Facebook Marketplace: a new way to sell locally
Available on the Facebook mobile app only, Marketplace is currently rolling out for users in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand.
Let’s take an in-depth look at how Facebook Marketplace works, and what Facebook strategies retailers can adopt to sell more on social media.
Products for sale are gathered in a dedicated feed where items are organized based on users’ interests and on their online activity (likes, shares, groups they’re part of, and previous purchases). Facebook users were already making purchases on the platform: on pages via the recently launched Facebook stores, and since long before on Facebook Groups. Introducing Marketplace, Facebook will offer users a new way to sell locally, while monitoring more closely consumers’ behavior.
Here’s how Facebook Marketplace works
Downloading the latest Facebook app update, users can access Marketplace through the blue ‘shop’ icon in the bottom bar menu.
Marketplace shows all items for sale published by users nearby, and the option to filter them by keyword, category, price, and location. When a buyer finds her deal, she can directly get in touch with the seller to arrange payment and delivery (which Facebook doesn’t handle). To publish an item for sale, users need to add a picture, set a price, add a short description, and choose a category, then the item will be submitted for moderation and, when approved, posted on Facebook Marketplace to users nearby.
Use Facebook to boost your sales
Here at Nembol, we are currently working on enabling the publication on Facebook Marketplace too (now you can choose to publish items on your Facebook Timeline or on any of the Facebook Pages you manage). If you don’t have access to Facebook Marketplace yet, or if you’d like to share your items for sale with your friends and fans without need them to be nearby, you can easily make your product publications part of your social strategy.
With Nembol, publishing an item is very easy, you can choose to list on Facebook, eBay, Shopify, and many other sites simultaneously, and social posts are automatically linked to the product for sale. Sharing your items with your audience, including all product details, and making sure you’re redirecting users where they can find all relevant information about your products, is one of the most cost-effective ways to increase visibility and sales.
Have you already tried to use Facebook Marketplace for selling items locally? How do you find it?
