Store Integration

Facebook may not be the most elegant marketplace, but smart retailers have built their storefront from or even within the social network.

With the right programming, you can put your website inside your Facebook page. Think of it as a minisite. A minisite is a small, pop-up website dedicated to a specific event or product release. It’s separate from the company’s main website, but connected to it through links.

For example, when Warner Bros. launches the latest Batman movie, it doesn’t convert its main WB site into a Batman-only site, nor does it embed the Batman movie website deep inside the main site. Instead, Warner Bros. creates a minisite, like BatmanReturnsAgain.com.

Here are some of the advantages of creating a minisite:

You can look at your Facebook presence as a minisite: a way to get customers more intimately involved with your company and services, but not a replacement for your other media.

Anatomy of a Facebook Store

You can set up your Facebook minisite in numerous ways. For example, the couture-line Nine West has a highly interactive Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ninewest.

Unlike most other Facebook pages, the main page of the site is occupied by a full, clean image. You can immediately tell that it’s a sale and, with the Eiffel Tower design, it’s likely on a high-end, exclusive product. (You might be able to make that out in the cursive in the screenshot.)

The Wall postings that usually appear on the front page are still there, but they’ve been pushed to the left-hand column along with these options:

The user just needs to click on the left-hand column to go to the appropriate page.

FEEDBACK

When designing your Facebook store, determine what your audience needs the most. A website targeted at teens might want a prominent Wall to make sure its heavily social clientele can chat. An adult-focused website like Nine West knows its audience is more interested in shopping than chatting on its site, so it puts the Facebook Wall at low priority and emphasizes the exclusive discounts and quality products.

What’s also great about this page is that it encourages viral promotion. The Sophie Theallet sale featured here says the following: “Like us to view & show the exclusive, limited edition collection.”

In other words, if you Like Nine West on Facebook, you’ll get exclusive access to merchandise. It’s a nice example of marketing transparency—Nine West isn’t doing a hard sell, as it already knows you’re interested. Instead, it’s giving you something—exclusive access to the goods—for free, all for the click of the Like button.

In turn, Nine West gets two things:

Outsourcing the Creation of Your Store

Tweaking the Facebook template to create a custom site like that of Nine West requires a bit of programming. We’re all for do-it-yourself work, but don’t be afraid to grab a programmer or a tech-savvy associate to help you along.

If you decide to outsource your minisite, try to work with reputable companies already established within the Facebook world. Here are some that we recommend (with a shameless plug for one of the author’s own companies):