a coupon code, which automatically activates. Perhaps you want to make the store URL for fans include a Facebook Fan Coupon Code such as – http://store.surfsidecellars.com/?Coupon=grape. Let them know about this “insider” option to give Facebook users further incentive to like your page. If you would like to see a couple of samples of this Facebook store in action, checkout the following URLs:

https://www.facebook.com/nexternal.ecommerce/app_190322544333196

https://www.facebook.com/nexternal.ecommerce/app_128953167177144

Oh, and if you like this article, please don’t forget to visit our Facebook Page and like us to see future tips:  https://www.facebook.com/nexternal.ecommerce

Note: We believe in giving credit where credit is due. This idea was brought to us by the nice folks at Alter Endeavors who are social media experts.

After receiving a degree in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Alex began his career as a technology consultant with Accenture. In 1999 he left Accenture and founded Nexternal – a cloud-based eCommerce Platform company. Alex is passionate about eCommerce and online marketing. He is now a Senior Vice President of HighJump, managing the Nexternal business unit.